United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (Brazil), Ireland, Timothy Denis, Spezia, Carlos Humberto, Ireland, Timothy Denis, Spezia, Carlos Humberto, and United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (Brazil)
The present document on the Sixty Years of CONFINTEA was inspired by the desire to register the long fecund history of a global movement which has spanned six decades. Official records and documents produced by and for the conferences, in particular the final reports, elaborated by UNESCO were used as an important source. This process of historical recovery became equally important as a means of undertaking a transversal reading of the development of the concept of adult education, embracing the post-war years, the period of decolonization, the Cold War and the attack on the twin towers in New York. In Knoll's words, it "(…) demonstrates the changes in perceptions of adult education, from literacy to lifelong learning, in which adult education is seen as both part of the continuum of education and an entity in itself." In addition to the CONFINTEA documents, other documents were included which possess a fundamental link with the Conferences and what they represent in terms of the struggle for the right to education, in the spirit of education for all and in the perspective of lifelong learning and education. Following an introduction, the following papers are included: (1) "The history of the UNESCO International Conferences on Adult Education--From Helsingör (1949) to Hamburg (1997): international education policy through people and programmes (Joachim H. Knoll); (2) Sixty years of CONFINTEA: a retrospective analysis (Timothy D. Ireland); and (3) The CONFINTEA agenda: work in progress (Timothy D. Ireland). Nine annexes include the following summary reports: (1) Universal Declaration of Human Rights; (2) First International Conference on Adult Education (1949); (3) Second International Conference on Adult Education (1960); (4) Third International Conference on Adult Education (1972); (5) Recommendation on the Development of Adult Education adopted by the UNESCO General Conference at its 19th session (Nairobi, 26 November, 1976); (6) Fourth International Conference on Adult Education (1985); (7) Fifth International Conference on Adult Education (1997); (8) Recommitting to Adult Education and Learning: Synthesis Report of the CONFINTEA V Midterm Review Meeting; and (9) Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (2009).