Image Education, the Literacy of the Twenty-First Century

The screen industries helped build today’s civilization of images. They can now help repair our relationship to it. The challenges they face are also those of our societies. As attention fragments, so too do many of the common spaces through which we see, feel and debate together. At a moment when images are losing some of their power to bring people together and are increasingly used to divide them, the future of these industries depends on reasserting their place in society. Empowering the next generation means giving young people greater agency over the images they encounter: the ability to navigate an ocean of content, recognize works of lasting value, and understand that this value is economic, cultural and democratic alike.

In a world of infinite feeds and increasingly passive screen consumption, image education has become an essential literacy for the twenty-first century. It fosters critical viewing, cultural curiosity and a healthier, more active relationship to screens. It is also the industry’s longest-term investment: building the next generation of audiences means giving young people the tools, appetite and opportunities to encounter ambitious works. The closing plenary will launch a major international initiative to make image education a universal ambition, support national programs adapted to different cultural, educational and technological contexts, and enable countries to share the models and methods they have developed.