UN-backed forum links advanced knowledge to sustainable development

The interconnections between education, scientific research and technological innovation and their part in sustainable development will be explored in Trieste, Italy, starting today by policy-makers and experts from the educational, scientific and business worlds, the United Nations’ educational agency said today.

The World Forum on Education, Research and Innovation is sponsored by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the G-8 group of countries that includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States.

According to UNESCO, the Forum aims to identify opportunities, as well as risks, for both industrialized and developing countries in the pursuit of sustainable development through advanced knowledge and technologies, including special roundtables on Africa and the role of Government.

The forum, which runs through 12 May, is being organized by the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, an international scientific institution under the aegis of UNESCO and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).