A woman carries a basket of flowers next to the cobblestone streets and crumbling walls of Antigua, Guatemala

Management of Social Transformations (MOST) Programme

Knowledge for a better world

We need to know what is driving the transformation of contemporary societies. Once we know, we need to know how to use it - for it to make a difference.

The Management of Social Transformations (MOST) Programme cooperates with national authorities, scientific communities and civil society to help UNESCO Member States strengthen the connection between research and policy and between knowledge and action.

This is key to fostering positive social change towards inclusive and sustainable development.

Social Transformations - People holding hands
Pillars

  1. Knowledge production

  2. Intergovernmental support

  3. Policy support and capacity building

... Goals

  1. Promote actionable knowledge

  2. Build a sustained nexus between policy and knowledge

  3. Translate knowledge into policy

Smart

MOST strengthens the link between what we know and how we act on it.

Its mandate is to foster institutions, systems and incentives for the sustained impact of knowledge on policies.

Fair

MOST is fostering positive social change.

Untangling inequalities – in their social, economic, environmental and technological dimensions – is a key priority.

Key actions

Digital Anthropology
Futures Literacy
General History of Africa
Philosophy and humanities
Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Programme for the Arabic Language
Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers
Sustainability Science
Street art

MOST schools

MOST Schools are capacity-building activities focused on strengthening the competencies for evidence-informed decision-making in Member States. Conceived on the basis of bottom-up demands arising from specific needs in concrete contexts, MOST Schools prioritize interventions to develop the capacity of researchers and decision-makers. Their primary goal is to support long-term sustainable development in contexts where capacity gaps may be a major constraint to transforming research into action. MOST schools leverage the power of context and address concrete problems faced by communities of stakeholders.

Facilitating intergovernmental debate

Intergovernmental Council

As an intergovernmental programme, MOST has a direct link to its Member States through its Intergovernmental Council (IGC). It meets every two years to define research focus areas, discuss policy and funding issues, and interact with government authorities.

Scientific Advisory Committee

The Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) encompasses 9 internationally recognized experts representing various disciplines in the social sciences. Its specific role is related to programme conceptualization, strategy development and scientific advisory research regarding MOST projects.

National Committees

Relations between MOST and its stakeholders involve a global network of MOST National Committees, which provide an interface between the programme and relevant research and policy institutions. Their mission is to help contextualize MOST’s analyses in relation to national circumstances and to integrate them into global consultative processes.

Prizes for the Promotion of Research in the Social and Human Sciences

UNESCO-UNAM / Jaime Torres Bodet

Prize in social sciences, humanities and arts

UNESCO/Juan Bosch

Prize for the Promotion of Social Science Research in Latin America and the Caribbean

Publications

Inclusive and resilient societies: equality, sustainability and efficiency
UNESCO
2022
Publication developed in cooperation with Fundación La Caixa
0000384351
Empowering women for the good of society: gender-based resilience
UNESCO
2023
UNESCO
0000387885
High school perceptions of the social sciences in Beirut: a pilot study
UNESCO Office Beirut
2020
UNESCO
0000372841
Transforming the future: anticipation in the 21st century
UNESCO
Routledge
Routledge
2018
0000264644