Media and Information Literacy as Futures of Literacy: Third World Higher Education Conference

As the world faces critical challenges, ensuring that people self-empower with media and information literacy to engage with information discerningly is paramount. Higher or tertiary education institutions are pivotal to nurturing trust in verified information and the scientific approach to inquiry. They are positioned to develop, expand, and sustain media and information literacy for all.

Higher education institutions should give a boost to media and information literacy research, systemize training on media and information literacy, and advocate for national media and information literacy policies and strategies.

Against this backdrop, the first event, co-organized with the University of Moulay Ismail in Morocco, will be online on 18 May 2022. It will address the theme Integrating Media and Information Literacy in Higher Education Curricula: Realities, Challenges, and Prospects: High-Level International Panel - sharing the experiences of members of MILID and highlighting both good practices and challenges.

The second event is co-organized with the University of Punjab in India and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and will take place online on 19 May 2022. This event will focus on the importance of Communicating Media and Information Literacy Research to Wider Audiences: From Research to Policy and Impact - demonstrating the sustainable impact of media and information literacy research on the insights of the futures of literacy and higher education.

The week will be concluded with a hybrid event on 20 May 2022, organized in collaboration with the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the University of Cairo in Egypt. This event, titled Pillars for an international Media and International Literacy Institute: Futures of Literacy, aims to broaden innovative actions and academic cooperation among the members of the MILID Network.

Also in this series is a Higher Education Talk (HED Talk) delivered by Sherri Hope, Director of the Centre for the Media and Information Literacy at the Temple University in the USA. This HED Talk offers a case study and good practices in setting up Media and Information Literacy Centres within universities to provide media and information literacy leadership by training for teachers and students, developing learning materials for students, community outreach, and research for wider audiences.

The media and information literacy event series will host high-level speakers, including:

• Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Honorable Minister of Information and Culture, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture of Nigeria,
• Tawfik Jelassi, Assistant Director-General, Communication and Information Sector, UNESCO
• Prof. Raghavendra P. Tiwari, Vice-Chancellor, Central University of Punjab, India
• Hassane Sahbi, President of Moulay Ismail University of Meknes, Morocco
• José Manuel Tornero, President of the Spanish Radio and Television Society and Vice-Chancellors from different universities around the world, as well as experts from various fields related to media and information literacy.

UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education aims to advance and innovate practices in higher education to ensure sustainable development and build knowledge societies. This is in line with media and information literacy as a key component of the future of literacy and innovative practices in knowledge societies.