Author Archives: clairemcguire

Education for Peace and Development: Highlighting key moments and resources from 2022

The UN International Day of Education (24 January) celebrates the importance of education for peace and development. Libraries have a critical role in ensuring all members of society, of all ages, have access to quality education. To mark this day, this article revisits key moments, shares resources, and summarises IFLA’s activities in the field of education over the past year.

To fuel your advocacy, we invite you to take a look back and consider how your library is helping transform education and bring opportunities to learners of all ages.

Transforming Education

Following the publication of its report, Reimagining our Futures Together: A new social contract for education (2021), UNESCO has been leading a worldwide initiative to transform education to address the challenges of our time. Re-visit IFLA’s brief on this report here: Libraries Contributing to a New Social Contract for Education.

At the centre of this initiative was the Transforming Education Summit, which was held at the UN Headquarters in New York City in September 2022. Ahead of the Summit, UNESCO hosted the Transforming Education Pre-Summit at its headquarters in Paris.

During the Transforming Education Summit, IFLA participated in a side event to discuss the role of access to information and open education resources in making education available to all learners.

In this context, IFLA highlighted the IFLA-UNESCO Public Library Manifesto and School Library Manifesto on the floor of the United Nations.

The Vision Statement released during the Summit by the UN Secretary-General offers a roadmap for education in the 21st century. It is grounded in the principle that the right to quality education should be ensured throughout life, while also including explicit mention of the importance of non-formal education.

This statement will inform further negotiations at the upcoming Summit of the Future, which will be held in 2024.

Resources

Lifelong Learning

The 7th meeting of the International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA) took place in June 2022 in Marrakesh. It brought together ministers, mayors, officials and experts in the field of lifelong learning from around the world. IFLA organised a Side Event on delivering the SDGs through adult learning in libraries.

Key outcomes from this conference include the Marrakesh Framework for Action, which outlines  a roadmap of priorities and actions to be taken before the next conference (2033/2034).

In addition to this, UNESCO published two key reports at the time of the Conference – the 5th Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (GRALE 5), and a Handbook on Lifelong Learning Policies.

All three of these key documents include affirmation of the place of libraries within adult and lifelong learning strategies. These can be helpful references for libraries and library associations in calling for stronger recognition at the national level.

Resources

Linking Culture and Education

UNESCO asserts that culture and education make up the backbone of sustainable development. They call for a cultural sector supported by quality education, which in turn is grounded in respect for cultural diversity and human rights.

IFLA affirms that libraries sit at the intersection of education and culture. This was IFLA’s key message during the World Conference on Cultural Policy for Sustainable Development (Mondiacult 2022), hosted in Mexico City in September 2022.

Ahead of the conference, IFLA’s ResiliArt x Mondiacult event, Library Voices Joining the Global Conversation on Cultural Rights, explored this topic in depth. A panel of experts discussed how libraries enable inclusive and meaningful access to culture and create synergies between culture and education.

During Mondiacult 2022, IFLA was delighted to organise the side event, “Accelerating Education-Culture Linkages through Collaboration: Exploring partnerships with libraries and other cultural institutions”.

The resulting Mondiacult Declaration acknowledges the essential role of libraries in underlining the importance of enhancing synergies between culture and education – strengthening appreciation for cultural diversity, multilingualism, arts education and digital literacy for learners of all ages.

Looking ahead at 2023, IFLA will be involved in UNESCO’s continuing initiative to link culture and education through the renewal of the framework for culture and arts education. Learn more here: UNESCO Culture and Education.

Resources

Climate Empowerment

Another key topic in the discussion on education for sustainable development is climate education.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Action and the Paris Agreement include education as an aspect of Action for Climate Empowerment, alongside climate training, public awareness, public participation, public access to information, and international cooperation.

IFLA participated in the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in November 2022. We took part in discussions on the role of libraries in empowering climate action through education and access to information.

There is a lot of scope to highlight the role of libraries in supporting climate action through education – both among children and youth as well as learners of all ages.

Resources

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Where do you see your library, or libraries in your country or region, having an impact in transforming education and linking it to other sustainable development goals? How can you make your impact known among decisionmakers?

Share your thoughts and ideas!

Questions and comments: claire.mcguire@ifla.org

Guest Blog: Library Turns Publisher to Promote Indigenous Language Reading

This is a guest blog by Morten Olsen Haugen, Trøndelag County Library, Norway. 

09 August 2019; revised 09 September 2022

Morten Olsen Haugen at Trøndelag county library

Since 2014, Trøndelag county library in Norway have been working together with the Saami community to create more children’s books in the south Saami language. With an approach adapted from library reading programmes, our aim is to publish a variety of translated books intended to meet the children’s own choice for entertainment reading.

Our catalogue of more than 140 books and audiobooks now includes works as Gruffalo, Kazuno Kohara’s Midnight library, Goldilocks, Jessica Love’s Julian is a mermaid, Disney’s Frozen 2, other princess tales, Beowulf, George R.R. Martin’s Ice Dragon, and books by Norwegian icons Alf Prøysen, Anne-Cath. Vestly and Thorbjørn Egner. Astrid Lindgren’s beloved Ronja and Emil are works in progress, as of fall of 2022.

Saami people in Scandinavia

Saami people are an indigenous people, living in northern Europe, in northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland as well as the Kola Peninsula of Russia. It is considered the only indigenous people of Europe. Traditionally connected to a semi-nomadic reindeer husbandry, Saami people have also found other living, like fisheries for the coast communities. Today, the reindeer herding is still a core element in Saami society and identity, though fewer are connected to it themselves. For the last 200 years, The Saami people have experienced the same kind of setbacks as other indigenous people around the world; among which a government-initiated loss of own language. This has however changed in the last 40 years, and Nordic governments are now promoting use of Saami languages.

The Saami people are well integrated in Scandinavian societies, and they are fluent in their country’s majority languages. They are also well educated, proud of their heritage, and many young families are eager to regain their lost language.

There are eight different Saami languages, of which the three largest are used in schools and by the government in Norway and Sweden, Southern Saami being the smallest of these three. The estimated number of southern Saami native speakers vary between 600 and 2500. Compared to other Saami languages, Southern Saami have a special problem as the few speakers are living far apart from each other. Thus, there are few situations where speakers meet and can interact naturally in their “heart language”.

The core activities for the county libraries of Norway are to support and counsel the municipal public libraries and school libraries. They also provide infrastructure like inter library loans, mobile libraries, and some services for minority speakers. Running a small-scale publishing house together with Saami Language learning centres like Gïelem nastedh and Gïeleaernie is however quite unique for a county library.

Our approach – entertainment reading

The stereotypic indigenous children’s book has for many years been written by a native speaker – perhaps a teacher, with a content of traditional legends and manners, or if contemporary, with a narrative discussing how to maintain traditional virtues and identity in a changing world. The illustrator would also be native, perhaps an amateur related to the author.

We wanted to challenge this. Saami children are familiar with the contemporary popular culture. Like any other library, we wanted to offer them something cool and modern that they would read and reread by their own choice.

While we acknowledge the need to develop indigenous voices and literature, we could not sit and wait for these books to emerge. And we could certainly not settle with a Saami publishing policy that made these homemade books the main part of Saami children’s literature.

Luckily, it seems as if the trends in Saami literature politics have changed since 2014. Translated children’s books for entertainment reading are now a growing part of Saami publishing. Being modest, we would not suggest that we have initiated these changes by ourselves. Rather, we think that we came aboard at the right moment of winds of change, and at best we’ve contributed to strengthen a trend that was already overdue to happen.

Translations is also important because we need to publish a large quantity of Saami children’s books at a rapid pace. When we started, there were 2-3 new children’s books in southern Saami each year. We’ve published more than 10 books each year.

There is a wider language policy here too. We want to bring the Saami language outside the traditional areas of their users’ culture. Saami children should be able to use their heart language even when they read – and talk – about pets, football, pirates, princesses, ghosts, and monsters.

This project being about literary in an endangered language, we tend to use literature for many kinds of learning. Our advisory board keeps reminding us that the best effect for language revitalization comes when the texts can serve as examples that the children can use in their own spoken language: realistic vocabulary, syntax and dialogues that could be imitated every day. We are proud to have published The Ice Dragon, but there are few dialogues there that resemble the everyday kitchen table and playground interaction of the readers.

Shortage of translators

There are several stages in any publishing project. In our experience, neither of them is very complicated.

We’ve cooperated well with major publishing houses in Norway, Sweden, UK, and USA on publishing rights, even though we are a small customer to them. Kudos to them all for their polite hospitality. When we work with books already published in another language, most of the editorial and pre-print work is already done.

Our main problem is how to produce enough high quality translations. There aren’t enough translators. Hence, our concern is to make the best possible use of the translators available. Our translators and proof-readers are busy working with a multitude of aspects in southern Saami language and culture: Bible translation, developing schoolbooks and multimedia tools, teaching, researching, and implementing their language into several new fields of society, as well as teaching traditional crafts.

There are only a few educated translators, many missions to be completed, and several institutions in need of translators. As a result, an integrated element in our work is developing a new generation of translators among the young, educated Saami in their 20’s and 30’s.

Wider focus

Our work is generally well received in the Saami community. Both Saami politicians and parents give generous feedback. My favourite feedback is the young mother who was worried because she had lost count. “Now that there are new books all the time, I’m afraid I’d miss out some of them”. That’s indeed a luxury problem for a small language.

For the last two years, we have been developing a more diversified publishing policy. Though bright coloured picture books are funny to publish and a delight for the readers, we also need to serve the needs of older children and teens.

Books for readers aged 11-18 is our new priority, together with crossover literature that could be read with interest by both children, juveniles, and adults. Max Estes’ graphic novel Dulvie (Norwegian “Flommen”, i.e. “The flood”) is a good example of a book with a dual-audience-text well fitted for our purpose.

Second, as we evolve as one of the major publishers of Saami children’s literature, we also need to consider other aspects than entertainment reading and a high quantity of books. Books reflecting Saami culture will be more important to us in the future, given our position. Several of our new books are borrowed from other Saami languages, giving voice to contemporary Saami lives.

We’ve also started publishing books about indigenous experiences abroad. So far, we’ve looked to Canada, where ecology, politics, and livelihood among first nation people resembles those in Scandinavia.

Our third policy improvement is to move from printed text to spoken words. Saami children are living far apart from each other, not having many fellow Saami speakers around. For learning, leisure, and socialization there is a need for spoken language to be listened to.

We’ve published 18 audiobooks, but for the last year, we’ve switched to video books, such as this one. Video filming a reading person, combining it with images from the book, is a well-established genre in children’s television, and it seem to work well still. Especially for the combination of learning and entertainment.

Awards

Since I wrote the first edition of this essay in 2019, we have received several accolades. For 2019 we were awarded Library of the year in Norway. You might even want to enjoy the presentation video we made for that occasion.

We have been nominated to the ALMA – Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award three times, for 2020, 2021 and 2022. We are grateful for this nomination, and for the occasion to address Saami literacy and literature for new audiences.

Our work has also inspired a similar translation programme in the Lule Saami language society, initiated likewise by the library, municipality and the language learning centre serving this community. This is good news for Lule Saami children and families, and as they say – imitation is a certain compliment.

If you can read Scandinavian, or rely on the services of web translation programmes, you could also read about our work and philosophy in this 2021 essay.

Continue reading →

Count Libraries In! Transcript of the COP27 Presentation by Dr. Heba Mohamed Ismail (IFLA Regional Division Committee for MENA)

Between 6-18 November, roughly 35,000 people are coming together in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, for the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27). IFLA sent a delegation to take part in the first week of the conference which included Dr Marwa El Sahn and Dr Heba Mohamed Ismail, both members of IFLA’s Regional Division for the Middle East and North Africa Committee, as well as Claire McGuire, IFLA Policy and Research Officer. They joined colleagues from the Climate Heritage Network in bringing the voices of culture, heritage, and the arts to COP27.

Below is the transcript of the presentation given by Heba Mohamed Ismail during two events focussing on Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE), or the critical role that enabling all members of society to engage in climate action plays in facing the climate crisis. Heba’s presentation shed light on how libraries in Egypt are already carrying out work that touches on all six elements of ACE: climate change education and public awareness, training, public participation, public access to information, and international cooperation on these issues.

Count Libraries In!

Dr. Heba Mohamed Ismail

IFLA MENA RDC member, IFLA CPDWL SC member, Vice President of Arab Federation for Libraries and Information, Libraries Technical Manager, Egypt’s Society for Culture and Development (ESCD)

Over the past years, libraries across the world have paused to reflect and recommit to a better climate future.

Libraries are institutions in which to turn this commitment into action, as public spaces, as well as champions for access to information and lifelong learning, libraries are well placed within their communities to be hubs and to have a role in Action for climate empowerment.

In this presentation, I will explore examples of what public libraries in Egypt are already doing, and how they have supported the six elements of Action for climate empowerment through their activities

1. Education

Children participate in workshop

 

Bibliotheca Alexandrina, in cooperation with Senghor University target francophone students and those who are studying French as a second language. Focusing on arts and games, two workshops were conducting and are tailored to increase the students’ environmental awareness; the understanding of changes in the climate; its impact on the quality of life in general, and our role as active members of society towards environmental issues.

2. Public awareness

These programmes feature activities and events dedicated to raise public awareness and inspiring action

Egypt’s Society for Culture and Development (ESCD) in cooperation with the Greater Cairo Water Company (GCWC)
ESCD is non-profit organization that supervise children and Public libraries in 4 governorates in Egypt

  • Organizing awareness programs
  • Educating young people about environmental issues (optimal use of drinking water and reducing its surplus)
  • Organizing regular workshops

Egypt’s Society for Culture and Development (ESCD) in cooperation with the Holding Company for Water and Wastewater

  • Organize a series of workshops
  • Offer visual shows, educational competitions through games and a puppet theater

Bibliotheca Alexandria in cooperation with Greater Cairo Public Library; the Climate Specific Federation, the Federation of Civil Associations and Institutions for Climate, the Egyptian Library Association host a World Environment Day Seminar.

The seminar tackles climate changes, their impact on agriculture and livestock production, and the means to address them. It also discusses the methods of rationalizing water consumption, and examines the role of artificial intelligence and civil society organizations in addressing climate changes, with the aim of achieving the goals of sustainable development and Egypt’s vision 2030.

Misr Public Library System (MPL) in cooperation with the Faculty of Early Childhood Education, Cairo University, which is concerned with educating ordinary children and people with special needs, launched an initiative entitled “Towards a promising environmentally friendly childhood.” The initiative includes several activities and events:

  1. workshops conducted by teachers with ordinary children and people with special needs on origami, paper crafts and recycling.
  2. The second event: held in cooperation with Rotary Egypt, they carry out agricultural activities.
  3. The third event: includes a variety of activities that the teachers carry out with the children, such as the puppet theater and Montessori activities on rationalizing the consumption of energy, water and electricity, preserving the environment from pollution, and making signs and posters that encourage concern for the environment.

3. Training

Different training were provided to librarians and to students on environmental issues and activities.

4. Public participation

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina witnessed the launching of the volunteer program of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), Dr. Nevine El-Kabbaj, Minister of Social Solidarity, addressed the volunteers via video conference during their gathering at the Library. and discussed the Ministry’s efforts in preparing around 1300 volunteers to organize the Climate Change Conference.

Let’s be green: Maadi Public Library

One of ESCD’s libraries- in Cooperation with the U.S Embassy in Cairo conducted environmental activities within the framework of projects for ages from 14 to 18 years, where each team works on a project that represents one of the environmental issues, including:
Air pollution and climate change; deforestation; ozone layer depletion; water pollution; radioactive contamination and trying to find solutions for these activities.

“Alexandria Climathon for Youth” at the BA

The BA Sustainable Development Studies, Youth Capacity Building, and African Relations Support Program organized “Alexandria Climathon for Youth” competition. “Climathon” is an international competition held in several countries around the world through EIT Climate-KIC, which aims at raising the awareness of urban residents about climate changes. The competition is an opportunity for young people to participate in developing ideas that address local climate challenges. The activities of “Climathon” are held internationally on the same date in hundreds of cities, and are supported by local organizers.
This year’s competition was held in several cities across Egypt, as part of the preparations for the United Nations (COP27). Competitors should make suggestions and propose creative solutions that can help alleviate the consequences of climate change in Alexandria.

5. Access to information:

Establishing green corners in public libraries in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment helps transform the library’s space into a greener and more accessible place for children and encourage students to participate in activities, which grow knowledge of social responsibility and Promote public access to information on climate change and its effects.

6. International cooperation

Bibliotheca Alexandrina, in cooperation with Senghor University organized an interactive conference (via Zoom) entitled “Yes to Green: Your Right to a Sustainable Future”.

The conference addressed the role of formal and non-formal education in promoting literacy on climate change, as well as the theme of green libraries as a new trend in the world of libraries and information. It will also tackle the projects that have been classified by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) as green projects set up in African libraries in Senegal and Kenya.

Additionally, the conference highlighted some of the environmental disasters facing the African continent, together with the role of NGOs and universities in promoting awareness of environmental sustainability. It examined a number of proposed green solutions to address environmental change.

Finally, as climate change is a human-caused problem, human-centred solutions will be key to its successful mitigation. Empowering our communities to develop, participate in, learn about, and embrace these solutions is a powerful way for libraries to enable and drive change.

So count Culture in, Count libraries in, and ACT NOW!

The Mission of the Public Library Today: Exploring what’s new in the Public Library Manifesto

The forthcoming update to the IFLA-UNESCO Public Library Manifesto re-examines the role of the public library – expanding on previous versions to more thoroughly reflect the ways libraries serve their communities today.

This update was informed by a global survey, as well as ongoing consultations with UNESCO’s Information For All Programme

UNESCO has been facilitating critical input from its member states represented on the IFAP Bureau. Upon completion of this process, the updated Manifesto will be ready for action as a cornerstone of library advocacy.

Key concepts that have been added to this updated version include:

Sustainable Development

As publicly accessible spaces for the exchange of information, the sharing of culture, and the promotion of civic engagement, libraries should be considered essential agents for sustainable development.

The updated Manifesto upholds that, through their activities relating to information, literacy, education, and culture, libraries contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the construction of more equitable, humane, and sustainable societies.

This is especially pertinent when concerning the public library’s role in ensuring inclusion, access, and cultural participation for marginalised communities, Indigenous peoples, and users with special needs.

Libraries in Knowledge Societies

The ways in which people access and use information have evolved. The updated Manifesto reflects the public library’s role in enabling knowledge societies through helping all members of society access, produce, create, and share knowledge.

This includes an increased focus on remote and digital access to information and materials, as well as access to the competencies and connectivity required to bridge the digital divide.

The previous version upholds the public library as a local gateway to knowledge, providing a basic condition for lifelong learning, independent decision-making and cultural development of the individual and social groups.

The update expands on this, adding that libraries underpin healthy knowledge societies through providing access to and enabling the creation and sharing of knowledge of all sorts, including scientific and local knowledge without commercial, technological or legal barriers.

It further states that, in the digital era, copyright and intellectual property legislation must ensure public libraries the same capacity to procure and give access to digital content on reasonable terms as is the case with physical resources.

 

The Evolving Mission of Public Libraries Today

Below you will find an overview of key concepts that have been expanded on in the updated Manifesto.

 

Previous Versions

The Update
Stimulating the imagination and creativity of children and young people. Providing opportunities for personal creative development, and stimulating imagination, creativity, curiosity, and empathy

 
creating and strengthening reading habits in children from an early age; Creating and strengthening reading habits in children from birth to adulthood

 
Access to information and material Providing services to their communities both in-person and remotely through digital technologies allowing access to information, collections, and programmes

 
Awareness of cultural heritage, appreciation of the arts, scientific achievements preservation of and access to cultural expressions and heritage, appreciation of the arts, scientific achievements, research and innovations, as expressed in traditional media, as well as digital material

 
Ensuring access for citizens to all sorts of community information Ensuring access for all people to all sorts of community information and opportunities for community organising, in recognition of the library’s role at the core of the social fabric

 
Ensuring inclusivity, especially relating to marginalised communities Preservation of, and access to, local and Indigenous data, knowledge, and heritage (including oral tradition), providing an environment in which the local community can take an active role in identifying materials to be captured, preserved and shared, in accordance with the community’s wishes.
Awareness of scientific achievements

 

 providing communities with access to scientific knowledge, such as research results and health information that can impact the lives of their users, as well as enabling participation in scientific progress.

 
Facilitating the development of information and computer literacy skills

 

initiating, supporting and participating in literacy activities and programmes to build reading and writing skills, and facilitating the development of media and information literacy and digital literacy skills for all people at all ages, in the spirit of equipping an informed, democratic society;

 

Take Part in World Environment Day 2022: Build and share your Earth Action Number

On World Environment Day (June 5), the Only One Earth campaign calls “collective, transformative action on a global scale to celebrate, protect and restore our planet”. This campaign, led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and hosted in 2022 by Sweden, is the largest international day focussed on the environment.

This year’s call to action echoes the outcomes of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), which culminated in the urgent message that now more than ever, leaders must take increasingly ambitious steps to mitigate the climate emergency.

However, this is not the role of government and policymakers alone. The Only One Earth campaign stresses collective action. A full spectrum of stakeholders – from governments, to cities, financial institutions, businesses, NGOs, academia, civil society, and individuals can – and must – take part.

This campaign highlights that climate action is a common goal, and all people have a vital role to play if we are to make a meaningful difference. Libraries are a part of this solution.

Libraries Empowering Climate Action

Libraries are learning institutions and trusted community spaces that can help educate, empower, and mobilise their community to take action for the environment.

Libraries connect people to knowledge, ideas, skills, and opportunities. Their collections, and expert staff who help make material discoverable, connect us to the past and to one another, and inspire innovation.

Interested in learning more?

 Review IFLA’s brief on Libraries and the Glasgow Work Programme on Action for Climate Empowerment  for more on how libraries can empower climate action through education, access to information, and public participation.

Watch the recent webinar from IFLA’s Environment, Sustainability, and Libraries Section (ENSULIB), Climate equity: A manifesto for libraries, which explores how libraries can be proactive in bringing climate equity to the fore in their communities.

Share your Impact on World Environment Day 2022

For World Environment Day 2022, the Only One Earth campaign calls on all stakeholders to calculate their Earth Action Numbers. These are numeric goals that help celebrate, protect, and restore our planet.

The campaign is creating an interactive map of Earth Action Numbers from around the world. This global perspective shows how many small actions – 2,754 and counting – can add up to a major movement.

Explore Earth Action Numbers from around the world here.

It only takes a few minutes to build your library’s Earth Action Number, add it to the map, and share your impact with the world.

Start here: Build Your Earth Action Number

Step 1: Plan Your Response

 Your library’s Earth Action Number is a specific, quantifiable example of your planned impact.

To build an Earth Action Number for your library, you will be first asked to identify the type of action you will take, or already are taking, through your library’s sustainability-related programmes, campaigns, or initiatives.

This may fall in the following action areas:

Climate Action

Your programme or initiative is addressing the causes of climate change and helping your community find ways to adapt.

A library example: The Oulu City Library project “A Responsible Library as Promoter of Environmental Awareness”, Finland (6th Green Library Project Award Winner) worked towards the goals of promoting environmental awareness among customers and library staff, reducing the environmental impact of library operations, and creating a library action plan for sustainable development.

Nature Action

Your programme or initiative helps preserve nature through sustainable resource consumption and the modelling of sustainable behaviours.

A library example: Lambaye Learning Center – “An Ecological Learning Center” , Senegal, (5th Green Library Award Runner-up) reaches out to their rural community with practical community-oriented programmes. Green thinking permeates all aspects of physical infrastructure, including rainwater collection, a waste disposal system, and use of solar panels.

Chemicals and Pollution Action

Your programme addresses the prevention and management of pollution of all kinds.

A library example: The revitalisation of the Edmonton Public Library, Canada, (6th Green Library Award winner) focussed on diverting waste from landfills during demolition by recycling and reusing as much of the existing materials as possible. It further promotes sustainable transportation by adding bike racks, car charging stations and better access to the light rail transit system.

Step 2: Specify your Action

Once you click on the relevant type of action, you will be able to choose from a list of specific actions that your library may be taking.

Specific actions in your library that you may want to feature could include:

  • improving waste management
  • banning single-use plastic
  • increasing energy efficiency
  • supporting environmental events, campaigns, and advocacy 

Step 3: Describe your action

You will be asked to share a short description of your planned activity – with a quantifiable goal.

For example, you plan to plant 10 bee-friendly plants on your library’s grounds.  Or you plan to use 0 single-use plastics within your library’s premises.

You will then be asked to share a short, specific description of how you plan to achieve this goal. This could be, for example, through 2 planned environmental programmes involving your library’s community, or through the installation of 1 solar panel.

That’s it! Your Earth Action Number has been built! You can do this multiple times to reflect a range of different actions at your library.

Step 4: Share your Impact

Once you build your Earth Action Number, you will receive a set of personalised graphics to promote your action.

Download these personalised graphics and share on social media to help demonstrate the impact that libraries have on inspiring, educating, and leading on climate action.

Join the global conversation by using the hashtags: #OnlyOneEarth and #WorldEnvironmentDay.

Learn how to do more

 Community Organising

The degradation of ecosystems affects all regions of our planet. Results such as extreme weather events and biodiversity loss are devastating to the environment and negatively impact human health and economic well-being.

Meaningful action to prevent degradation and restore ecosystems can happen at the local level in all types of communities. Libraries can have an important role in mobilising this local action.

To help, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has created a Community Organising Toolkit to equip change-makers with tools to mobilise action to restore healthy ecosystems.

In this toolkit, you will find a wealth of ideas for community-led projects and events, as well as practical steps to organising grassroots action.

Find out more and download the toolkit here: IUCN Community Organising Toolkit

Ecosystem Restoration

Restoring healthy ecosystems is a critical aspect of sustainable development, and without action we will not be able to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals set out in Agenda 2030.

Again, meaningful action can happen within our own communities. As a part of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), the UNEP has produced an Ecosystem Restoration Playbook to help raise awareness on ecosystem restoration and share ideas for local, on-the-ground restoration that can make a major impact.

Use this playbook to start conversations on ecosystem restoration in your library. Identify actions and opportunities to mobilise your community and raise your collective voices in support of your local ecosystems.

Find out more and download this resource here: Ecosystem Restoration Playbook

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IFLA continues to help the global library field engage in climate action. Follow the work of IFLA’s Environment, Sustainability and Libraries (ENSULIB) Section for more.

IFLA is proud to be a member of the International Steering Committee of the Climate Heritage Network.  Over the course of 2022, IFLA will work with CHN to bring the voice of libraries, and voices from across the culture sector, into the global climate change debate. We are already setting our sights on preparation for COP27, to be hosted in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in November 2022.

Stay tuned for more, or get in touch: claire.mcguire@ifla.org

 

Measuring the Impact of Cultural Diversity on Development: how libraries can get involved

Without intercultural dialogue, peace and sustainable development are not possible. The UN World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development (21 May) calls for recognition of the essential role that cultural diversity plays in enabling dialogue, building mutual understanding, and supporting better outcomes for all people.

IFLA has long championed the cross-cutting role of culture in building a better, more peaceful, world. As a member of the #Culture2030Goal Campaign, we have called for the recognition of culture as the fourth pillar of sustainable development. We have further called for a dedicated goal for culture in the post-2030 development framework, see the Statement by the #Culture2030Goal campaign on UNESCO MONDIACULT 2022 for more.

The UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005 Convention) helps policymakers strengthen their commitment to supporting cultural diversity by providing a framework by which these values are transformed into actions.

By monitoring the implementation of this Convention, we can both measure the impact of culture on development in concrete terms and find a wealth of good practice examples that can inspire further initiatives.

For a practical approach to Cultural Diversity Day, this article will introduce the monitoring framework of the 2005 Convention – especially its relationship to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It will highlight how libraries can get involved in reporting. Finally, it will introduce the methodology of an ongoing research project in which IFLA is mapping the role of libraries in the reports of the 2005 Convention, which will provide a clear picture of how libraries help achieve its goals.

Protecting and Promoting Diverse Cultural Expressions

Parties to the 2005 Convention have expressed a commitment to culture, in recognition of its importance for creating a rich, varied world and driving sustainable development.

The Convention provides a framework by which governments can strengthen international cooperation and work towards policy provisions that will protect and promote cultural diversity, as well support the creators, knowledge-holders, and institutions that make and share culture.

The Convention notably established the International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD), which provides grants in support of a dynamic cultural sector in developing countries.

Note: the 2022 Call for Applications to the IFCD is currently open! Find out more here: 2022 IFCD Call for Nominations.

Another important aspect of the 2005 Convention is its article 11, which encourages active participation with civil society (including libraries and library associations). This provides a strong base on which to build future cooperation with national authorities who implement the convention and measure its impact.

Find out more: Get Into the 2005 Convention

Measuring Progress

In order to better monitor implementation of the Convention, inform evidence-based policymaking, and align with the UN Agenda 2030, UNESCO introduced a Monitoring Framework in 2015.

This framework is based around four goals, which are drawn from the Convention’s guiding principles:

  1. Support sustainable systems of governance for culture
  2. Achieve a balanced flow of cultural goods and services and increase the mobility of artists and cultural professionals
  3. Integrate culture in sustainable development frameworks
  4. Promote human rights and fundamental freedoms

Within each goal, the Framework determines several areas of monitoring, which are critical themes that support the goal. Each area of monitoring is assigned indicators which can be used to measure success, which are in turn confirmed through corresponding means of verification.

UNESCO 2005 Convention Monitoring Framework (2005 Convention Global Report 2022)

Example from the UNESCO 2005 Convention Monitoring Framework

 

Note that each goal is specifically linked to corresponding SDGs. Further, each indicator is linked to one or more SDG targets, which directly connect it to specific tasks or outcomes within the SDG framework.

From the above example, policies and measures which promote gender equality in the culture and media sector indicate progress towards the Gender Equality monitoring area. This supports Goal 4 (Promote Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms), which aligns with SDG #4 (Gender Equality).

However, even more specifically, this indicator is linked to SDG targets 5.c, which concerns adapting policies and enforceable legislation to support women and girls, and 5.5, which concerns equal participation and opportunities for leadership.

Why is this framework important?

Evidence-based policymaking is key to successful implementation of the Convention. This framework helps policymakers and other stakeholders better understand how supporting cultural diversity can impact on sustainable development.

For IFLA’s members – looking at the Monitoring Framework is a practical way to envision how the work your library is already doing – or could be doing in the future – aligns with these goals.

To start, could you think of library initiatives that satisfy these indicators? 

  • Policies and measures support diversity of the media (Goal 1)
  • Policies and measures facilitate access to diverse cultural expressions in the digital environment (Goal 1)
  • Operational programmes support the mobility of artists and cultural professionals, notably from developing countries (Goal 2)
  • Policies and measures support equity in the distribution of cultural resources and inclusive access to such resources (Goal 3)
  • Policies and measures promote and protect freedoms of creation and expression and participation in cultural life (Goal 4)

Explore further: Monitoring Framework – UNESCO 2005 Convention (from the 2005 Convention Global Report 2022)

Making your Impact Known

Countries that are party to the 2005 Convention are required to submit a report on their progress once every four years. These are called Quadrennial Periodic Reports, or QPRs.

In 2019, UNESCO reformed the reports to align directly with the Monitoring Framework. This data collections allows UNESCO to take a holistic look at how the world is protecting and promoting diverse cultural expressions, and how this relates directly to sustainable development.

UNESCO’s most recent overview of the state of cultural policy was debuted earlier this year: Re|Shaping Policies for Creativity: 2005 Convention Global Report 2022

Why are QPRs relevant for libraries?

QPRs present an opportunity for libraries and library associations to make their impact directly known to national cultural authorities and beyond.

Since 2019, UNESCO invites civil society stakeholders to participate in reporting with a dedicated Civil Society Organisation form.  This form follows the reporting framework and allows civil society to share information on their initiatives for inclusion in the final national report.

UNESCO reports that 77% of QPRs submitted since 2019 included measures or initiatives undertaken by civil society organisations, so the willingness to include such input is clearly being demonstrated.

To make your impact known, follow these steps:

  1. Find out when your country’s next QPR is due: Periodic Reports
  2. Download the Civil Society Organisation form [download the word document here].
  3. Review the Monitoring Framework and determine relevant measures and initiatives your organisation/institution/ association has implemented in the last four years
  4. Get in touch with your National Point of Contact [list and contact details here], who is responsible for coordinating reporting in your country. Let them know you are completing the Civil Society Organisation form.
  5. Share the completed civil society organisation form with your National Point of Contact roughly six months before the deadline for submission

Coming Up

In September 2022, the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – MONDIACULT 2022 – will bring cultural policymakers and stakeholders from across the world together in Mexico City.

This conference will accelerate the global dialolgue on culture’s role in sustainable development and define immediate and future priorities.

Watch IFLA discuss ways in which libraries fit into these discussions here: ResiliArtxMondiacult 2022  

To prepare for these discussions, IFLA is using insights collected through the 2005 Convention monitoring and reporting scheme to map ways in which libraries are being recognised as contributing to the goals of the Convention – and corresponding sustainable development goals.

There are myriad examples included in this body of information. For example, the 2005 Convention Global Report 2022 already provides some insight:

Goal 1: Supporting sustainable systems of governance for culture

  • “Several countries, including Egypt, Norway, Qatar and Slovakia, have begun extensive work to digitize their national libraries, thereby facilitating access to, and the discoverability of, local cultural content in several languages” (UNESCO, 2022, pg. 107)
  • “National Library for the Disabled [Republic of Korea] increased its membership by 84% in 2021 alone, as it expanded its provision in Braille, voice over and sign language” (UNESCO, 2022, pg. 105)

Goal 2: Achieve a balanced flow of cultural goods and services and increase mobility

  • “China and Niger signed a cultural cooperation agreement to exchange information and expertise in the areas of audiovisual, publishing, libraries and exhibitions” (UNESCO, 2022, pg. 178)

Goal 3: Integrate culture in sustainable development

  • “Developing and developed countries all implement a variety of measures for ensuring access to culture outside of the main urban areas… [for example] mobile libraries and bookstores deployed to stimulate reading (China, Egypt, Iraq).” (UNESCO, 2022, pg. 222)
  • “Given that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the challenge of digital exclusion, it is encouraging to see the reporting of measures aimed at ensuring greater connectivity in libraries across national territories (Argentina, Costa Rica).” (UNESCO, 2022, pg. 222)

IFLA will continue reviewing the body of reports submitted since 2019 to collect quantifiable data on the number of library-related measures and initiatives within each of the Convention’s four objectives. This study with further provide qualifiable data regarding innovative library initiatives that can serve as inspiration for the future.

Stay tuned for more in the lead up to Mondiacult 2022!

For questions or assistance: claire.mcguire@ifla.org

Upholding Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Reflections on International Mother Language Day

International Mother Language Day (21 February) is an annual affirmation of the important role that cultural and linguistic diversity plays in building sustainable societies.

Cultural and linguistic diversity are fundamentally linked to freedom of expression and access information; they are at the heart of the promotion of cultural and educational rights.

If the availability of educational material, cultural expressions, scientific information, and artistic works do not reflect the linguistic diversity of the community, the possibility for all members in the community to meaningfully engage with, and to benefit from, this material is severely limited.

International Mother Language Day 2022

As the world looks to post-pandemic recovery, considering the lessons learned over the past two years, the opportunities and challenges of digital technologies has become a central theme. Ensuring opportunities associated with technological advances are available to all is an important element of upholding universal rights and freedoms concerning expression, access to information, and cultural participation.

With this in mind, UNESCO has named the following theme for International Mother Language Day 2022: “Using technology for multilingual learning: Challenges and opportunities”

UNESCO will take this opportunity to encourage a discussion on the role that technology has in advancing multilingual education and supporting the development of quality teaching and learning for all.

Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, addresses this theme in her message:

Technology  can  provide  new  tools  for  protecting  linguistic  diversity.  Such  tools,  for  example,  facilitating  their  spread  and  analysis,  allow  us  to  record  and  preserve  languages which sometimes exist only in oral form. Put simply, they make local dialects a shared heritage. However, because the Internet poses a risk of linguistic uniformization, we must also be aware that technological progress will serve plurilingualism only as long as we make the effort  to  ensure  that  it  does.

Libraries are gateways to information and knowledge, as well as community-level nodes in connectivity infrastructure helping to bridge the digital divide.

Making cultural and linguistic diversity a pillar of library collection development, cultural heritage preservation, and library programming promoting diverse cultural expressions can help further the role of libraries as key partners in preserving and promoting linguistic diversity.

Libraries for Universal Access and Meaningful Connectivity

Discussions on how technological advances may benefit cultural and linguistic diversity must first address the key challenge of bridging the digital divide. Any opportunities that can be brought about by digital transformation will not successfully reach those who could perhaps benefit most without addressing gaps in digital access.

Libraries bring valuable solutions, practices and lessons-learned to internet governance policy dialogues that prioritise addressing the digital divide.

For example, one of the takeaway messages from the 2021 Internet Governance Forum in Katowice highlights the role of libraries in the discussions on universal access and meaningful connectivity:

Public access through institutions such as libraries can help deliver on all of the components of access that help drive development – equitable and inclusive connectivity, content and competences. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that countries had to prioritise the massive development of connectivity infrastructure to connect the unconnected to an increasingly digital world.

IFLA urges discourse on the role of digital technologies in upholding cultural rights and promoting multilingualism to examine gaps in the connectivity infrastructure. We encourage policymakers to look to libraries as knowledge partners who can help work towards universal access and meaningful connectivity.

Find out more, and how you can get involved in this work, here: Dynamic Coalition on Public Access in Libraries: Annual report and a look ahead to 2022

The role of Memory Institutions in Selection of Digital Materials for Long-term Preservation

To enable the enduring preservation of and access to cultural heritage, including in digital form, in line with the UNESCO 2015 Recommendation, steps must be taken to preserve digitised and born-digital materials.

This can be a practical application of upholding plurilingualism through cultural heritage preservation.

Reviewing policies that decide what digitised and born-digital materials are preserved serves an important role in upholding UNESCO’s call to ensure that technological progress serves plurilingualism.

There is a need to address the questions – what material is being digitised? Are these decisions reflective of the world’s rich cultural and linguistic diversity? Who is making these decisions, and, if applicable, are they being carried out with appropriate community consultation?

Selection Guidelines

A tool to aid these selection decisions is the recently launched 2nd edition of the UNESCO-PERSIST Guidelines for the Selection of Digital Heritage for Long-term Preservation.

These guidelines were created primarily for use by practitioners in cultural institutions who make the day-to-day decisions about which digital materials are candidates for long-term accessibility. They support practitioners in reviewing existing policies, highlighting important issues to consider, and providing guidance in drafting institutional policies.

The Guidelines stress that the material for collection that they refer to is intended to include digital content created by or about all ethnic, religious, gender, social, and political groups found in all regions of the world. The Content Task Force who created the Guidelines recommends that archives, libraries, and museums consult and collaborate with underrepresented communities when making selection decisions to ensure that documentary heritage created by and about these communities is identified for long-term digital preservation.

Access the Guidelines here in English, Spanish, and Arabic: 2nd Edition of the UNESCO/PERSIST Guidelines for the Selection of Digital Heritage for Long-Term Preservation.

Connecting Cultural and Linguistic Diversity to Sustainable Development

Agenda 2030 recognises the importance of education that promotes appreciation of cultural diversity, education for sustainable development, and recognition of culture’s contribution to sustainable development in Target 4.7:

By 2030 ensure all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including among others through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.

Achieving this goal will not be possible without recognition of the key role that multilingualism plays in education for sustainable development.

This is being reflected more and more in international efforts to address global challenges through education, culture, and the arts.

Here are some key developments that could provide inspiration to reflect on the role of libraries in connecting cultural and linguistic diversity to sustainable development.

UNESCO Futures of Education Report

UNESCO’s Futures of Education initiative and recent report, Imagining our Futures Together: a new social contract for education, stresses the importance of promoting increased diversity in knowledge.

This includes linguistic diversity, diverse world views, and ways of knowing that have traditionally been left out of formal education, such as indigenous knowledge. The dimension calls for climate education to be prioritised in order to fundamentally reorient how the place of humans in the world is understood.

Read more about libraries in the Futures of Education Report: Libraries Contributing to a New Social Contract for Education.

 International Decade of Indigenous Languages

The International Decade of Indigenous Languages will span 2022-2032, and calls for global action to preserve, revitalize, and promote the world’s Indigenous languages.

The recently launched Global Action Plan outlines and seeks to coordinate actions for national governments, indigenous peoples’ organizations, civil society, academia, the private sector and other actors.

The Action Plan includes much scope to involve librarians in this work, including the development of professional competencies for information and media professionals, including librarians, and carrying out of awareness-raising on the importance of including Indigenous language material in their work.

Find out more here: Global Action Plan of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022-2032)

Libraries around the world are already carrying out programmes to involve their communities in preserving indigenous culture, including oral tradition. See just one of many examples from the Library Services for Saskatchewan Aboriginal people, in which Indigenous storytellers take part in the annual Saskatchewan Aboriginal Storytelling Month, held both in libraries and through online platforms in order to reach more people.

Stay tuned for more information from IFLA on how libraries can be involved in the International Decade.

Inspiring action through multiculturalism and multilingualism in the arts

Cultural and linguistic diversity, expressed through the arts and both through traditional and digital platforms, add critical voices to efforts to address humanities most urgent challenges, such as the climate emergency.

During the 26th UN Climate Conference (COP26), hosted in Glasgow in November 2021, the Climate Heritage Network officially launched the Climate Heritage Network Race to Resilience Campaign. This campaign calls for a scaling-up of efforts to use culture-based strategies to build climate resilience in our communities.

IFLA’s Secretary General, Gerald Leitner, joined the celebration to give a short address on the power of the written and spoken word in creating connections across cultures and finding solutions to humanity’s shared challenges:

Resilience requires connections. Connections to the past and the lessons it can teach us, but also connections between ourselves, binding us together. Connections enable us to mobalise to support each other, to understand one another’s experiences and values, to create and innovate in the way we face our common challenges. The written and spoken word provides one of the most effective ways we have to realise these connections. It moves, it forms, it enables actions at all levels. It should be available and accessible to everyone, because for culture-based strategies to enable us to build a more resilient world, they need to be inclusive. This is what libraries… look to achieve.

He went on to introduce the poet, filmmaker, and musician Rosanne Watt, who hails from the island of Shetland, Scotland. Her work is deeply connected to her homeland, a connection which she says she can express best through the Shetland dialect.

In this, she stressed the importance of Indigenous languages in bringing voices to climate action.

The use of digital platforms to enable remote participation enabled diverse voices to be brought to high-level COP26 events. Watch Rosanne perform poems in both English and the Shetland dialect on this occasion [YouTube].

To note: among the resources launched during COP26 in November 2021, Climate Heritage Network’s Working Group on Supporting Climate Action by Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples has launched a resource “Models of Supporting Climate Action by Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples” [access this resource here].

Get involved in the discussion!

The intersection of cultural rights with multilingualism and digital transformation will be among the topics explored at IFLA’s upcoming Resiliart x Mondiacult virtual event: Libraries enabling inclusive and meaningful participation in cultural life.

Join the conversation on Wednesday 23 February [15:00-16:50 CET]. More information and the link to register is available here: ResiliArt x Mondiacult at IFLA – Meet the Panel and Register Now!