Turning 2.0

A centralized, integrated and open access knowledge base can be considered the best way to address the challenges mentioned in our problem statement.

Confronted with a lack of quick and easy access to UN Studies knowledge on the internet, the envisioned knowledge base needs to take into consideration users’ needs and interests in the digital age which are changing at rapid speed: It is increasingly important to get an overview of what is out there in the virtual world and to find what one needs within less than a minute.

Succeeding the typical “read-only” internet, the web 2.0 is highly interactive, user-oriented and user-friendly. Applying these principles to the envisioned knowledge base, users can actively contribute content and will be able to find content, with little to no effort.

The missions, aims and activities of ACUNS and its informal working group, the UNSA, complement each other and provide an excellent basis to jointly develop a comprehensive, easy-to-search knowledge base.

The vision we share is to bring together and link UN-focused knowledge, create new knowledge and make it accessible for UN research and teaching throughout the world: a depository and creative laboratory of UN Studies knowledge on a meta-level. 

The UN Studies portal idea not only reflects the need for enhanced and networked knowledge about UN research and teaching.

It is also the perfect format to combine the resources, assets, and know-how of both the formal membership organization and the informal working group – particularly, since building such a knowledge base includes formal and informal development (communication and collaboration) processes.