UIL launches event series: Hamburg Education Talks

The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) is setting out to stimulate a dialogue on current educational topics with a new series of events called Hamburg Education Talks. The first event will take place on the occasion of International Literacy Day (8 September) and will be themed ‘Let’s Talk: Illiteracy in Hamburg – Does it really exist?’. The event will take place on 6 September at 6pm.

With this initiative, UIL intends to promote a dialogue on educational themes in its host city Hamburg. The new event series will tackle a variety of educational topics and stimulate a dialogue among a whole range of educational stakeholders and the general public. Being an international educational institute, UIL places particular emphasis on combining local and global perspectives. During each debate, both local experts and UIL staff members will share their insights and perspectives and engage in a dialogue with the audience.

‘It is our mission to advance lifelong learning policies worldwide, so that everybody has the opportunity to learn, regardless of age, socio-economic background or ethnicity. Promoting dialogue on relevant educational issues is part of this mission and starts here in Hamburg, our host city,’ says UIL Director David Atchoarena.

The first event, which takes the form of a panel discussion, is being organized in the run-up to International Literacy Day on 8 September. More than 750 million adults are illiterate worldwide. In Germany, the number of functionally illiterate citizens aged between 15 and 64 years is estimated to be 7.5 million. To better understand this sensitive issue and how it can be addressed, experts of the University of Hamburg, Arbeit und Leben [Work and Life], a project that begun as part of the German Literacy Decade, the Hamburger Volkshochschule [adult education centre] and UIL will share their perspectives in an open forum.

The next event will take place in November and will focus on refugees and how education can contribute to their integration into their host societies or facilitate a future return to their countries of origin.

Further information:

• Event announcement: 'Let's talk: Illiteracy in Hamburg – Does it really exist?'
• Leo. Level One Study
• Literacy Day

Read the Press Relase here (Available in English and German).