A Cross-cutting Issue in a More Global World
How many different countries are the objects in your direct surrounding from? Your T-shirt, your bike, your mobile? The orange juice you like most and the music you are listening to? If you start counting and naming the countries, you might be surprised. The development of a globalized world brought about a lot of movement in terms of goods. People are moving more – because of their needs, struggles, or for pleasure. Thus, even in everyday routines we are already embedded in a global context – we are global citizens.
Objects, ideas, people from “beyond everyday,” from beyond our city, region or even state contribute and shape our daily lives and our opportunities. As global humans, we talk about global issues with our friends and families, and as facilitators, teachers and trainers to children, youth or adult learners. Hardly any of the issues we work on can be fully understood without addressing the global connections behind them.
Global Learning is concerned with the connections between regions, cultures, and people across geographic boundaries. In a globalized world and under the sign of developments that encompass the world, such as digitalisation, climate change or economic globalization, it is increasingly becoming a transversal topic. Global Citizenship Education aims to merge the approaches of Education for Democratic Citizenship/Human Rights Education with Global Learning.
What is Global Learning?
The following two common definitions of Global Learning are often quoted and stated in the Maastricht Global Education Declaration,
which was adopted in 2002:
- Global Education is education that opens people’s eyes and minds to the realities of the globalized world and awakens them to bring about
a world of greater justice, equity and Human Rights for all.
- Global Education is understood to encompass Development Education, Human Rights Education, Education for Sustainability, Education for Peace and Conflict Prevention and Intercultural Education; being the global dimension of Education for Citizenship.
Global Citizenship Education
Articles, Checklists and Method
Inspiring Handbooks and Resources
Global Learning and Education for Sustainable Development
GreenComp
The European sustainability competence framework
PDF
How to Engage Citizens with the Sustainable Development Goals
Inspiration, tools and cases by Finnish Development NGOs Fingo
PDF
Sustainability and Bildung
Created in European Association for the Education of Adult's Bildung project
PDF
Ten Steps to Systems Thinking
Education for Sustainable Development online manual for teachers, educators, and facilitators by Centre for Environmental Education
Web
Handbook: Sustainable Entrepreneurship
Non-formal education methods collected in the project Growing Green by Fora Copenhagen.
PDF
Global Citizenship Education
Wintersteiner, Grobbauer, Diendorfer, Reitmair-Juárez
Citizenship Education for Globalizing Societies
Download
Six Steps to Global Citizenship
A Guide for Youth Workers, Youth Leaders and Trainers
PDF
Global Youth Work
Allen, Dwyer
Activities for Global Citizenship
Download
The Everyday Beyond
European, international and global dimensions of learning processes.
Download
Sherpa Tools
Polish-German Youth office's online tools for Education for Sustainable Development in German and Polish
Web
Global citizenship education in a digital age: teacher guidelines
UNESCO, 2024
PDF
Environment and Civil Involvement
How Can We Connect Education for Sustainable Development and Active Citizenship Empowerment? Download
ESD Toolbox
UNESCO's ESD Toolbox Web
Youth Xchange towards sustainable lifestyles
UNEP and UNESCO Toolbox Web
Global Education Guidelines
Concepts and methodologies on global education for educators and policy makers of the Council of Europe Download
Global Citizenship Education
Topics and Learning Objective by UNESCO
PDF
Education for Sustainable Development Learning Goals
UNESCO's learning goals on ESDPDF
PISA Global Competence Framework
OECD's Global Competence Model PDF
T-KIT 13 - Sustainability and youth work
E. Keen, J. Pinkeviciute, A. Hayes, A. Berecz, B. Akyüz for CoE/EUC PDF
