The Global Summit

The Nineteenth Annual Symposium on Partnerships in Education and the Sixth International Partnership Conference are joining forces to present a Global Partnership Summit on Learning, Employability and Citizenship. The aim of the Summit is to gather the best of partnership policy and practice from around the world that enhance student success, workforce development, corporate social investment and public sector policies for social inclusion.

The National Association of Partners in Education and the International Partnership Network invite you to join partnership leaders and policy makers in a unique and timely endeavor to assess the value of partnerships and to shape the future of partnerships around the world.

The Summit Strands

This year, three strands - Learning, Employability, and Citizenship - will provide the structure for all presentations and discussions. These strands have been defined as the contexts within the vast majority of partnerships operate and claim results. The assertion that “partnerships add value” will be rigorously examined within each of these three strands. Each strand will incorporate the following three methodologies for discussion and/or presentation.

Policy Forum: comparative discussions (based on policy papers) about specific topics within the three strands.

Best Practice Forum: presentations of best practices from around the world.

Information Forum: interactive opportunities featuring information on best practices from a global perspective.

I. Learning…achieving higher standards through changing methodologies in school settings; strategies to improve access to learning through ‘out of school’ learning centers for the disadvantaged and excluded; development of continuous learning centers within community organizations; electronic and distance learning; professional development; and the re-orientation of businesses as learning organizations. If learning is a universal feature in an ever-changing world, where does your program, initiative or realm of responsibility fit?

II. Employability…transferability of skills from formal education to the ever-changing workplace; workforce development or readiness; enterprise education and youth entrepreneurship; career education, guidance and preparation; large-scale programs of workforce re-education; training for small businesses and the self-employed; shared responsibility between education and business to cultivate the skills; qualities and attitudes for the adaptable workforce of the future.
How does your partnership program or initiative help improve employability in a global market that is increasingly influenced by multinational forces and organizations?

III. Citizenship…corporate social responsibility programs and social investment in communities; schools, colleges and university programs investing in the capabilities of their students to play an active and constructive part in their local communities; employee volunteer programs; service learning; parental engagement; youth involvement; health and safety initiatives; multi-cultural and social inclusion initiatives, including indigenous groups; and initiatives for the disabled and ‘at-risk’ members of the community. Where does your program or initiative fit in this spectrum of partnership activity or does your work point to a broader horizon?

The National Association of Partners in Education provides leadership within and beyond the USA in the formation and growth of effective partnerships to ensure success for all students.

The International Partnership Network promotes the exchange of information, practical experience and research around education, business and community partnerships worldwide.

Key Features of the Summit

The organizing networks of the National Association of PARTNERS IN EDUCATION and the International Partnership Network (IPN) draw together their worldwide connections and expertise to attract outstanding leaders, practitioners and representatives of youth to the summit.

The Summit program is carefully structured to attract a balance of contributions from education, government and corporate sources of partnership initiatives enabling comparison between the best of partnership practice and policy around the world.

The Summit is planned with a strong outreach dimension to the United States and the world beyond Washington, using electronic communication, teleconferencing and interaction with related events worldwide.

Partners and IPN are committed to a Summit format that produces outcomes in the form of communiqués, bulletins and a final report to influence public policy and future global partnership development.

An International Partnership Marketplace focuses on award winning partnerships, youth projects, learning cities and international learning initiatives.

The program includes award presentations to outstanding partnerships and a distinctive but integrated International Youth Summit Program