Global MIL Week 2017: Reimagining ways of learning

Youth leaders and individuals from around the world gather for the sixth annual Global Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Week 2017 from 25 October to 1 November, at the University of West Indies, Jamaica.

Entitled “Media and Information Literacy in Critical Times: Reimagining Ways of Learning and Information Environments”, the celebration kicks off on October 24, with youth engaging in thematic panels and workshops as part of the Global MIL Youth Agenda.

Living in the so-called post-truth era, how are people, particularly youth, to respond to challenging issues such as misinformation, fake news, sensationalism and alternative facts? UNESCO advocates that youth build creative network learning to bridge the significant gaps between learning in formal education environments and learning in other environments – including social media, movies, pop culture, the media, community centres and places of worship.

“The new information age is boundless; the mode of knowledge acquisition is vastly different from those of previous generations,” said Adama Lee-Bah, head of GAPMIL’s youth committee. “Young people tend to reject spoon-fed education and prefer to pursue knowledge through exploration and discovery.”  

The Global MIL Week also features events of the Seventh Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue (MILID) Conference in Jamaica, from 24 to 27 October.

The events highlight UNESCO’s social media initiative, MIL CLICKS (Critical thinking, Creativity, Literacy, Intercultural Dialogue, Citizenship, Knowledge and Sustainability), which aims to improve people’s critical thinking competencies online and offline. Young people are key actors and part of the solution in the development of media and information-literate societies.

UNESCO leads the Global MIL Week 2017, in co-operation with the Media and Information and Intercultural Dialogue (MILID) University Network, the Global Alliance for Partnership on MIL (GAPMIL), United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), and the University of the West Indies, the host for the feature conference.