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Editorial
The International Symposium "BioEd 2000: The Challenges of Biological Education for the 21st Century" was held on 15-18 May, 2000, in Paris, France. This meeting was organised by two international organisations: IUBS and UNESCO, in collaboration with two national institutions: the ‘Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle’ (MNHN), France, and the ‘Laboratoire de Didactique et Epistémologie des Sciences’ (LDES) of the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Eighty-eight presentations were made, including reviews and research papers organized in three plenary sessions, twenty-six parallel sessions, four workshops and a poster session.
The review papers focused on new biological knowledge in such domains as biodiversity, ecology, genetics and molecular biology, and their impact on the lives of human societies in developed and developing countries. Research reports emphasized new education concepts, approaches and theories, as well as the new educational tools and technologies and the increasing role in biological education of such new partners as museums, botanical and zoological gardens, the media, and a large number of foundations and non-governmental organisations. Special workshops and sessions were also organized on bioethics, biotechnology, health and integrative biology education, and such societal issues as citizenship, sex education, sustainability, and environmental education…
In view of the magnitude and diversity of attendance, the high level of presentations and discussions, and the specific nature of the meeting place, BioEd 2000 was a great success. More than two hundred participants from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and Latin America attended the meeting. Sessions took place in such relevant settings as classrooms, laboratories or exhibition halls. And between the sessions, participants walked and talked among the fish, birds, mammals and butterflies of ‘La Grande Galerie de l’Evolution’ or along the flowering allées of the ‘Jardin des Plantes.’ In addition to the MNHN itself, educational material by UNESCO and the Lake Biwa Museum, Japan, were on exhibit, bringing in more experiences. To top them off, two theatre performances were offered: "Health fairy tales in preschool education," and "Shakespeare Gallery ou la pensée en formes," while the "Youth Forum on the Environment," organized on the day following the Symposium, provided a hands-on experience for out-of-school biological education!
In advance of the publication of the proceedings volume and the electronic format (www.iubs.org), we would like to provide highlights of this important event in the present issue of Biology International:
The address of Professor Koïchiro Matsuura, Director General of UNESCO, outlines the vision and policy of the principal United Nations’ organisation with responsibility for both science and education. After reiterating the commitment of UNESCO to the Declaration of the World Conference on Science, 1999, in Budapest, proclaiming that the "... access to scientific knowledge is part of the right to education and the right to information belonging to all people; ... science education is essential for human development and for creating endogenous scientific capacity, ..." and stating that biology is at the core of new "contract" between science and society, the Director General says that he looks forward to strengthening cooperation with the IUBS, especially in "… keeping this forum open and alive; producing guidelines for the development of education in such domains as biodiversity, biotechnology, natural resources conservation and management and bioethics; and assisting UNESCO Member States in the development of curricula, teacher training programmes, educational materials."
In the following paper, "Biological Education: Challenges of the 21st Century," I present the rationale and the objectives underlying the organization of BioEd 2000. On a more specific note, Professor Marvalee Wake explains how Integrative Biology can serve as a framework for education and training; Professors Mounolou and Giordan both address the relationships between biological education, ethics, and administrative decision-making processes, and Professors Ramakrishnan, Vijay and Blackmore review ecology teaching in developing countries, emphasizing the key role of traditional ecological knowledge in biodiversity conservation and management. Finally, Dr. Vohra reviews the major international programmes undertaken since the 1960’s, describing the changing trends in biology education, from teaching separate scientific disciplines to interdisciplinary learning, and from isolated societal problems to a more integrated knowledge society.
Talal Younès
Executive Director, IUBS
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