Copyright Sociological Research Online, 1997

 

UNESCO Management of Social Transformations Programme (MOST)

UNESCO's Management of Social Transformations (MOST) Programme fosters social science research and promotes the use of scientific knowledge by policy makers. The Programme focuses on three priority research areas: multiethnic and multicultural societies; cities; and the links between globalization and local structures and practices.

Multi-Cultural and Multi-Ethnic Societies

Ethnic and cultural diversity is a fact which can and should enrich social life in all parts of the world. The first theme under MOST focuses on the nature of change in multi-cultural and multi-ethnic societies in which issues of education, culture and religion, identity and human needs, democratic governance, conflict and cohesion interact in complex patterns. These issues require interdisciplinary, comparative, and culturally sensitive research which may furnish information useful for the peaceful and democratic management of multi-cultural and multi-ethnic societies. This research should help design policies that contribute to the goals of achieving equality of citizenship rights between ethnic groups and to the avoidance and solution of ethnic conflict.

Cities

Coping with the sustainable management of cities has been declared by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED-92) in Rio de Janeiro to be a top-priority for the twenty-first century, since urbanization creates new and demanding problems of governance. Such problems relate to demographic growth, urban planning, education, unemployment and marginalization, social as well as communal conflicts, health and environment. Research under this theme is expected to have practical relevance for urban decision-makers.

Coping Locally and Regionally with Economic, Technological and Environmental Transformations

Transnational business ventures, dynamic technological innovations, international communication networks and environmental concerns tend more and more to cross national borders. As a result, today almost every society is forming a part of an increasingly interdependent world. The impacts of globalization deserve more scientific attention, to enable policy-makers to cope with complex and interactive internal and external dynamics.

MOST research aims at surveying the effects of global changes on local and regional levels to sustain local populations' and authorities' efforts to cope with them.

The MOST Clearing House
<http://www.unesco.org/most>

The MOST Clearing House is the Internet site of the MOST Programme. At this site, up-to-date information can be found on the activities, projects and publications of the Programme. A database on Best Practices and an overview page related to poverty reduction and social integration are currently available. The Clearing House also stimulates international co-operation within the MOST research projects. At present, over 80 countries participate in the Programme. Furthermore, several user-friendly tools facilitate access to the information available: a central agenda; a keyword search facility; a news service to which users can subscribe to receive announcements about MOST in their electronic mailbox; and a reference service providing links to the partners in the Clearing House network.

MOST Clearing House
Paul de Guchteneire
1, rue Miollis
75732 Paris Cedex 15 FRANCE
Tel: +33 1 45 68 38 50
Fax: +33 1 45 68 57 24
E-mail: p.deguchteneire@unesco.org

Information about MOST is also available from:
The MOST Secretariat
UNESCO
1, rue Miollis
75732 Paris Cedex 15 FRANCE
Tel: +33 1 45 68 37 99
Fax: +33 1 45 68 57 24
E-mail: ssmost@unesco.org

Paul de Guchteneire
MOST, UNESCO

Copyright Sociological Research Online, 1997