SDG 4: Quality education – bridging the gaps through education

The City of Helsinki and UNU-WIDER have teamed up to host a series of inspirational discussion forums that highlight key UN Sustainable Development Goals and work being done to make these goals a reality. The first discussion forum in June 2022 focused on SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, while this second event in the series, set for 26–27 October 2022, will focus on the fascinating topic of SDG 4: Quality Education. Register for the in-person event on 26 October here, or join online through Helsinki-kanava. Speakers include development economist Lant Pritchett and many other top experts in the education field. UNU-WIDER Director Kunal Sen and Mayor of Helsinki Juhana Vartiainen will also participate. The October event coincides with the annual HundrED Innovation Summit and the celebration of the 77th anniversary of the United Nations. Bridging the gaps Everyone in the field of education knows that curiosity sits at the heart of learning and innovation. This means that successfully generating new methods, approaches and learning environments demands an openness to, and comfort with, the unknown. We invite you to join us on 26–27 October 2022 as we host our second Sustainable Cities Discussion Forum. This two-day event gathers world-renowned speakers, education and development professionals, innovators in the field, and everyone else who may be interested to brainstorm new solutions for bridging education gaps and maintaining resilience and hope. What kinds of risk-taking and creative innovations are needed to narrow these persistent gaps in education outcomes? How can we level the playing field in terms of skills, achievement, gender and equity? And how can we mend the digital divide? On Wednesday 26 October, the event features a keynote address from world-renowned development economist Lant Pritchett. He and other leading education innovators and specialists from around the world will shine a light on education gaps, case examples, and the concrete steps that need to be taken to move from talk to action. The first day’s events will take place on the picturesque island of Hanasaari. We will continue on Thursday 27 October with HundrED’s Innovation Showcase on how to stay resilient and hopeful for the future, featuring interactive workshops, panel discussions and insightful presentations on thinking creatively about the future of education. Join us for day two at the Helsinki City Hall and prepare to be inspired!

26 October: Hanaholmen, Hanasaarenranta 5, Espoo

The event will be simulcast and available for later viewing on the city’s video streaming platform, Helsinki-kanava. Sign up to attend in person here. Please note that there are limited spaces available.

Programme

14.00	Welcome
	Welcoming address “Helsinki - the most equitable and effective place to learn” Juhana Vartiainen, Mayor of Helsinki
	“How to address the persistent gaps in educational outcomes?” Lant Prichett, Research Director, RISE
	Case example from India Varsha Pillai, Associate director, Dream a dream
	“Can we increase social mobility through education?” Kunal Sen, director, UNU-WIDER
	Case Example from Helsinki Marjo Kyllönen, Head of Education Development Services, Helsinki Education Division
	Open Stage – From talks to action
15:30	Event ends

 

27 October: Helsinki City Hall, Pohjoisesplanadi 11-13, Helsinki

The event will be simulcast and available for later viewing on the city’s video streaming platform, Helsinki-kanava.

Programme

10.00	Welcome
10:05 LIVE STREAM	Innovation Showcase Stephanie M. Jones, Gerald S. Lesser Professor in Early Childhood Development, Director of EASEL Lab Isaac Success Omoyele, Founder at Dreams From The Slum Empowerment Initiative Jenn Flynn, Apple Schools, Canada Palarp Jumpasut, Associate Director, Room to Read, Bangladesh
10:50-11:15 LIVE STREAM	The Stolen Year: How Covid Changed Children’s Lives, and where we go now? Anya Kamenetz, journalist & author
14:15-15:00 LIVE STREAM	Thinking Creatively about Educational Futures Framed and hosted by Fazal Rizvi, Emeritus Professor, The University of Melbourne Panelists Nasima Razmyar, Deputy Mayor for Education, the City of Helsinki Janhvi M Kanoria, Director Of the Innovation Development Directorate, Education Above All Foundation Stephen Harris, Co-Founder, LearnLife, Spain & Australia Rodrigo Oliveira, Research Associate, UNU-WIDER
15:00	Event ends

Speakers

Lant Pritchett is a development economist from Idaho. He graduated from BYU in 1983 and from MIT with a PhD in Economics in 1988. He worked with the World Bank from 1988 to 2007, living in Indonesia 1998-2000 and India 2004-2007. He taught at the Harvard Kennedy School from 2000 to 2019, where he was, at times, the Faculty Chair of the MPA/ID Degree program. Having twice retired, he is currently is affiliated with Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government as the Research Director of the RISE Programme, is the Research Director at LaMP (Labor Mobility Partnerships), and is a fellow at the London School of Economics. He has published over a hundred journal articles, working papers, chapters, and books, working with over fifty different co-authors. His publications spans a wide range of development topics: economic growth, state capability, education, labor mobility, development assistance (and more) and has been, at times, influential (his published work has over 47,000 citations). Juhana Vartiainen has been the Mayor of Helsinki since 2021. He holds a doctorate in Economics from the University of Helsinki and has many years of experience leading economic research institutes in both Finland and Sweden. In 2003, he was the named the Director of Stockholm’s Trade Union Institute for Economic Research (FIEF), moving in 2005 to become Research Director of the Swedish National Institute for Economic Research. In 2012, he became the Director General of Finland’s VATT Institute for Economic Research. Mayor Vartiainen served as a Member of the Finnish Parliament from 2015 to 2021. Professor Kunal Sen has over three decades of experience in academic and applied development economics research. He is the author of eight books and the editor of five volumes on the economics and political economy of development. From 2019 he is the Director of UNU-WIDER, and he is a professor of development economics at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester. Professor Sen is a leading international expert on the political economy of growth and development. He has performed extensive research on international finance, the political economy determinants of inclusive growth, the dynamics of poverty, social exclusion, female labour force participation, and the informal sector in developing economies. His research has focused on India, East Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Anya Kamenetz is an author and journalist from the USA. Anya Kamenetz has covered education for many years, including for NPR, where she also co-created the podcast Life Kit:Parenting in partnership with Sesame Workshop. Kamenetz is the author of several acclaimed nonfiction books: Generation Debt (Riverhead, 2006); DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education (Chelsea Green, 2010) ; The Test: Why Our Schools Are Obsessed With Standardized Testing, But You Don’t Have To Be (Public Affairs, 2016); and The Art of Screen Time: How Your Family Can Balance Digital Media and Real Life (Public Affairs, 2018). Her latest book is The Stolen Year: How Covid Changed Children’s Lives, And Where We Go Now (Public Affairs, 2022). She frequently speaks on topics related to children, learning and technology, to audiences including at Google, Apple, and Sesame, SXSW and TEDx. Stephanie M. Jones is the Gerald S. Lesser Professor of Child Development and Education in the Harvard Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. Her research, anchored in prevention science, focuses on the effects of poverty and exposure to violence on children and youth’s social, emotional, and behavioral development. Over the last ten years her work has focused on evaluation research addressing the impact of preschool and elementary focused social-emotional learning interventions on behavioral and academic outcomes and classroom practices; as well as new curriculum development, implementation, and testing. Jones’ research portfolio emphasizes the importance of conducting rigorous scientific research, including program evaluation, that also results in accessible content for early and middle childhood practitioners and policymakers. Nasima Razmyar is the Deputy Mayor of Helsinki, responsible for Education. Deputy Mayor Razmyar serves as the chairperson of the Education Committee and is a vice chair of the City Board. She has been a member of the City Council since 2012. She represents the Social Democratic Party. Mrs. Razmyar was elected to the Finnish Parliament in 2015. She left the Parliament in June 2017 in order to take the position of the Deputy Mayor of the City of Helsinki. During the previous Deputy Mayor term she held the responsibility over the Culture and Leisure Department.