UPCOMING EVENTS

SEPTEMBER 9-12, 2003 - WASAN ISLAND, ONTARIO, CANADA

The second meeting of the Steering Committee of the Policy Action Group on Learning will be hosted by the Breuninger Foundation and will take place at Wasan Island, in the Muskoka Lakes of Ontario, Canada, on July 9 and 12, 2003.

The intention for this meeting is to brainstorm on the future strategy, as well as to review and benchmark the progress that has been made on this project since the first meeting of the Steering Committee in July 2002.

Additonal information about this meeting will be posted in the coming days.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE POLICY ACTION GROUP ON LEARNING:

Led by Dr. Paul Cappon, Director General of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, this Policy Action group is critically reviewing and assessing the success of educational practices as they relate to international and national governance, with the aim of proposing a reform agenda for learning which will build and complement the work of the G8 "Education For All" Task Force.

With an emphasis placed on Africa, the work of the group is concentrating on identifying practical international arrangements that will maximize the learning potential of individuals and their communities, the use of communications technology in education, and the dissemination and implementation of best practices. Seven themes have been selected by the PAG-L for interest review and for recommendations to the international community. They are: Information and Communications Technologies - The Silver Bullet for the 21st Century, or the Siren's Song?; Defining the Roles of the Private Sector in Traditional and Non-Traditional Learning; Overlapping Mandates, Differing Objectives, Blurred Lines of Authority - Sorting out the Roles and Responsibilities of the Major Actors; Globalization, Cultural and Linguistic Preservation and the Promotion of Human Rights - Incompatible Goals or Mutually Supporting Factors for Real Peace?; The Dichotomy Between learning for Sustainable Development and Learning as an Individual Intellectual Pursuit; Life-long Learning, and Informal Learning - Convenient Platitudes, or Key Elements of the Future?; and Learning Resources for the New Century.

The PAG Steering Committee met at the Breuninger Foundation estate on Wasan Island in the Muskoka Lakes of Ontario, Canada, on July 6-10, 2002. This first gathering brought together members of the PAG-L Steering Committee to explore and develop strategies to broaden the work on the seven selected themes and two focus groups. The meeting was also a key step in the process of producing implementable recommendations for learning on a global basis. Please click here to view an Executive Summary: Globalization and Learning - Putting Humanity First!, an Introductory Discussion Paper of The Policy Action Group on Learning.

During the Second Annual meeting of the Commission, held in Mexico City December 4-7, 2002, this PAG convened two roundtable sessions on "Globalisation, Cultural and Linguistic Diversity and the Promotion of Human Rights," Chaired by Madeleine Zuniga and Helga Brueninger; and "The Appropriate Role of the Private Sector in Education and Learning," Chaired by Paul Cappon and Piera Gerrard.