WFSF and UNESCO
The Federation is classified as a Category II Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) with the United Nations (UN).
For over three decades WFSF has held a formal consultative status with UNESCO and enjoys close cooperation with the UN family: UN University, UNDP, UNEP, UNITAR, ILO, FAO and WHO.
Since the very beginning of the Federation, UNESCO has been tightly associated to the development of the WFSF. This co-operation has facilitated the following:
- Financing of the participation of nationals of
developing countries in the events organized by the WFSF, in particular its World
Conferences, until the end of the 1990s; this sponsorship has strongly
contributed to diffusing the futures culture in several countries (Kenya, Costa Rica, etc);
- The possibility of developing specific work on the
relationships between Future, Education and Peace (1980s) thus contributing to
the deepening of the field “Peace Education." Some members of the WFSF are
today eminent contributors to this field (Linda GROFF, Ivana MILOJEVIC),
taking part in events such as the World Peace Forum;
- The development of Futures Studies in Spain,
through the activities of the Catalan Center of 'Prospectiva', which made it
possible to develop this discipline in Spain (seminars in 1984 and
1985, organization of the World Conference of 1991, regular publication of the Prospectiva review);
- The construction of privileged links between the
Federation and some National Commissions (
- The organization of training in Futures Studies (Futures Courses) in the Asia Pacific Region (Fiji Islands in 1993), (the Philippines in 1994) then in Budapest in 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2005. The support of UNESCO in Budapest achieved two goals:
- To allow about thirty young people from around the world to take part in these one-week seminars;
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To support the institutionalization of Futures Studies within the Corvinus University of Budapest. Subsequently, the director of the Futures Studies Center of the Corvinus University was elected academician (Academy of Science of Hungary, Nov. 2005) and Futures Studies recognized at the highest academic level through this nomination.
In 2008, UNESCO provided some seed funding for the development of the WFSF-UNESCO Online Centre for Pedagogical Resources in Futures Studies in association with the MERLOT project at California State University.
UNESCO International Expert Meeting 2008
These meetings frequently include WFSF Fellows and members as speakers and participants. A Foresight Workshop with international experts was held on 7 July 2008 at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris. Among the international experts who contributed at this meeting were our Fellows/Members: Thierry GAUDIN (Belgium); Jerome GLENN (USA); Mohamed MANSOUR (Cairo, Egypt); and Francisco José MOJICA (Bogota, Colombia).
UNESCO Reports
Towards Knowledge Societies - UNESCO WORLD REPORT 2005 (English)
Vers les sociétés du savoir - RAPPORT MONDIAL DE L’UNESCO 2005 (Français)
Hacia las sociedades del conocimiento - INFORME MUNDIAL DE LA UNESCO 2005 (Español)
Towards Knowledge Societies - UNESCO World Report 2005 (Russian)
Towards Knowledge Societies - UNESCO World Report 2005 (Chinese)
Towards Knowledge Societies - UNESCO World Report 2005 (Arabic)
 Evaluation report for the OCPR - PP 2006-07 | [ ] | 209 Kb |
| Les relations Unesco et WFSF | [en français / in French] | 56 Kb |
| Foresight Capacity Building in India | [ ] | 3628 Kb |
