Within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 - the right to quality education – the conference focuses on global challenges learners, educators and educational institutions, but also countries, economies and governments are facing when it comes to shrinking civic spaces in education, access to education for refugees, migrants and girls as well as access to inclusive and quality education for sustainable development (ESD) and global citizenship. The conference will address key areas such as innovation and quality assurance to achieve excellence, human rights and learning impact in situations of forced migration or how to maintain civic space in education, because we believe that they are necessary in making educational services work for all. Particular emphasis is given to youth perspectives and connecting those with the experience of senior educators and experts.

To this end, the event brings together experts and participants from different sectors and groups: educators and education designers, policy makers, experts from international agencies and civil society activists, persons from businesses, students from different backgrounds, and many more. Listening to what motivates and what worries the various stakeholders, respecting the different perspectives, and bringing actors together in transforming education in order to better equip persons to use education for their personal development and for society in general.

The Vienna Declaration will outline a framework as well as quality standards and criteria in order to set an ambitious agenda that will help to turn these commitments into action.

As we near the five-year mark of the SDGs, there is a need for the global community to take stock on our progress toward SDG 4, identify current gaps and opportunities, and discuss the roles and responsibilities that we all share in ensuring that all children and youth can enjoy their right to a quality education.

In this context, World University Service (WUS), together with the University of Vienna and the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Research as well as the Central European University (CEU) in Vienna will host a global conference on SDG4 and the Right to Quality Education: An Agenda for Action in Vienna, Austria in May 2020, focusing on global challenges of quality education in the context of academic freedom, migration and education for sustainable development.

There will be an exploration of the roles of public and private actors, and emerging technologies and educational methodologies that together expand access and achieve better learning opportunities and outcomes for all - particularly for disadvantaged persons, displaced, poorly served and otherwise marginalised communities like girls education and refugee education.

original source and more information: WUS Austria | WUS 100 - Global Conference on Human Right to Quality Education