The World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), an initiative of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), will reflect this year Qatar’s commitment to addressing a number of pressing issues, influenced by the rapid changes in the world of technology, and the dissemination of successful global experiences and practices in education that respond to and address the challenges of today’s world.
Held under the theme ‘UnLearn ReLearn: What it means to be Human’, the WISE Summit, which will be held at Qatar National Convention Centre tomorrow, will give attendees the opportunity to network, collaborate, share effective practices and discover new ideas through interactive plenary sessions, keynote speeches and debates. They attend workshops facilitating partnerships and spotlights presenting projects and innovative practices.
The two-day conference will see the participation of 2,000 experts, speakers, education specialists, decision makers, and thought leaders from more than 100 countries will participate in more than 150 plenary sessions and debates that shape the future of education in Qatar and around the world, and identify the behaviours, skills and attributes to be learned and re-acquired in order to achieve the desired prosperity of the 21st century.
The WISE 2019 will address the pressing issues and current trends facing education, starting with how to relearn the emotional and psychological skills we need to learn, the exchange of views on whether well-being should be taught in schools, to identifying global educational technology trends and their impact on innovation.
During the opening session of the Summit, the winners of WISE Prize will be announced. Established in 2011 by the Chairperson of Qatar Foundation Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, the WISE Prize for Education is the first distinction of its kind to recognise an individual or a team of up to six for an outstanding, world-class contribution to education. 
The WISE Prize for Education raises the status of education by giving it similar prestige enjoyed in other fields for which international prizes exist, such as literature, peace and economics.
Nominations for the WISE Prize for Education are invited from individuals and institutions, including schools, international organisations and private companies, from anywhere in the world. An international Jury of distinguished individuals makes the final selection of the WISE Prize for Education Laureate who is introduced at the WISE Summit. The Laureate receives the WISE Prize for Education gold medal and $500,000 (US) cash fund dedicated to grow their initiative. 
WISE 2019 will also celebrate six WISE 2019 projects, selected from 481 projects that were submitted in recognition and encouragement of innovative educational initiatives worldwide.
Announced in September, the winning projects include Family Business for Education from the UK, Programa Crianca Feliz (Happy Child Programme) from Brazil, United World Schools: Teaching the Unreached working in Nepal, Cambodia and Myanmar, Arpan’s Personal Safety Education Programme from India, Akilah Institute from Rwanda and Micro:bit Educational Foundation from the UK.
Qualifying projects typically address a number of pressing educational issues, including innovative ways of financing education, providing access to education in remote areas, and providing early childhood programmes based on cognitive science.
In WISE 2019, eight new research reports will be launched that provide detailed insights and actionable recommendations for education challenges in Qatar and beyond. These reports are of interest to educators, policy makers, school leaders, and parents included topics such as local learning systems, language policies, student well-being, educational leadership, global citizenship education, excellence in higher education, and the mobility of university students across countries. The reports will present their findings and discuss them with the delegates of the conference.
The conference selected eight promising educational technology initiatives to join the WISE Accelerator programme for 2019-2020 and representatives of selected initiatives participated in some of the workshops and specialized lectures during the summit.
In addition, WISE Learners’ Voice selected 25 distinguished learners from 19 countries to attend a training course in Doha from November 17-19 that includes work-based leadership, development of the Education Unit and participation in a series of collaborative and interactive sessions on WISE communication and social innovation skills topics and partner organisations to increase the impact of their work and collaborate on pressing challenges.
WISE provides a range of programmes outside its main Doha summit, including a range of annual initiatives, with this year, for the first time in Qatar, the Doha Learning Days is the first experiential learning festival in Qatar to celebrate a week-long education, with WISE showcasing local initiatives and encouraging the community to participate in its activities.
Over the course of six days, from November 14-19, the experimental festival hosted a large number of sessions, events and activities organised by more than 50 parties and partners locally and internationally, including interactive workshops, exhibitions, film screenings, in addition to sessions on health, and discussions aimed at creating positive change in Qatar’s society.
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