Message of Mr. Han Qunli, UNESCO Representative to the Islamic Republic of Iran

 at

 The first Conference on the Role of E-learning for Developing Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Education

 3 December 2008

 Honorable guests,

Dear participants,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am glad to speak at the opening of this Conference on the role of e-learning in the development of cultural heritage, handicrafts and tourism education. I would like to express my gratitude to the host of the Conference for taking this initiative. It is an important opportunity for different participants, such as government officials, teachers, engineers, heritage property managers, tour operators, handicrafts makers and entrepreneurs, to exchange views and ideas and look into the potential of ICT in this area.

E-learning has been a hot topic for quite some time. We have witnessed the rapid development of ICT and its applications over the past three decades. This has lead to change in countless aspects of our daily lives and transformed the way our societies function.

UNESCO has responded, through its Medium-Term Strategies, to the expanding impact of ICT for education, science, culture and media, and the convergence of these into the large-scale development of knowledge societies. In this process, UNESCO aims to narrow the digital divide between developed and developing countries, between urban and rural communities, between men and women. UNESCO stands for the equal access to information of all people.

Last year, UNESCO organized in Germany an expert meeting on the future of knowledge production and knowledge sharing. The expert group suggested several deep changes will take place over the next twenty-five years: The creation and dissemination of knowledge will increasingly become mediated by technology and take place on-line. New knowledge communities and networks will be formed. Traditional education processes will be revolutionized. The importance of memorizing factual knowledge will decrease, whereas the ability to independently find, organize and assess information will become crucial.

In such a complex environment the capacity to learn and to apply information in a creative way will be the heart of knowledge skills. The role of teachers as traditional instructors will decrease. Instead, they will become facilitators and guides to learners. They will help students understand and interpret information and create a knowledge base that students will keep updating themselves. Learning will be the result of a mix of influences: traditional schools, families and social networks will provide core values and social competencies. On-line learning communities, especially communities of practice, will offer applied information. And the private sector will become increasingly important, as it will have a defining role in the development of knowledge management technology and future user models.

In the field of culture and heritage, these developments will be equally important. Through its World Heritage Centre and Communication Program, UNESCO has launched several initiatives to explore the role of ICT in culture. International workshops and conferences have helped to develop ICT concepts and practices on e-documentation and standardization in cultural heritage, on virtual systems and multimedia, on computer graphics and on the digital preservation of heritage.

Several national and international institutions are already adopting common approaches to documenting, protecting and managing their cultural heritage. Emerging applications include e-Museums and e-Exhibitions, e-Libraries and e-Archives. ICT is an excellent platform for cultural education and teacher training. It is also a key tool for entrepreneurs in the culture sector, who need to learn from best practices around the world and to promote local tourism and cultural products.

Iran has a good ICT industry and a talented young generation interested in ICT applications. Paired with Iran's long history and rich tangible and intangible heritage, there will be no shortage of options to create innovative systems to display and promote Iranian culture.

It is however important to remember that from the beginning, strong priority should be given to the quality control of the materials developed for e-learning and sharing. In the emerging competitive and diverse knowledge environment, poorly developed materials will not stand a chance to have an impact. ICT-based services also require maintenance and updating to be sustainable, and the wide dissemination of ICT skills and vision among all levels of people participating in cultural production. Innovation happens when different people, men and women, old and young, rural and urban share their talents and visions with each other. Therefore, quality knowledge management can truly grow only when people have good and equal access to the constantly developing knowledge environment.

UNESCO would be pleased to further engage with Iran in the development of new approaches to ICT for education, science and culture. Long-term strategies must be developed to harness the enormous potential of new communication and information processes. To move forward, Iran needs mechanisms to bring together the private sector, academia and user communities from various groups to create new business models. And, as in every country, the young people are the most dynamic and inventive. Their contribution and potential should be fully appreciated, to move Iranian culture fast into the new information age.

With these short comments, I wish you successful discussions and deliberations at this e-learning conference. I thank you for your attention.