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Education on Standardization

Introduction

WP6-Education on Standardization

Standards permeate our everyday lives. Any product and service we use is built on the basis of one or many standards. Be it a simple coffee machine or a complex energy plant, “there is a standard for that!”. More importantly, standards help build a safer and more sustainable and resilient planet Earth. This is why it is so important to make sure that new generations are aware of what standards and regulations are and how they can be used to meet global goals and targets.

In focus

START-Ed-infocus

The Start-Ed initiative and Focal Point network of experts on Education on Standardization has continued progressing its work with return on experience "Educating undergraduate students in the ecological transition for sustainable development" by Mr. Sebastien Chevalier, Ministry of Higher Education and Research, France and discussing the recent survey on mapping the needs of actors in education on standardization at its April 2024 meeting.

Key deliverables

Symbol & Title

Issued date

ENG

FRA

RUS

ECE/TRADE/C/WP.6/2012/7
Recommendation I on Education on standards-related issues
2012 PDF PDF PDF

ECE/TRADE/C/WP.6/2012/6
Concept note for the Workshop on “Introducing standards-related issues in educational curricula”, including a proposed model programme on standardization

2012

PDF

PDF

PDF

  • International Trade, standards and regulation module
 

PDF

 

PDF

  • Module  on the benefits of standardization to society

 

 

 

PDF

  • Management system standards
     

PDF

ECE/CTCS/WP.6/2022/7 Annex II
"Module on standards-related environmental issues"

2022

 PDF

PDF

PDF

ECE/TRADE/440
Bringing Standardization in University Curricula: Making the Case

2018

 PDF

 

 

Other resources

The following is a non-exhaustive list of resources on the topic which have been identified by the working party. Other resources can be added if pertinent; please contact the secretariat. This list does not constitute an endorsement of any kind and is presented for information.

Author

Title

Issued date

Organization

Link

Swiss Association for Standardization (SNV)

 

Overview in "Benefits of standardization to society"

 

SNV

 Link

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) ISO Management system standards   ISO  Link

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

Education Guide 3 on "Standardization: Fundamentals, Impact, and Business Strategy"

 

APEC

PDF

History

In 1970, the UNECE Government Officials Responsible for Standardization Policies, the predecessor of WP. 6, developed Recommendation I that urged governments to include standardization in the curricula of educational institutions.

Under traditional educational approaches standards are considered highly technical and of interest to engineers only. Within an increasingly globalized economy, knowledge of safety requirements and standards applied in international markets is one of the key factors of success or falure of companies seeking to enter foreign markets. Labor markets are beginning to seek experts with standards related competencies who understand how standards and regulations could complicate approaching foreign markets.

WP.6 recommends Governments to encourage education establishments to introduce standardization into their curricula and particularly within universities for students studying law, economics and management. 

WP.6 established the initiative on Education on standardization (START-Ed) at its twenty-second session in November 2012. This initiative groups together experts from academia to promote good practices and to share national experience.

START-ED Group elaborated a model programme on education on standardization and relevant teaching materials; a number of universities in the UNECE region already used these tools and have started teaching standardization to their students.

Impact

Text forthcoming

Events

Official meetings of the initiative of education on standardization (START-Ed)

Other events related to education on standardization organized by WP.6

  • Follow-up meeting to the ninth annual meeting, July 5, 2024
  • Report of the Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies on its twenty-ninth session, Panel: “Teaching a new generation of standards settlers: innovative approaches” and Panel “Education on standards for sustainable development”, ECE/CTCS/WP.6/2019/2 ENG, FRA, RUS
  • Report of the Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies on its Workshop on "Introducing Standards-related issues into Education Curricula" held as part of its twenty-second session
  • Report of the Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies on its twenty-second session (paras 27 to 80).
Policies and procedures
Symbol & Title Issued
date
ENG FRE RUS
ECE/TRADE/2012/2
Report of the Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies on its twenty-second session (paragraph 80)
2012 PDF PDF PDF
Books / brochures

Author

Title

Issued date

Organization/

Publisher

Link

 

A World Built on Standards: A Textbook for Higher Education

2015

Danish Standards Foundation

Link

Newell Hampson-Jones

Higher Education and Standardization: Knowledge Management between Generations

2011

British Standards Institution

Link

 

ECE/TRADE/C/CEFACT/2018/6
White Paper on Paperless Trade

2018

UNECE – UN/CEFACT

ENG
FRE
RUS

Nizar Abdelkafi, Rudi Bekkers, Raffaela Bolla, Alejandro Rodriguez-Ascaso, Michelle Wetterwald

Understanding ICT Standardization: Principles and Practices

2021

ETSI

PDF
Slides

Editors:

Samuel O. Idowu Henk J. de Vries Ivana Mijatovic Donggeun Choi

Knowledge and Education About Standardisation

2020

Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Link