Prof. Odrowaz-Coates hopes to establish new networking links for more inclusive high quality education.
Two day event brings together 12 Unesco chairs from Poland and hundreds of chairs from all continents.

Established in 1992, the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme is an inter-sectoral network to mobilize and
share the expertise of higher education institutions to address complex interdependent development
challenges. It promotes international inter-university cooperation and networking to enhance institutional
capacities through knowledge sharing and collaborative work.

The 850 university chairs and UNITWIN research networks from over 110 countries represent a unique
resource for intellectual and scientific cooperation at national, regional and global levels. They play a key
strategic role in strengthening connections between knowledge, research, education, and public policies.
As the world faces multiple overlapping social, economic, political, technological and environmental
disruptions, the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme is needed more than ever.

The inter-disciplinary nature of the Programme is well placed to address some of these issues. As well as recognizing past accomplishments, this conference will take a forward-looking approach and consider the future potential of UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN Networks in contributing to the knowledge commons and open science.

This conference, organized by UNESCO with the support of the French National Commission for UNESCO,
will celebrate the accomplishments of the Programme over the last three decades and advance authentic
interdisciplinary dialogues and the cross-sectoral mobilization needed to confront the complex challenges
on the horizon. Dedicated to the theme of “Transforming knowledge for just and sustainable futures”, the
two-day event is grounded in the spirit of global scientific, moral, intellectual, and academic solidarity.