A multilateral initiative on Innovation in Education 2200 Pennsylvania Avenue #4074, NW, Washington D.C. 20006 (USA)

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UN’s SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDG) - 2030 AGENDA

SEVEN CRITICAL STEPS FOR A 2030 SUSTAINABLE PLANET, by Virtual Educa

a. Virtual Educa, leading the future

Virtual Educa was established in 2001 by the Organization of American States (OAS) as a strategic initiative of the Institute of Advanced Studies of the Americas (INEAM). Its aim was to support a public-private partnership agenda for an innovative and more inclusive Education in Latin America and the Caribbean

During the last 20 years Virtual Educa has led change in Education, helping tens of thousands of educators across Latin America and the Caribbean to overcome the challenges of extending quality education and lifelong learning throughout the region. We have worked with country education systems coordinators; organized Information and Communication Technology (ICT) seminars for Ministries of Education; carried out Higher Education symposiums about Digital Transformation; collaborated with the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (PARLATINO) on innovating legislation approaches; worked on frameworks to accelerate Human Capital Development where most needed, to name just a few areas of performance. The implementation by Virtual Educa of a) the Inter-American System of Education and Innovation [Declaration of the Forum of Ministers of Education of the Americas about Innovation and ICT, XIV Virtual Educa International Symposium, Medellin, Colombia, 18.06.2013]; and b) the Global System of Education and Innovation [Declaration of the XVIII Virtual Educa International Symposium, Bogota, Colombia, 13.06.2017] have proved to be a powerful tool to promote an effective change in the Americas 1.

In January 1st 2017, Virtual Educa became an independent institution, operating at a global level [Virtual Educa Global Alliance (VEGA)] and closely collaborating with several agencies of the UN system [SDGF/PNUD, UNESCO, UNITAR], the World Bank Group (Y2Y) and other international organizations such as the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB), PARLATINO, etc.

b. Walking together the path towards 2030 The 2000s welcomed a 21st century in which Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Big Data, Augmented Reality, and a Cloud-Based digitalized society has led to the Fourth Industrial Revolution2. Most experts agree that the 2020-2030 decade will be critical for Humankind, since present societies will change at an exponential rate with Exponential Technologies. Therefore, it is urgent to identify the challenges and develop solutions/responses.

1 https://virtualeduca.org/documentos/2013/veco13-(declarac-es).pdf

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6aRf8qNAiEOR0JfYmgxdnZYNUk/view 2 https://www.weforum.org/focus/fourth-industrial-revolution

The T20 Task Force, G20 2018 [Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 2018] adopted the Virtual Educa proposal The Means for Achieving Greater and Better Literacy: An Exponential Education Model in Support of the 2030 Agenda3. We understand Exponential Education as a model by which, using the latest disruptive existing technologies (artificial intelligence, augmented reality, etc.), the quality and access to education and training may be, effectively and exponentially, accessible worldwide. We are working on the development of its action plan, based on Human Capital Development for Social Innovation, emphasizing and prioritizing the following initiatives:

1. Environmental Education, a crucial tool Together with the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE)4, we are developing an awareness-raising and capacity building project for communities’ engagement on critical environmental issues including tackling plastic pollution and deforestation.

2. ENCCIVICA, a platform to enhance citizenship Because societies can’t operate without conscious citizens, Virtual Educa is developing ENCCIVICA. In cooperation with the Electoral National Institute of Mexico (INE), a world known organization, and the Congress of Peru, ENCCIVICA’s main objective is to raise awareness on the need for a responsible citizenship, including digital citizenship.

3. Transversal SKILLS for the 21st century With Virtual Educa cooperation, the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB) organized the Forum The Future is now. Transversal Skills in Latin America and the Caribbean in the 21 century [Panama, October 21st-22nd, 2019]5. Soft skills are one of the most prominent topics of discussion at our events, where teachers and researches present their best practices and discuss the most common challenges we face as a global society.

4. Improving Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) to maximize future job potential of our youth

STEAM workshops in our yearly international symposiums have a strong reputation. In collaboration with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), we are planning to expand its Scientific Women at Schools Mexico initiative to other areas and countries.

5. SMART cities or knowledge hubs6 The world population is pivoting from the rural areas towards the cities, many of which are becoming megacities. Infrastructure alone won’t make a city smart, but social innovation, planning and human capital development will contribute to that end.

3 https://t20argentina.org/publicacion/the-means-for-achieving-greater-and-better-literacy-an-exponential-education-

model-in-support-of-the-2030-agenda/ 4 https://naaee.org/ 5 https://virtualeduca.org/foros/idbskills/ 6 https://virtualeduca.org/ciudades-2030/

6. POPUP Schools / E-Life Skills Centers as an inclusion project The JP Group, a Portugal based company, has installed Popup Schools in Africa, Asia and in some of the most precarious places in Latin America and the Caribbean [the latter in partnership with Virtual Educa]7, helping communities to become more sustainable and educated. Inclusion is an essential component of the most successful projects promoted by Virtual Educa. We must arrive where we are needed to foster inclusion.

7. Quality Education and Lifelong Learning for All Objective number 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) establishes the need of a quality and inclusive education for all. It may not be possible without individualized attention, based on an Exponential Education.

c. Multilateral initiatives, symposiums and forums Furthermore, Virtual Educa collaborates in the development of multilateral initiatives, being considered a hemispheric reference in the organization of its symposiums and forums. Since 2017 we have expanded globally, through the Virtual Educa Global Alliance (VEGA).

8. Multilateral initiatives True to its established aims and goals, for the last twenty years Virtual Educa has been closely collaborating with international organizations and multilateral agencies, developing joint projects, such as: ▪ United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) [MoU, 2018]. - Collaboration to conduct

research on innovative learning approaches, methods and tools (AI, big data, exponential education, etc.) ▪ Y2Y Community, World Bank Group [MoU, 2017]. - Joint activities, including our active participation in the

yearly World Bank Youth Summit, World Bank headquarters, Washington DC. i) 2018 [December 3rd-4th]: Unleashing the Power of Human Capital; ii) 2019 [December 2nd-3rd]: Smarter Cities for a Resilient Future. 8

▪ Virtual Educa is founding partner and part of the Multilateral Initiative of Education for Human Development (IMEDH), integrated by OAS, UNESCO, PARLATINO and UDUAL, created to develop initiatives and projects of common interest.

9. Symposiums

One of our best-known activities, considered a Virtual Educa landmark in the Americas, is the organization of our

yearly Virtual Educa International Symposium, as well as at regional and national level. 9 The last four editions of

the International Symposiums are the following:

- 2017 18th edition Bogota [Colombia] CORFERIAS, June 20th-23rd 29,844 participants - 2018 19th edition Salvador de Bahia [Brazil] ICEIA, June 04th-08th 18,502 participants - 2018 20th edition Buenos Aires [Argentina] CEC, September 10th-14th 12,548 participants - 2019 21st edition Lima [Peru] LCC, November 05th-08th -

7 https://virtualeduca.org/popup/ 8 https://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2018/07/25/world-bank-youth-summit-2018-unleashing-the-power-of-human-

capital - https://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2019/08/22/world-bank-youth-summit-2019-smarter-cities-for-a-resilient-future

9 https://virtualeduca.org/encuentros/

The XXII Virtual Educa World Congress and Expo will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, July 07th-10th, 2020.

10. Forums Over the years, we have developed impressive series of Global, Multilateral and Regional Virtual Educa Forums, where policy makers, legislators, experts and the corporate sector meet to analyze the present, envision the future and validate good practices models.10

d. Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), strategic alliances Public and private institutions are converging towards the achievement of development results. It is considered that the private sector has particular strengths to bring to bear in delivering on the SDGs, including innovation, responsiveness, efficiency and provision of specific skills and resources11. Virtual Educa was created with the specific target of enhancing PPP to achieve an innovation-based quality Education, something that the Fourth Industrial Revolution has only reinforced, making it a critical vector. Many thanks to our partners and associates, that have made possible our very existence over the years. We specifically want to recognize Microsoft, Intel, JP Group, Positivo, D2L, Ellucian, Lego, Aruba Networks, Blackboard, Oracle, Matific and Telefonica Foundation. Making part of the think-tank group that analyzes the future will make a substantial difference.

e. We envision a 2030 SUSTAINABLE BLUE PLANET, what about you? During 2018, the World Bank Group launched the ‘Think Blue Initiative’, powered by Virtual Educa [Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, June 8th]. The 2030 Agenda, based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), is just a roadmap for a planet in dire need of disruptive solutions for the global challenges that we are facing. The 2030 PLANET Initiative, a Virtual Educa project shared with multilateral organizations, government agencies, academia, the private sector and the civil society, has the potential to be a key-triggering factor for the 2020-2030 period.

Investing in Education is good business, support VIRTUAL EDUCA IN ITS EFFORTS FOR A LIVELY 2030 PLANET!

Washington DC, October 1st, 2019 Virtual Educa General Secretariat

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10 https://virtualeduca.org/foros/ 11 Wiley Online Library https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/sd.1623