Three years after receiving, in Natal / RN, as face-to-face editions of the Brazilian Congress of Higher Distance Education (ESUD) and the International Congress of Higher Distance Education (CIESUD), the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), once again, the venue for these two simultaneous events that are among the largest EaD congresses in Latin America.

The announcement was made on Friday evening (13), during the closing announcement of ESUD / CIESUD 2020, promoted by the Association University in Rende (UniRede) and organized by the Federal University of Goiás (UFG). Because of the covid-19 pandemic, an error occurred, entirely, through online transmissions, in web conferencing rooms and on the YouTube channel of the Integrated Network Learning Center (CIAR / UFG).

The Secretary of Distance Education at UFRN and representative of Federal Institutions at UniRede, Carmem Rêgo, spoke about the organization’s expectation: “In such a difficult time for humanity, we have a huge challenge, which is to host an event of the magnitude of ESUD. But UFRN, I always work with dedication to carry out great events with quality and, in this way, represent the best society in Rio Grande do Sul ”.

“In 2018, UFRN was the host of the Brazilian Congress of Higher Distance Education (ESUD) and it will be an honor for our institution to host the event again in 2021, which is the result of the credibility achieved nationally, over the years, by our Secretariat of Distance Education (SEDIS) ”, said the Dean of UFRN, José Daniel Diniz Melo, commenting on the choice.

The central theme of ESUD / CIESUD 2021 has not yet been defined, but there is a perspective that they address in “Education and Health”. Within this context, the Laboratory of Technological Innovation in Health (LAIS / UFRN), which, in 2018, supported the holding of the two Congresses, next year, when the 10 years of creation of LAIS / UFRN will be celebrated, will assume the role of organizer event, in partnership with SEDIS and UFRN.

The central theme of ESUD / CIESUD 2021 has not yet been defined, but there is a perspective that the discussions address “Education and Health”. Within this context, the Laboratory of Technological Innovation in Health (LAIS / UFRN), which, in 2018, supported the holding of the two Congresses, next year, when the 10 years of creation of LAIS / UFRN will be celebrated, will assume the role of organizer event, in partnership with SEDIS and UFRN.

According to Professor Ricardo Valentim, LAIS coordinator, organizing ESUD in the year that the laboratory completes a decade of existence has important symbolism and relevance.

“For LAIS it is a remarkable moment, where we will celebrate our 10 years with the simultaneous holding of the most important event in the field of distance education in Brazil, and also one of the most important in the world, which are ESUD and CIESUD, respectively . In this spectrum, we have been working in human training in health for years, through the SUS Virtual Learning Environment (AVASUS), a tool that today has almost 700 thousand active users, from all regions of Brazil and on all continents. This role gained even more strength during the covid-19 pandemic, where we developed training tools for health professionals and users in general, which through AVASUS, became universal. It is a protagonism that we conquered through the continuous work of a multidisciplinary team, which has in technology-mediated education a foundation to build a more egalitarian society “, he said.

According to the president of UniRede, Alexandre Martins, it is always a pleasure to be able to count on the partnership of SEDIS, LAIS and UFRN. He recalls that the election of ESUD / CIESUD, in Natal / RN, took place in 2019 in Teresina Piauí, when UniRede members considered the realization of a new edition of these congresses in partnership with the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), which would be held, in person, in the year 2021.

“Unfortunately, in 2019, we did not imagine that today we would be living in such a delicate moment of a pandemic, which ended up canceling the event that would happen in person”, clarified Alexandre Martins. The president of UniRede announced a new configuration of these events, in virtual format, and took the opportunity to congratulate the commitment of UFRN and ICDE in maintaining the offer of events of such great importance to the national and international community that works, researches or develops activities in the field. open and distance education.

Source: Bruno Cássio – SEDIS / UFRN Media Sector / Arthur Barbalho – ASCOM / LAIS

Check out the video with the launch of the ESUD / CIESUD 2021 logo.