Assessing the Values of UNESCO within a framework of International Cooperation (VINCI)

Context
Based on UNESCO’s Lugano VII meeting in August 2015, subsequent exchanges between participating National Commissions, and based on meetings in November at UNESCO in Paris during the 38th Session of the UNESCO General Conference, the National Commissions present confirmed their interest to participate in an assessment exercise pertaining to the study of the implementation of the values of UNESCO at a national level. This exercise connects, on the one hand, the work of the National Commissions to their national context and, on the other, emphasizes their work and contributions to UNESCO. The exercise does not aim to evaluate the past performance of any UNESCO programme but, instead, aims at a future-oriented identification of added values to the National Commissions and UNESCO. A mixed methods approach was developed and a project management structure was set up in order to achieve the initiative’s objectives. It is hoped that this exercise may be a pilot for an ongoing effort in assessing the values of UNESCO in the framework of international cooperation that remains open to other NCs, particularly from other regions (e.g. Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America, and the Caribbean). For that purpose, the UK National Commission and the Swiss National Commission are conducting this assessment exercise from 2015 until 2020.

The following National Commissions are currently participating in VINCI (in alphabetical order):

• Germany
• Iceland
• Portugal
• South Korea
• Slovenia
• Switzerland
• UK

The following UNESCO Programmes are currently participating in VINCI:

• UNESCO Chairs
• UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Objectives
UNESCO aims to enhance peace, security, and sustainable development by fostering international collaboration through its work in education, science, culture, communication, and information. In pursuit of these aims, UNESCO has adopted the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with a clear understanding that member states will have different approaches, visions, models, tools, and resources to achieve sustainable development and to contribute to the UN 2030 Agenda.
Within this context, VINCI aims to explore the links between UNESCO, the UN 2030 Agenda, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals in relation to national priorities.
This will mean taking a holistic and systems approach to eliciting and understanding the links between economic and socio-cultural factors.

The contribution and impact of UNESCO at the national level should be assessed specifically through:

• the scope of the mandate of the organization and its programs (education, science, culture, communication), and
• the specific functions (and the resources) of its local stakeholders.

This objectives of this exercise are as follows:

• assist in developing further the focus of National Commissions’ positions and actions at a national level, and strengthen their international collaboration in line with UNESCO’s values;
• sensitize the UNESCO programs under investigation to the UN Agenda 2030 and the UN SDGs;
• explore UN Agenda 2030 and UN SDG focal areas of the activities associated with UNESCO programmes;
• explore possible synergies between national and international activities of the UNESCO programmes under investigation; and
• make policy recommendation toward achievement of the UN SDGs based on our findings.

Prof. Kiran Fernandez (member of UNESCO UK and VINCI coordinator)
Head of Department of Management & MarketingDurham University Business School
Durham University
UK

Prof. Max Bergman (member of UNESCO Switzerland and VINCI coordinator)
Chair of Social Research and Methodology
Department of Social Sciences
University of Basel
Switzerland