UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN). Its purpose is to contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through educational, scientific, and cultural reforms in order to increase universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedom proclaimed in the United Nations Charter. It is the heir of the League of Nations' International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.

UNESCO has 195 member states and nine associate members. Most of its field offices are "cluster" offices covering three or more countries; national and regional offices also exist.

UNESCO pursues its objectives through five major programs: education, natural sciences, social/human sciences, culture and communication/information. Projects sponsored by UNESCO include literacy, technical, and teacher-training programmes, international science programmes, the promotion of independent media and freedom of the press, regional and cultural history projects, the promotion of cultural diversity, translations of world literature, international cooperation agreements to secure the world cultural and natural heritage (World Heritage Sites) and to preserve human rights, and attempts to bridge the worldwide digital divide. It is also a member of the United Nations Development Group.

World Heritage Site

A World Heritage Site is a place (such as a building, city, complex, desert, forest, island, lake, monument, or mountain) that is listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as being of special cultural or physical significance.The list is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 UNESCO member states which are elected by the General Assembly.

The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity. Under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The program was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World's Cultural and Natural Heritage, which was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972. Since then, 191 states parties have ratified the Convention, making it one of the most adhered to international instruments. Only Liechtenstein, Nauru, Somalia, South Sudan, Timor-Leste, and Tuvalu are not Parties to the Convention.

Global Geoparks Network

The Global Geoparks Network (GGN) (also known as the Global Network of National Geoparks) is a UNESCO assisted network established in 1998. Managed under the body’s Ecological and Earth Sciences Division, the GGN seeks the promotion and conservation of the planet’s geological heritage, as well as encourages the sustainable research and development by the concerned communities.

The network

The international network seeks the membership geoparks—geographical areas where geological heritage is the focus of local protection, education and development.

A set of criteria as established by UNESCO must first be met for a geopark, as nominated by the corresponding government, to be included in the GGN:

La Mixteca

La Mixteca is a region in Western Oaxaca and neighboring portions of Puebla, Guerrero in south-central Mexico which refers to the home of the Mixtec people. The region covers some 40,000 km² where two of the country's mountain ranges, the Neo-Volcanic Belt and Sierra Madre del Sur, converge.

Geography

La Mixteca is a country of great contrasts. The Sierra Madre del Sur and the Neo-Volcanic Belt mark its northern limits. To the east, it is defined by the Cuicatlán Ravine and the Central Valleys of Oaxaca. To the west, the Mixteca region is adjacent to the valleys of Morelos and the central portion of Guerrero. To the south lies the Pacific Ocean. Because of the presence of the major mountains of the Sierra Mixteca, communications with the rest of the country are difficult.

The region is conventionally divided into three separate areas, defined by the prevailing height of the terrain.

Global citizenship education

Global citizenship education (GCE) is a form of civic learning that involves students' active participation in projects that address global issues of a social, political, economic, or environmental nature. The two main elements of GCE are 'global consciousness'; the moral or ethical aspect of global issues, and 'global competencies', or skills meant to enable learners to compete in the global jobs market. The promotion of GCE was a response by governments and NGOs to the emergence of supranational institutions, regional economic blocs, and the development of information and communications technologies. These have all resulted in the emergence of a more globally oriented and collaborative approach to education.

Definition and origins

Global citizenship consists of voluntary practices oriented to human rights, social justice, and environmentalism at the local, regional, and global level. Unlike national citizenship, global citizenship does not denote any legal status or allegiance to an actual form of government. The emergence of regional economic blocs, supra-national political institutions such as the European Union, and the advancement of ICTs, has caused governments to try to prepare national populations to be competitive in the global jobs market. This has led to the introduction of global citizenship education (GCE) programs at primary, secondary, and tertiary level, but also at independent NGOs, grass roots organizations, and other large scale educational organizations, such as the International Baccalaureate Organization and UNESCO.