UNESCO WORLD REPORT
Towards Knowledge Societies
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Contents

List of boxes, figures and tables 11
List of abbreviations and acronyms 14

Introduction 17
Overview 24

1. From the information society to knowledge societies 27
Knowledge societies as a source of development 27
Digital solidarity 29
Freedom of expression as the touchstone of knowledge societies 36

2. Network societies, knowledge and the new technologies 45
Knowledge economy in network societies 45
The impact of the new technologies on knowledge networks 47
From memory-based societies to knowledge societies? 52

3. Learning societies 57
Towards a culture of innovation? 57
Learning, a key value of knowledge societies 60
The availability of knowledge 63

4. Towards lifelong education for all? 69
Basic education for all 71
Lifelong education for all 76
New inputs for education: institutional reform, pedagogical research,
teacher training and quality of education 81
“E-learning”: new technologies and distance education 84

5. The future of higher education 87
Towards a market in higher education? Issues of funding 87
University networks yet to be invented 91
The new missions of higher education 95

6. A research revolution? 99
New research locations 99
The new frontiers of science 111
Research and development: future challenges 114

7. Science, the public and knowledge societies 119
A good governance for science and technology 119
A crisis in science education? 126
Fostering a scientific culture 128

8. Risks and human security in knowledge societies 133
Knowledge as a risk panacea? Foresight and disaster anticipation 133
Knowledge societies, a source of new risk? Global risks, strategic risks and new
forms of criminality 137
Knowledge societies, human security, human rights and the fight against poverty 139
Towards sustainable development societies? 142

9. Local and indigenous knowledge, linguistic diversity and knowledge societies 147
Preserving local and indigenous knowledge 148
Linguistic diversity and knowledge societies 151
Pluralism, translation and knowledge sharing 156

10. From access to participation: towards knowledge societies for all 159
From the knowledge divide to knowledge sharing 159
Women in knowledge societies 167
Universal access to knowledge: knowledge sharing and intellectual property protection 169
The renewal of democratic public forums in knowledge societies 178

Conclusion 185
Recommendations 191
References 195
Notes 211