Events

Co-organized by UNESCO and the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, this event aims at promoting stakeholder dialogue in legislation and policy development and implementation, by sharing challenges, promising policies and practices from various countries. It will discuss how to operationalize visions for inclusive education so that all stakeholders can understand and effectively implement policy goals.

The international webinar outcomes will provide key messages around promoting stakeholder dialogue for legislation and policy for inclusive education at national, regional and international levels – identifying barriers and challenges, as well as opportunities for ways forward.

The world has recently entered the final decade of action to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 and fulfil the commitment to ‘inclusive and equitable quality education’ and ‘lifelong learning opportunities for all’. Although efforts have been made to promote education for all, there has not been the transformation in educational systems or the policies required to translate the promise of SDG4 into reality. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, education systems were already facing huge challenges in ensuring all learners had fair and equal access to educational opportunities regardless of their gender, ethnicity, language, abilities and/or social background among other characteristics. The pandemic has deepened and added new layers of education inequalities, marginalization and exclusion around the world.

Purpose of the webinar

The international webinar aims at promoting stakeholder dialogue in legislation and policy development and implementation, by sharing challenges, promising policies and practices from various countries. It will discuss how to operationalize visions for inclusive education so that all stakeholders can understand and effectively implement policy goals.

The webinar outcomes will provide key messages around promoting stakeholder dialogue for legislation and policy for inclusive education at national, regional and international levels – identifying barriers and challenges, as well as opportunities for ways forward.

Views and voices from different stakeholder groups – policy-makers at different levels; researchers; practitioners; civil society; learners and families – will be represented in the webinar – from Europe and other regions. In particular, it will focus on two main themes:

• Stakeholder dialogue as an input to legislation and policy development.
• Stakeholder dialogue as an on-going input to policy implementation.

Each panel will present an example of on-going work from a European country. Panelists from other countries and regions will be invited to enrich the dialogue by sharing their own experiences and observations on challenges they have experienced, as well as recommendations for overcoming challenges to more meaningful stakeholder dialogue.

Target audiences

The webinar will bring together a range of key stakeholders and decision-makers who are drivers of change towards fostering inclusive learning environments. These include representatives from ministries of education and inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations supporting inclusive education, as well as staff from educational institutions, researchers and experts, representatives of youth organisations, learners and families.

Although the webinar will deal with technical aspects, it is anticipated that it will have a broader reach, as speakers spread key messages on how to achieve consensus on what we mean by inclusion in education at the legislative and policy level through dialogue.

The webinar will be available in English, French, Spanish and International sign language.

Related Content

Useful Links

• Concept note and agenda
• Register
• Inclusion in education
• European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education

URL:

https://events.unesco.org/event?id=4286795079&lang=1033