UK National Commission for UNESCO

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News

Here is an archived list of all our news articles.

• 02/03/2010 | New schools pack and competition to mark International Year of Biodiversity
  To mark the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity (IYB), the UK National Commission has launched a biodiversity information pack and competition for schools.
  Modified: 05/03/2010
• 18/02/2010 | Education Under Attack: UNESCO launches new report
  The number of politically and ideologically motivated attacks on teachers, students and school buildings is rising, says the report Education Under Attack 2010, launched by UNESCO on 10 February.
  Modified: 24/02/2010
• 17/02/2010 | UK must learn from Iraq War failure to protect cultural heritage, leading culture organisations urge
  Shortcomings in the UK’s planning and implementation of the 2003 Iraq invasion and occupation led to a fundamental failure to protect Iraq’s cultural property, according to evidence submitted to the Chilcot Inquiry by thirteen major heritage and culture organisations today.
• 11/02/2010 | New film spotlights English Riviera Geopark
  The stunning natural heritage of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham takes centre stage in a new short film about the English Riviera Geopark. The seven minute film ‘We Love Our Geopark’ is aimed at educating and building awareness of the first Urban Global Geopark.
  Modified: 12/02/2010
• 11/02/2010 | New Chair and Vice Chairs elected to UKNC Board
  Professor William John Morgan FRAI FRSA has been appointed the new Chair of the Board of Directors of the United Kingdom National Commission (UKNC) for UNESCO as of 1st February.
• 01/02/2010 | Call for UK and Ireland For Women in Science Fellowships
  The call for applications for 2010 L’Oréal-UNESCO UK and Ireland Fellowships For Women In Science is now open
• 27/01/2010 | Education and violent conflict - Defining the parameters of 2011 EFA Global Monitoring Report
  Education specialists met at Marlborough House, London this week to discuss the structure and content of the 2011 Education for All Global Monitoring Report (GMR), which will focus on education and violent conflict.
• 22/01/2010 | UK to put forward ‘fewer and fitter’ places for future UNESCO World Heritage Site designation
  The UK Government has announced that in future it will be putting forward fewer sites for consideration by UNESCO for World Heritage status, with a streamlined application system to help ensure success.
• 19/01/2010 | Launch of 2010 Education for All Global Monitoring Report
  Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, launch the 2010 EFA Global Monitoring Report, Reaching the Marginalized, at UN headquarters in New York on 19 January, 2010.
• 14/01/2010 | International Committee of the Blue Shield expresses sorrow and solidarity with Haiti
  The International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS) has expressesed its sorrow and solidarity with the population of Haiti for the loss of lives and the destructions caused by the earthquake which occurred on 12th January. The UK and Ireland Blue Shield Committee, which is a constituent part of the ICBS, is a standing Committee of the UK National Commission's Culture Committee.
• 04/01/2010 | 2010 World Press Freedom Day Student Journalism Competition launched
  Entires for the 2010 World Press Freedom Day Student Journalism Competition are now open. This year's topic is “Unregulated political comment online helps the democratic process.”
• 01/12/2009 | UK National Commission for UNESCO announces new Secretary-General
  The United Kingdom National Commission for UNESCO is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Harry Reeves OBE as its Secretary-General from 1st January, 2010.
• 10/11/2009 | Young UK engineers win gold, silver and bronze
  Young UK engineers win gold, silver and bronze at the 2009 Mondialogo Engineering Awards
• 02/11/2009 | New UNESCO Chair in International Development
  The University of Edinburgh has been awarded Scotland’s second UNESCO Chair. The new UNESCO Chair in International Development recognises the University’s contribution to the field and will address specific needs and opportunities for social and economic development as identified by partner developing countries, which include Rwanda, Malawi and South Africa in the first phase.
• 20/10/2009 | International Slavery Museum in Liverpool receives UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize Honourable Mention
  The International Slavery Museum in Liverpool has received an Honourable Mention by the UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence.
• 19/10/2009 | UNESCO Associated Schools member makes Wales Green List
  Cathryn Al Kaanan, director of Sazani Associates and a member of the UNESCO Associated Schools Steering Group has been included on the Wales Green List 2009.
• 15/10/2009 | UNESCO elects new Director-General
  The 35th session of the UNESCO General Conference has elected Irina Bokova as Director-General of the Organization.
• 01/10/2009 | UK sites feature in latest issue of UNESCO's A World of Science magazine
  The October issue of UNESCO's A World of Science magazine traces Darwin's journey around the world on the Beagle and takes us on a walk through time showcasing fossils discovered on England's south-west coast. The issue also features an article on how two coastal biosphere reserves in the UK and Kenya are helping one another adapt to rising sea levels.
• 23/09/2009 | Bangor University leads UNITWIN Network� for Marine Biology and Sustainable Development in East Africa
  Bangor University has become the first UK University to lead a twinning partnership under UNESCO's UNITWIN Network.
• 03/09/2009 | New UNESCO Chair in Information and Computer Ethics
  A new UNESCO Chair in Information and Computer Ethics has been established at the University of Hertfordshire, making it the fourteenth UNESCO Chair in the UK.
• 01/09/2009 | UK Memory of the World Register Launched
  The first ever call for nominations to the UK Memory of the World Register was announced on 1 September at the opening of the Society of Archivists Conference in Bristol.
• 24/08/2009 | UKNC at the 2009 Limes Roman Frontiers Congress
  Sue Davies, chair of the Culture Committee of the UK National Commission for UNESCO addressed the Opening Ceremony of the 2009 Limes Congress which was hosted by Tyne and Wear Museums 17-23 August 2009.
• 23/08/2009 | International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
  23 August is designated by UNESCO as International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition across the world, a reminder that enslaved Africans were the main agents of their own liberation.
• 05/08/2009 | Destruction of Cultural Heritage should not be left out of Iraq Inquiry
  A group of leading cultural heritage organisations have called on the Committee of Inquiry into Iraq to include problems faced by British forces in safeguarding cultural heritage in Iraq in their investigation.
• 30/07/2009 | Magna Carta Awarded Memory of the World Status
  The four surviving copies of the 1215 Magna Carta have been awarded 'Memory of the World' status by UNESCO.
• 24/07/2009 | New Circular on the Protection of World Heritage Sites published
  A new Circular on the Protection of World Heritage Sites has been jointly launched by Communities and Local Government (CLG) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and is accompanied by a Guidance Note from English Heritage.
• 09/07/2009 | UK UNESCO Chairholders Participate in World Conference on Higher Education
  UNESCO’s four-day World Conference on Higher Education, held in Paris on 5-8 July, gathered 1,200 delegates from 150 countries to debate current and future issues in higher education.
• 02/07/2009 | Top UK and Ireland Women In Science Announced
  The winners of the four 2009 L'Oreal-UNESCO UK and Ireland Fellowships For Women In Science were announced on 1 July 2009 at an awards ceremony at the Royal Institution in London.
• 30/06/2009 | Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal becomes 28th World Heritage Site in UK
  Pontcysyllte has not only become the 28th World Heritage inscribed site in the United Kingdom, but also the first World Heritage site to cross the border between two countries in the UK, as part of the 11-mile length of canal extends into England.
• 29/06/2009 | Reporting on Climate Change workshop draws participants from over 20 countries
  Over 50 journalists and media professionals from more than 20 countries took part in the World Conference of Science Journalists ‘Reporting on climate change’ workshop, jointly sponsored by UNESCO and the UK National Commission for UNESCO.
• 14/06/2009 | Launch of Catastrophe! The Looting and Destruction of Iraq's Past
  Catastrophe! The Looting and Destruction of Iraq's Past was launched on 15 June 2009 at the Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House. The exhibition runs from 15 to 26 June 2009
• 01/06/2009 | Dyfi Valley awarded unique UN status
  The Dyfi Valley has been officially recognised as Wales’ only new style UNESCO Biosphere.
• 01/05/2009 | World Press Freedom Day debate – Governments are winning the war
  In a vote of more than two to one, participants at this year’s World Press Freedom Day London debate voted in favour of the motion “Governments at war are winning the battle of controlling the international media”.
• 20/04/2009 | 2009 WPFD Student Journalism Competition Winner Announced
  Annabel Symington, an MA student in International Journalism at City University, has been selected as the winner of this year's competition for her article on press coverage of the Gaza conflict in early 2009. The topic of year's competition was: “Is the Western media impeding press freedom in those countries that need it most?” Annabel will be presented with the John Ivinson Memorial Prize
• 18/04/2009 | UNESCO Associated Schools support Global Action Week
  Members of UNESCO Associated Schools (ASPnet) across the world are taking part in the Global Action Week (20-26 April).
• 06/04/2009 | 2009 UNESCO World Press Freedom Day international laureate announced
  The late Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge has been named laureate of the 2009 UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize.
• 25/03/2009 | Scotland Establishes First UNESCO Chair
  Scotland has established its first ever UNESCO Chair at Perth College, part of the UHI Millennium Institute. It is the twelfth UNESCO Chair to be created in the UK.
• 20/03/2009 | UK Schools Featured in UNESCO Publication
  The Education for Rural Livelihoods and Food Sovereignty (ERLAFS) project, involving six members of UNESCO Associated Schools in the UK, has been featured in the UNESCO publication ‘Second Collection of Good Practices: Education for Sustainable Development’.
• 10/03/2009 | International Water Day 2009 - Transboundary water
  International World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. The focus of this year's World Water Day will be transboundary waters: sharing water, sharing opportunities. UNESCO and the UN Economic Council for Europe (UNECE) are the lead UN agencies of the Day in 20
• 05/03/2009 | Four of the 2009 UNESCO-L'Oreal International Fellowships winners to study at UK institutions
  Four out of this year's fifteen UNESCO-L'Oréal International Fellowships winners will use their awards to undertake research outside their home country at UK institutions.
• 02/03/2009 | International Women's Day 2009-Women Make the News
  On the occasion of International Women's Day, UNESCO is launching the 2009 Women Make the News campaign on 'Gender Equality Policies in Media Organizations.'
• 01/03/2009 | BBC World News spotlights UNESCO coastal biosphere reserves
  Climate change is driving sea-level rise and creating a dilemma for coastal communities all over the world. The BBC World News ‘Earth Report’ series travels to the UK and Kenya to see if UNESCO ‘biosphere reserves’ provide answers.
• 24/02/2009 | UK National Commission for UNESCO response to DCMS World Heritage Policy Review Consultation
  The UKNC's Culture Committee has submitted its response to the public consultation World Heritage for the Nation: Identifying, Protecting and Promoting our World Heritage, published by DCMS. The Consultation seeks to explore the extent to which the UK's current approach to World Heritage supports the interests of the UK Government in protecting and promoting its cultural and natural heritage; it
• 10/02/2009 | International Mother Language Day 2009
  UNESCO is launching a new edition of the Atlas of endangered languages on the event of International Mother Language Day (21 February).
• 02/02/2009 | World Heritage Education Programme Launched
  Making Sense of Our Sites is a new, innovative project led by the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Team in partnership with the UK National Commission for UNESCO and UNESCO Associated Schools in the UK.
• 01/02/2009 | Call for UK and Ireland For Women in Science Fellowships (2009)
  The 2009 L’Oréal UK and Ireland Fellowships For Women In Science are now open for application. Online application deadline: 8 April 2009, midnight (GMT).
• 10/12/2008 | Human Rights Teaching pack from UNESCO Associated Schools in the UK
  UNESCO Associated Schools in the UK has teamed up with the United Nations Association of the UK to develop a human rights teaching pack for secondary schools to promote human rights education. The pack has been distributed to over 4500 secondary schools across the UK.
• 03/12/2008 | UK alone in Heritage Protection omission
  The UK National Commission for UNESCO is extremely saddened and concerned that the anticipated Heritage Protection Bill has been omitted from today's Queen's Speech.
• 25/11/2008 | 2009 EFA Global Monitoring Report launched
  The 2009 Education for All Global Monitoring Report – Overcoming Inequality: Why governance matters – warns that ‘unacceptable’ national and global education disparities are undermining efforts to achieve international development goals. The failure of governments across the world to tackle deep and persistent inequalities in education is consigning millions of children to lives of poverty
• 11/11/2008 | UK scientist named 2009 Laureate For Women In Science for Europe
  UK scientist Professor Athene Donald FRS has been selected to receive a 2009 L'OREAL-UNESCO For Women In Science Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to science.