The 2011 WISE Summit – World Innovation Summit for Education -, – November 1-3, 2011 in Doha, Qatar – explored the theme of “Changing Societies, Changing Education”: education in driving economic development,  which was described as an investment, not a cost; attaining access to high-quality education for all; and achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals.

Sessions focused on how innovation occurs in a variety of sectors, and whether and how such models for change can inspire new strategies for education. A session on ‘Change in the Arab World’ informed that youth unemployment costs the Arab world $40-50 billion per year. Dr Tarik Yousef, CEO of Silatech in Qatar, said “The Arab Spring is the best thing that could have happened to the education agenda in the Arab world”.

At a debate on ‘Developing New Approaches to Leadership’, trends expert Mrs Josephine Green advanced that an uncertain future may require a “new type of leadership” in the face of world upheaval.

Day 2 of WISE sharpened the focus on education and investigated innovation across education systems internationally.

Key areas examined were : educational best practices; reform; and the turning of simple ideas into big results.

On Day 3, the discussion turned to the future, inviting new visions and new thinking about how education and lifelong learning systems may better meet the needs of changing societies, and better prepare for the unknown future.

Watch Live Stream of all Plenary Sessions and Debates on www.wise-qatar.org

Source : Wise Daily News