UNESCO Trandisciplinary Chair History

History

The Transdisciplinary UNESCO Chair on Human Development and Culture of Peace - Chairholder since 2006 Paolo Orefice, Emeritus Professor of General and Social Pedagogy at the University of Florence - has set up and implemented its multi-year transdisciplinary projects to respond to the Unitwin Programme with the central Focus on Human Development and Culture of Peace in the Human Formation of our species, with a mutual TD approach. Through the TD Focuses and Models (P. Orefice, C. Orefice, Eds. 2023) devised and tested in international cooperation projects aimed at promoting planetary coexistence beyond the divisive logic that fuels violence, the 2021-25 Programme Sustainable planetary civilisation in the new context of human fragility exposed by the pandemic, expanded and deepened the actions of the previous Programme The historical challenge of the planetary civilization: towards the Earth Humanism in search of the co-science and co-growth beyond violence, implementing it through a variety of actions aligned with the 17 SDGs, emphasizing dialogue and non-violent human development, focusing on priority goals 4,3,11,16, 17 and integrating UNESCO’s medium-term strategy for 2022-2029 (particularly the 4 Strategic Objectives). During the COVID period, the Programme of activities was reshaped and strengthened through participation in the 3rd World Congress of Transdisciplinarity – 3WCT (virtual mode) between 2020 and 2022. Together with TRANSCOMPLEXA Centre (Mexico), CIRET (France) and CETRANS (Brazil), the Chairholder of the UTC formed the International Committee that planned and executed the weekly TD Congress activities, involving researchers, educators, students, international and national managers, experts, practitioners, local societies and traditional communities, with participants from 48 countries across various continents taking part in weekly sessions from October 2020 to October 2021, with the Follow-Up of the Congress Declaration (2022) and its dissemination. The Chairholder carried out about half of the technical, scientific, organisational and management tasks, in addition to the monitoring and evaluation work. The huge number of different actions, among the first of their kind globally, introduced bi-weekly webinars on the complex aspects of local, national, regional and global priorities across various fields of TD. These played a key role in developing and strengthening Models, Networks and Partnerships for sustainable policies that support not only the human family but also all living beings on Mother Earth, helping to overcome the Anthropocene crisis.

In 2023 and 2024, the 3WCT International Committee commemorated the 30th anniversary of the Charter of Transdisciplinarity, which replicated and improved upon the TD model from the previous Congress, culminating in a worldwide on line broadcast on 6 November 2024 which spanned the globe, starting at 5 AM in Mexico and continuing into the night in East Asia, featuring testimonies from scholars and transdisciplinary groups in countries across the Americas, Africa, Europe and smaller communities in Asia.

The UTC, along with other TD groups across the country, then hosted the TD Colloquium on “Peace beyond violence. The challenge of transdisciplinary Ecology” (University of Florence, 7 November 2024), with the participation of university and non-university partners who supported the event both in person at the Aula Magna and virtually. With international participation, the event focused on the current historical challenge of peace, examining it as a complex and prospective alternative to all forms of violence. The discussion was rooted in the foundational contributions of the Charter of Transdisciplinarity launched by E. Morin, B. Nicolescu and L. de Freitas at the 1st World TD Congress in Portugal on 6-7 November 1994.

It is important to note that the action plan implemented faced various management challenges, including the contributions of multiple disciplinary fields. However, the focus on the SDGs remained steadfast, with activities continuing to address the complex realities following the pandemic and amidst ongoing global conflicts. Education, particularly aligned with SDG 4 and other related goals, remained central, drawing on new TD paradigms to foster the complex intelligence of citizens at all levels and across various fields. Special attention was given to the university actors in collaboration with TD partners. The various activities of the UNESCO Chair (publications, conferences, community engagement, collaborative research partnerships, international cooperation, and student/staff exchange) were prominently featured in both multi-year programmes, following the Transdisciplinary Higher Education model developed by the UTC in alignment with Florence University regulations, and in accordance with UNESCO’s global priorities, and its focus on social cohesion in fragile situations (MTS, cit.).

Last update

11.06.2025

History

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