27/09/2011 - Investments in well-designed, multi-purpose local education facilities serve as a visible commitment to the community and a cost-effective way to revitalise local economies.

 

That is the message from the OECD’s Designing for Education: Compendium of Exemplary Educational Facilities 2011, which presents over 60 state-of-the-art recently built or refurbished spaces with colour photographs, plans and descriptions. The Compendium brings together case studies from 28 countries, ranging from Argentina, Australia and Bangladesh to France, South Africa and the United States.

 

Journalists are invited to attend the launch event organised by the OECD Centre for Effective Learning Environments at the OECD Headquarters in Paris on 29 September 2011 from 15.00. Paris time (see local time here)

Full details, including the agenda and a live webcast will be available at www.oecd.org/edu/facilities/compendiumlaunch

 

The institutions featured cover all levels of education – from pre-school through tertiary – and exemplify the following:

• How design can inspire learning, improve the quality of the learning environment, and bind schools and universities to their local communities.
• How the principles of flexibility – necessary to accommodate an ever-increasing range of teaching and learning scenarios and technologies – inclusion and comfort are incorporated into school design.
• How design can reduce the environmental impact of schools and promote environmental education.
• How design can ensure the safety and security of the schools’ occupants.

 

For further details, contact Hannah von Ahlefeld, OECD Centre for Effective Learning Environments (CELE), Paris, France, tel.: 33 1 45 24 96 70, e-mail: Hannah.vonAhlefeld@oecd.org, and consult www.oecd.org/edu/facilities/compendiumlaunch.

 

Journalists may obtain this publication from the OECD Media Relations Division.