Young Artists Reflect on the Future of Education

In the Fall of 2020, UNESCO’s International Commission on the Futures of Education released a paper outlining nine ideas for public action in education in a post-COVID world.

UNESCO’s recommendations are necessarily vague, so as to be applicable to the broadest set of communities, and they are a jumping-off point that is well-aligned with Creative Generation’s mission and practices with regard to equity. We solicited feedback from our community that aligned with our 2020 campaign — arts & culture is a fundamental civil and human right — which we collated and passed along to UNESCO. We published one such response here.

UNESCO also solicited artwork from students that shows what education might look like in 30 years. Its resulting report — Women, robots and a sustainable future — synthesizes the themes that are prevalent in submitted pieces. In the analysis of the 218 submitted works, “artists have explored a set of themes across optimistic and pessimistic dimensions, many warning against a future driven by current leaders and with existing policies”; specifically, the report digs into technological change, quality education, environmental sustainability, and women & girls.

You can read the full report here.