UNEVOC CIS Regional Network Meeting

Networking and Building Capacity for TVET and ESD in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
Ufa, Republic of Bashkortostan (Russian Federation), 29 June – 1 July 2011

With the aim of sharing knowledge, fostering cooperation and mobilizing expertise and resources to enhance the role of TVET in meeting the educational, economic and social needs in the countries of the CIS and regions of the Russian Federation, the inaugurational meeting of the UNEVOC CIS Regional Network was held on the venue of the Bashkir Institute of Social Technologies (branch of) the Educational Institution of Trade Unions “Academy of Labor and Social Relations” in Ufa, Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia, on 29 June - 1 July 2011.

The meeting was organized by UNESCO-UNEVOC, UNESCO Moscow and the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE) in cooperation with the government of the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO, the Committee of the Republic of Bashkortostan for UNESCO, the Bashkir Institute of Social Technologies, and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ, Magdeburg, Germany).

53 TVET experts and representatives from federal and regional Ministries of Education (and Science) of the Russian Federation, INRULED - UNESCO International Research and Training Center for Rural Education (Beijing, China), the Russian Academy of Education and 12 national UNEVOC Centres from the CIS and Europe, namely from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Germany attended the meeting.

The participants were welcomed by Ms Zugura Rakhmatullina, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Bashkortostan and Chairman of the Committee of the Republic of Bashkortostan for UNESCO. In her opening speech, Ms Zugura Rakhmatullina addressed that the meeting in UFA marks an important step towards implementation of the UNESCO TVET Strategy and the UNESCO Strategy for the Second Half of the UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development in the countries of the CIS and regions of the Russian Federation, as well as broadening areas of collaboration between members of the UNEVOC CIS Regional Network.

The three-day meeting provided a platform for discussions with a broader perspective on the transformation of TVET through constructive dialogue, exchange of experiences and elaboration of policy recommendations on priority issues such as:

TVET development and innovations in the CIS,
TVET transformation towards a green economy,
The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in TVET, and
TVET for marginalized groups.

Drawing on the findings and lessons learned from the past activities conducted in Minsk (2009) and Bonn (2010), the meeting explored ways to further CIS UNEVOC Centres’ involvement and commitment in regional cooperation and networking. Through working group sessions, the participants addressed priorities, issues and challenges to ensure a meaningful contribution and the potential role of UNEVOC CIS Regional Network to the TVET for sustainable development.

A Commitment to Action was drafted. The participants engaged in open, friendly, and enthusiastic discussions on key issues of common interests; they reached consensus on major objectives of the UNEVOC Network, including further collaborative efforts of the Regional UNEVOC Network to promote sustainable practices and principles in the field of TVET.

A consultative meeting of national experts engaged in the joint (Moscow, Russian Federation), IFESCCO/IITE project on Promotion of the Use of ICTs in TVET in CIS Countries was part of this international event. More information can be found on http://iite.unesco.org/news/639048/