Thinkers and practitioners meet at UNESCO to contribute to future priorities

Participants reflected on how the organization's work has evolved to meet the challenges of today's world, calling for a "Diplomacy of truth", and renewed commitment to youth and stronger investment in critical thinking and skills for the digital age.

Michael Ignatieff, a professor of History at Central European University in Vienna, explored how UNESCO's mission to uphold the intellectual and moral solidarity of humankind has changed over time. He explained the complexities of the international order in 145, based on three pillars of i) international institutions like the UN ii) the laws safeguarding the rights of individuals, incarnated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and iii) the shared values embodied in education, science, art, monuments and culture in all its forms, to which UNESCO was designated as the guardian of this pillar.