30th anniversary of the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme: Transforming knowledge for just and sustainable futures, 3-4 November, Paris

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs programme, UNESCO is organizing a two days conference, 3-4 November 2022, at the headquarter of UNESCO in Paris. The theme of the conference is “Transforming knowledge for just and sustainable futures” and is organized by UNESCO with the support of the French national commission for UNESCO.

The objective of the Conference is to celebrate the accomplishments of the Programme over the last three decades and advance authentic interdisciplinary dialogues and the cross-sectoral mobilization needed to confront complex challenges on the horizon.

The UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme was launched in 1992 to promote international inter-university cooperation and networking to enhance institutional capacities through knowledge sharing and collaborative work. The programme involves 850 university chairs and UNITWIN research networks from over 110 countries. They represent a unique resource for intellectual and scientific cooperation at national, regional and global levels and play a key strategic role in strengthening connections between knowledge, research, education, and public policies. 

At the University of Padova, the UNESCO Chair 'Human Rights, Democracy and Peace' was established in 1999 with a special Convention signed by the Director General of UNESCO and the Rector of the University of Padova. The Chair carries out its educational and research activities in connection with the Human Rights Center “Antonio Papisca'' of the University of Padova. Professor Antonio Papisca, founder of the Human Rights Center of the University of Padova, held the UNESCO Chair from 1999 to 2017. Since 2018 the Chair holder is Marco Mascia, professor of International Relations at the Department of Political Science, Law and International Studies of the University of Padova.

The full programme can be found down below.