The keywords in all outstanding civilizations and democracies are knowledge and literacy. These are magic keywords for mitigating the risks for further increase in unemployment and hunger as natural consequences of the expansion of population, accelerating pressures on natural resources and the associated increase in consumption, waste and pollution. In no other era of human history, knowledge and literacy are becoming more and more inevitable, and even imperative, as instruments for any socio-economic developments. In particular, what regards sustainable management and use of natural resources by being our capital and reserve for a sustainable life. With the evolution of science and technology and the associated enormous transformation to knowledge-based societies, the only solution for erasing poverty is education in sustainable forms. It is education and research that have to be adapted to the society and not the contrary. Knowledge, through education and research, is an instrument and not a goal in itself. Throughout history, from ancient Egypt to modern civilizations, humans demonstrated how to use knowledge to turn the impossible to possible, i.e. through home-made inventions appropriate for there environments, people and for trade with other societies and cultures as well. In situations where humans were not always successful to manage conflicts, science and technology were/are being used for mass-destruction, control and abuse of natural resources. Even without traditional schools, universities and research institutes, by our current standards and detailed management systems, ancient Egyptians succeeded to engage people to run and manage one of the very top civilizations in human history. What were possible thousands of years ago is still possible the only difference is how to shape knowledge to solve our needs, no more no less.
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