UNESCO launched the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme in 1991 as an international action plan for academic solidarity to strengthen inter-university co-operation with particular emphasis on support to higher education in the developing countries.
The programme works towards establishing and reinforcing strong and durable linkages amongst higher education and scientific institutions worldwide and at facilitating the transfer of knowledge while combating the brain drain. Special attention is paid to providing assistance through inter-regional and (sub)regional linkages.
The UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme encompasses a broad spectrum of activities requiring very flexible modes of action. It is based on genuine, equal partnership among the higher education institutions which initiate various projects within its framework.
Two types of closely interrelated and interdependent activities have emerged as the base for the major strategies for implementing the Programme: inter-university networks and international UNESCO Chairs. While individual chairs responding to specific needs are possible, the programme endeavours to create the proper conditions to allow each chair to be a focal point of a network or to be a part of a network.
The UNITWIN network on Interreligious studies
NEWS
Round-table Discussion "The Role of UNESCO Chairs in the Innovative Development of the Higher Education" (St. Petersburg, 5-7 November 2008)
16.02.09
On the 6th of November, 2008, the UNESCO Chair on Comparative Studies of Spiritual Traditions, their Specific Cultures and Interreligious Dialogue (based upon the facilities of the St. Petersburg Branch of the Russian Institute for Cultural Research) took part in the round-table discussion "The Role of UNESCO Chairs in the Innovative Development of the Higher Education" (within the framework of the Seminar for the higher education institutions "Experience of Realization of Innovative Educational Programmes in the Russian Higher Education Institutions: Achievement and Prospects", St. Petersburg, 5-7 November, 2008). This discussion united the representatives of the Russian UNESCO Chair Coordinating Board and the researchers of the UNESCO Chairs on Education from the North-West of Russia.
The academic secretary of the UNESCO Chair on Comparative Studies of Spiritual Traditions, their Specific Cultures and Interreligious Dialogue E.V. Lunyaev presented the peculiarities of the Chair activities, emphasized the general need of the world science in involvement of the young researchers in project realization and especially pointed out the bringing-up mission of the UNESCO Chairs. E.V. Lunyaev pointed at the importance of the innovative programmes of the Russian higher education institutions as the means of bringing up the new intellectual elite of Russia – open to innovations, familiar with the world research and societal practices, adhering to the research ethics and broad-minded.
