WISE, GEF connect educators in Latin America

Doha, The Gulf Observer: Medellin was host to one of the largest educational events in Latin America when they held the ‘GEF & WISE @ Medellin’ international summit to support strengthening the global educational ecosystem and promote collaboration between societies.

Organised by the Global Education Forum (GEF), an initiative of Universidad Camilo José Cela and SEK Education Group in Madrid, and WISE, an initiative of Qatar Foundation (QF), the event focused on Colombia and Latin America. Themed ‘Beyond Education: Involving a Whole Society in Learning’, it featured more than twenty panels with nearly 100 speakers and brought together over 800 international participants with expertise in the field of education, including scholars, educators, and thought leaders.

Stavros Yiannouka, CEO of WISE, emphasised the relevance of the initiative, saying: “We have taken a key step in helping to boost Latin America’s education landscape and show it for what it is: a reference region for the development of new learning models and ecosystems. And this is also particularly evident in the case of Colombia and Medellín, due to their projects to advance the future of education.

“This summit is a great example of WISE’s mission as an organization that promotes and supports innovation in education in all its aspects.”

Nieves Segovia, President of Universidad Camilo José Cela and SEK Education Group, highlighted the importance of the discussions that were held with the speakers. “The quality of the experts gathered today has allowed us to chart new paths for the educational models of the future and has provided us with a very valuable global vision for the development of new ideas for education”, she said.

“In a context of constant change, we must promote the collaboration of all the agents involved in teaching and learning. Today we have managed to be the great meeting point for everyone.”

A session within the event, led by WISE’s Agile Leaders of Learning Innovation Network, a global community of educational leadership experts, initiated the consultations for UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report 2024. The session sparked a meaningful dialogue centered around the topic of leadership in education to gather valuable input and observations on the evolving requirements of effective leadership in education across different countries and over time.

Participants were encouraged to actively engage in upcoming regional and thematic consultations around visions and goals that are driving leadership in education, and how external factors can impact effective leadership, as well as the policy levers. These consultations are part of a collaborative endeavor to shape the future of education leadership.