Citation for the Presentation of the UNESCO
Presented in Bangkok, Thailand |
The United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is awarded
the ICPE Medal for the year 2008 in recognition of its efforts to
promote physics education, especially active learning, in the developing
world. For many years
UNESCO has supported participation of physicists from the developing
countries in a variety of physics education-related conferences. It has also supported educational activities through the
International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste. It was a major sponsor of the World Conference on Physics and
Sustainable Development at Durban in 2005. It subsequently supported the implementation of the Action Plans
that emerged from that Conference, which began ongoing collaborations
among many physics educators. Most recently, it provided funds to develop and deliver the
workshops on Active Learning in Optics and Photonics.
Thus, the organization has provided a variety of efforts to promote physics education.
This award is a befitting tribute to UNESCO’s
long-term association with ICPE. The International Commission on Physics
Education was established as Commission 14 of the International Union
for Pure and Applied Physics soon after the first ever IUPAP sponsored
International Conference on Physics Education was held at the UNESCO
House in Paris towards the end of July 1960. The Paris conference
formulated a number of resolutions that formed the basis of the current
mandate of our commission. Since inception, our Commission’s ties with
UNESCO have been very strong.
For almost 50 years UNESCO has supported the
development and dissemination of physics education throughout the world. For this continuing effort to improve
physics teaching and learning, the International Commission on Physics
Education is pleased to present UNESCO with its 2008 Medal.
October 2009
Prof. Pratiha Jolly
Chairman of ICPE