United Nations

UNIS/INF/248
13 November 2007

The United Nations and the New Media to be Discussed in Wels

VIENNA, 13 November (UN Information Service) - The role of the new media and newly established information infrastructure in educating the next generation will be reviewed at a colloquium on 16 November in Wels, Austria, jointly organized, by the World Wide Education, Academic Distance-Learning College (WWEDU) and the Academic Council of the United Nations System (ACUNS).

Focussing on ways of better communicating the United Nations system to the public, the event will take an innovative hybrid format, combining on-site presentations at the Kraftwerkcenter PANOPTIKUM in Wels with virtual contributions through the Internet from various parts of the world.

Panels on "New Technologies for Research & Teaching", "Human Rights and New Information Technology" and on "New-Media Mediated Peace Building & Societal Development", will look into how new communication technologies and new opportunities for interaction of people will impact the United Nations. The Colloquium will analyze the consequences of the new media for global networking and international community action in forging global policy initiatives, and discuss ways for the United Nations to make use of the new media and information infrastructure, in order to transmit its ideas and communicate its mission to youth.

Sponsored by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, the Arts and Culture and the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Vienna, the Wels Colloquium will also provide a platform for presenting newly launched projects in the field of education-related UN studies, UN outreach and attracting visitors, as well as relevant database projects.

The WWEDU, which plans to expand to become the first long-distance university of Austria, will provide its mobile studio facilities, with which the programme of the Wels Colloquium will be broadcast in high quality and in real-time over the Internet, and the live participation of speakers from other parts of the world made possible. The PANOPTIKUM, a multimedia conference hall at the Kraftwerkcenter Wels, will provide the optimal infrastructure for live broadcasting

 

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For information contact:

Elisabeth Waechter
United Nations Information Service Vienna
Telephone: +43 1 260 60 3348
E-mail: elisabeth.waechter@unvienna.org