The UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP), in cooperation with the Permanent Delegation of India, and Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti hosted the fourth Ahinsa Lecture, featuring a dialogue between panelists and a life-size hologram of Mahatma Gandhi, on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for education. The dialogue was on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for education.
It was opened by the Ambassador of India to France and Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO, His Excellency, Mr. Vinay Mohan Kwatra and the Assistant Director-General Priority Africa and External Relations, UNESCO, Mr Firmin Edouard Matoko. Mr. Anantha Duraiappah Director UNESCO MGIEP moderated the discussion about the importance of Gandhi’s philosophy of education for human flourishing.
The event attracted about 1000 people, including youth, educators, academics, policy-makers and delegates from several member states of UNESCO.
The Ahinsa dialogue, held on October 1, 2019 at Room No. 1, UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, commemorated the International Day of Non-Violence on October 2 which marks Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary. 400 people attended the lecture and more than 20000 logged in online.
Indian Ambassador Shri Kwatra opened the discussion highlighting the importance of promoting Gandhian values of education. His remarks set the tone for a highly engaging dialogue between the hologram of Mahatma Gandhi, Gregoire Borst, Vera El Khoury Lacoeuilhe and Anantha Duraiappah.
The discussion started with the panel presenting their perspectives on the meaning of education in the world today. It focused on raising awareness on the future of education and SDG 4 (to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all).
Mahatma Gandhi's hologram exchanged views with Gregoire Borst, Professor of Developmental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience of Education, CNRS and Vera El Khoury Lacoeuilhe, Member of Advisory board of UNESCO MGIEP's TECH 2019.
The holographic avatar of Mahatma Gandhi was created using photo-mapped images from 1930-1940 and advanced contouring software and 3D printing to create a life size wire-frame of the Mahatma. Digital sculpting tools were used to add colour and texture to produce a real life image of Gandhi. Through Holography, a standing hologram of Mahatma Gandhi can speak for a total of 15 minutes with 2 to 3 minutes which set the tone for discussion. The talk was extracted with due reference of his writings on Satyagraha, Ahinsa, Kindness, critical inquiry and education.
One of the quotes from the hologram of Mahatma Gandhi emphasizes, "The essence of all education is kindness -- kindness to all, friends, foes, men and beasts. The chief objective of education is the building of character. Imparting knowledge should aim at character building. Knowledge is the means and character building is the end".