The UNESCO/IFESCCO Pilot Project “Arts Education in CIS Countries: Building Creative Capacities for 21st  century” was elaborated by the UNESCO Moscow Office under the UNESCO programme dedicated to arts education and acknowledgment of the value of arts education in promoting creativity, innovation and cultural diversity. The project was included into the UNESCO additional programme entitled “Sustainable development of Arts Education to promote the diversity of cultural expressions”. The objective of the UNESCO programme is to acknowledge the value of arts education in promoting creativity and innovation, cultural diversity and in giving equal learning opportunities to children and adolescents living in marginalized areas.

The activities of the Project were carried out with consideration of international experience and UNESCO basic documents in this field, including the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and Recommendations of the 1st and 2nd World Conferences on Arts Education (Lisbon, 2006, Seoul, 2010), and in particular, the UNESCO Road Map for Arts Education and the UNESCO Questionnaire on the implementation of the Road Map for Arts Education. 

The major purpose of the UNESCO/IFESCCO project is improvement of cultural and educational policies in the field of arts education, as well as enhancing of interaction between the Ministries of Culture and the Ministries of Education of the CIS Member States through conduction of case studies in the field of arts education in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

The activities within the project were carried out by the UNESCO Cluster Moscow Office in partnership with the  UNESCO Cluster Office in Almaty,  UNESCO Representative Office in Tashkent and UNESCO Headquarters (Section of Creative Industries for Development, Division of Cultural Expressions and Creative Industries) in close cooperation with the related cultural and educational governmental institutions, including the Ministries of Culture, the Ministries of Education, state universities and institutions of Culture and Arts as well as non-governmental organizations working in this field in CIS countries.

The First Stage of the Project included the conduction of case studies and expert meetings based on the UNESCO strategic documents, including the UNESCO Conventions, as well as  the “Road Map for Arts Education” and the UNESCO Seoul Agenda  “Goals for the Development of Arts Education”  in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The national Analytical Reports on arts education, including recommendations were prepared by the leading experts in each of involving countries.

The main objective of the Stage II of the Project is to ensure further promotion of the UNESCO “Road Map for Arts Education” and  “Seoul Agenda: Goals for the Development of arts Education” (Adopted at the 2nd World Conference on Arts Education in May 2010) through development of network of stakeholders for development of arts education in CIS with consideration of UNESCO strategic priorities, as well as the Concept of Education in the Field of Culture and Arts of the CIS Member States and the Recommendations on Legislative Provision of the Development of Arts Education in the CIS Member States. Stage II is aiming as well to create and develop the bilingual Russian/ English Observatory on Arts education in CIS countries within the UNESCO Network on Arts Education. The final version of the created web-observatory on arts education in the CIS countries will be launched in 2013.

http://ae.cis.iite.unesco.org/observatory/

The results of the project will contribute to the development and improvement of national strategies of the CIS countries in the field of arts education.

Links:

Agreement on cooperation in the field of arts education signed between UNESCO and IFESCCO

«Results of the first stage of the UNESCO/IFESCCO project on arts education»