Introduction

The International Union of Architects (UIA) Educational and Cultural Spaces Work Programme actively facilitates international dialogue and knowledge exchange that have evolved in the architectural field over the past 75 years. To recognise the diverse effects educational architecture has on local socio-ecological conditions, the work programme is engaging in a research project to develop a global atlas of learning environments. Through this research about practical design implementation, members of the work programme seek to better understand the social and environmental impact of good design and research, and – through inclusive world views and engagement methodologies – understand how access to education and educational outcomes in each region is significantly improved.

This project aims to continue the significant role the UIA has played in developing global awareness on the importance of educational architecture in society. Prior to World War II, there were various initiatives aimed at renewing school architecture, however they largely operated in isolation, with minimal coordination or exchange between countries. Some notable exceptions to this were two major exhibitions that facilitated the sharing of experiences among European and North American nations: the exhibition on “New School Architecture” held at the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Zurich (1928), and “Modern Architecture for the Modern School”, organised by MoMA in New York (1942).

Formation of the UIA Educational and Cultural Spaces Work Programme

Following the Second World War, the UIA was established in 1948. A few years later in 1951, the organisation created the “Commission on School Buildings” marking the beginning of a productive exchange among architects dedicated to school design (renamed “Working Group on Educational Spaces” in 1970). The Commission was initially chaired by Alfred Roth, a prominent architect who had collaborated with Le Corbusier, participated in the ABC Group, and authored influential books such as The New Architecture (1939) and The New School – Das Neue Schulhaus – La Nouvelle École (1950). In its early years, the Commission carried out comparative research by surveying case studies and emergent technologies focused on addressing school infrastructure challenges in developing countries. Its first key achievement was the Charter of School Buildings, adopted at the Rabat Meeting in 1958, which outlined the first guidelines for organising national school construction programmes.

Subsequently, other international institutions began to engage with the issue of educational architecture. In the postwar period, English school architecture – based on standardised construction systems – served as a model that organisations such as UNESCO and the OECD sought to promote globally. In 1962, UNESCO established the Architecture for Education Unit in Paris and set up three regional centers: REBIA for Africa, ARISBR for Asia, and CONESCAL for Latin America. Around the same time, the OECD began to encourage developed nations to create specialised offices for research in educational architecture. Starting in 1963, it promoted the establishment of National Development Groups with two main objectives: to plan primary and secondary school construction programmes, and to develop experimental and prototype schools in collaboration with the local construction industry.

During the 1960s and early 1970s, the three international organisations actively facilitated the exchange of architects through working groups, seminars, and the publication of journals and books. Nonetheless, after the oil crisis and in the 1980s and 1990s, these initiatives experienced a notable decline in funding.

The present focus of the UIA Educational and Cultural Spaces Work Programme has significantly shifted. Its objectives extend beyond the pursuit of greater quantities of functional, low-cost educational infrastructure. There is a growing emphasis on inclusion – on acknowledging and addressing the needs of those historically marginalised, including women, underprivileged, indigenous peoples, dissidents, migrants, and many other groups and individuals.

The UIA Atlas of Learning Environments

In mid to late 2025, the UIA Educational and Cultural Spaces Work Programme will launch a call for submissions for architects and other built environment professionals that significantly improve educational outcomes in their region. A key area of inquiry for the work programme is how architectural practitioners and researchers are engaging with local school community issues, needs and knowledge, and their depth of understanding and response to these needs through planning, design, delivery and post-occupancy evaluation processes.

When working together with different sectors, the built environment profession, including, architects and landscape architects, interior designers, urban designers, planners, governments and institutions, is capable of reducing disparity for accessible and quality education. They must continue to deepen their awareness of their control over built environment outcomes, and their responsibility towards serving public and environmental interests.

The global call out seeks to create a digital catalogue of learning environments focused on recognising exceptional design thinking and action that responds to complex socio-ecological qualities in learning environments. Contemporary design processes must understand the local experiences of educators and learners and be collaborative, relatable and seek to increase common ground between planners, designers, educators, learners, community leaders and other non-human actors. Through collaboration, co-designing and participatory practices, school communities can be key decision makers and be involved in imagining, problem solving, space creation and custodianship. The call for submissions asks planning and design professionals to show a heightened awareness in how they work to understand the school community’s experience of their physical and social environments.

The Atlas will present architectural project ideas and experiences by involving multiple perspectives, including those from architects, urban designers, planners, educators, learners, local community leaders and other stakeholders. The catalogue seeks to be an inclusive platform and rich resource where school community members’ experiences and stories form a collective narrative about the learning environment.

Through the call for submissions, architects are asked to demonstrate their openness to other, non-built environment ideas as part of describing the project planning, design and delivery. They are asked to demonstrate how, through engagement processes and deep listening, their perspective can expand beyond the familiar comforts of an industry perspective.

If built environment practice continues to shift in the way it engages with the world and the local community, it could make some valuable suggestions about the visions and values that would align with more inclusive world views. While ‘clients’ might expect a building in the development of learning environments, the purpose is not purely about the architectural objects and forms that house educational functions. It’s also about the quality of life and learning that is thought to be possible and the collective understanding of the experience of a place. Thus, learning, life experience and place are intimately connected.

For the Work Programme, the Atlas will become a common, global resource where architectural designs and processes try to engage more deeply with the wider systems of a place and context, and enable meaningful and inclusive dialogue that will build ownership, ongoing commitment from the community and personal transformation. The hope is that the catalogue can present further benefits from being a platform for free knowledge exchange of different ideas and experiences between architects alone. Through reflective processes, this global toolbox can reveal different forms of impact in the simulation of individual creativity and expression, and in the development of the human and non-human potential.

Weaving Local Knowledge into a Global Toolkit

The development of the Atlas – global catalogue – fundamentally depends on weaving together local knowledge systems that inform our understanding of learning environments. At this critical juncture, we must construct a comprehensive toolkit that reconceptualises educational infrastructures as active agents capable of catalysing future possibilities. This becomes essential as learning itself undergoes continuous redefinition, shaped by technological advancement, environmental crisis, and evolving social consciousness.

Contemporary challenges demand departure from universalised solutions toward approaches honouring place-specificity while maintaining cross-contextual dialogue. The Atlas positions itself as a critical instrument for examining how educational spaces embody cultural values, respond to environmental imperatives, and address social inequities across regions—from Latin American informal settlements to Southeast Asian urban transformations, from post-apartheid South African landscapes to climate-vulnerable Caribbean nations.

As a working group, we have identified three interconnected inquiries essential to this discourse, recognising that responses remain under construction and will evolve through collective engagement with the catalogue process.

First, what are current debates surrounding education’s future? Educational discourse encompasses digital literacies, climate education, curriculum decolonisation, and preparation for uncertain economic futures. For example, Latin America witnesses indigenous knowledge reintegration; Asia demands community-centered learning models responding to urbanisation; Africa experiences mobile technology transformation of educational access; Caribbean nations balance climate resilience with cultural heritage preservation.

Second, what criteria should guide global toolkit construction rooted in local experiences? We propose prioritising authentic community participation, cultural responsiveness, environmental sustainability, and social equity. Worthy projects demonstrate genuine stakeholder engagement, indigenous knowledge respect, and adaptive strategies responding to changing conditions.

Third, what constitutes radical approaches to learning spaces across contexts? Radical practice remains inherently contextual—challenging factory-model schools in post-industrial societies, creating first formal educational spaces in underserved communities, integrating traditional ecological knowledge, or questioning physical school boundaries entirely.

These questions remain deliberately open, reflecting our understanding that answers emerge through sustained engagement with diverse practitioners and communities.

Conclusion

The Atlas represents more than a collection of projects; it embodies a paradigm shift toward inclusive, participatory educational design that centers local knowledge while facilitating global exchange. This approach constructs shared frameworks for understanding how diverse communities create meaningful learning environments.

The significance of the Atlas lies in its capacity to expand our collective imagination about educational possibilities. By documenting how local wisdom informs architectural practice across different contexts, it enables practitioners to move beyond standardised solutions toward culturally responsive approaches. Ultimately, this integration of knowledge systems positions architecture as a catalyst for educational transformation, fostering environments that honour community values while preparing learners for an interconnected world.

Keywords: learning environments, shift of focus, inclusion, catalogue, built environment practitioners