The gathering will bring together actors from the global ASPnet community actors from 50 countries, and representatives from policy makers and partner institutions to explore and identify the opportunities and challenges on how they effectively contribute to the implementation of SDG 4 and Education 2030. SDG 4 ensures inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning.

The Chinese National Commission for UNESCO is organizing the conference in cooperation with UNESCO, to further reform and revitalize the network in order to better guide and support the work of its over 10,000 member institutions and to increase their prospects for cooperation and exchange.

The conference presents a unique opportunity to bring together actors from the global ASPnet community to discuss how the network can be strengthened and further developed in the SDG context. This will help translate UNESCO’s values and priorities into teaching and learning and to ensure that its innovative practices inform national education policy.

The UNESCO Associated Schools Network (ASPnet), as a driver for innovation and quality in education, can make a major contribution to the effective implementation of the Sustainable Development Agenda, in particular for reaching targets 4.7 and 4.a of SDG 4 and Education 2030. In this context, UNESCO is reforming and revitalizing the network in order to better guide and support the work of its over 10,000 member institutions and to increase their opportunities for cooperation and exchange. Furthermore, efforts are made to feed ASPnet good practices into policy debate and national reform in order to transform teaching and learning and equip children and young people to be agents of change, global citizens and peace-builders.

The conference presents an outstanding opportunity to provide the ASPnet actors with a collective and shared ambition to strengthen and further develop the SDG perspective, to translate UNESCO’s values and priorities into teaching and learning, and to ensure that their innovative, creative and inspiring practices inform national education policy. It aims at engaging the participants in a national, regional and international dialogue that serves as a forum for networking and exchanging on all-inclusive perspectives on the implication of the SDGs in the context of ASPnet. The conference brings optimal outlooks to put forward the network building and collaborative learning across countries and ways to leverage knowledge connection and action.

Founded in 1953, ASPnet is a global network of 10,000 educational institutions in 181 countries.