International Global Education Seminar
|
Strategies for Increasing and Improving Global Education
in preparation for the Global Education Week 2008
|
8 June 2008
Ljubljana – Slovenia
DRAFT SUMMARY REPORT
INTRODUCTION
The North-South Centre (NSC) of the Council of Europe (CoE) held its annual seminar on “Strategies for Increasing and Improving Global Education” in Ljubljana (Slovenia), in preparation for the annual Global Education Week (GEW), an awareness raising event which takes place in the third week of November.
The purpose of this seminar is to provide a meeting space for national co-ordinators of the Global Education Week network, and to share national strategies for increasing and improving global education within the Council of Europe boundaries. Global Education Week began as a pilot initiative in 1999 with 12 member states. Today the GEW network comprises 36 member states and five international organisations.
In 2008, the GEW evaluation seminar was held in Ljubljana, prior to the Slovenian EU Presidency conference on “Intercultural Dialogue in Development Education” organised by the Slovenian NGDO platform SLOGA in Ljubljana, 9-10 June. This option was taken in order to allow the GEW network co-ordinators to attend this event and share expertise with DE practitioners from Europe and beyond. In addition, it allowed the NSC to publicly present to the conference audience the Global Education Guideline, which process was initiated during the 2006 GEW evaluation seminar, as well as the Global Education Recommendation process initiated in March 2008.
The seminar was attended by representatives from Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, UK, Ukraine as well as representatives of the following international networks: Educating Cities, and OBESSU-Organising Bureau of European School Students Unions.
Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, France, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Georgia, Italy, Luxembourg, Moldova, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and representatives of DEEEP-Development Education Exchange in Europe Project, European Youth Forum, Foundation for Environmental Education and of the Council of Europe Division for Citizenship and Human Rights Education are also part of the GEW network.
Participants included representatives from Ministries of Education, educational structures, NGDOs, universities, youth organisations and Teachers’ Unions.
AGENDA
Exceptionally this year the GEW evaluation seminar was scheduled for one day only as the two other remaining days were foreseen for the SLOGA DE conference.
The following agenda progression was proposed to the participants :
Introduction and objectives of the meeting
News from the NSC and the CoE
Evaluation of GEW 2007
- Film screening
- Most important activity, highlights and main impact of the week
- Report from the working groups
Perspectives and themes for GEW 2008 and 2009
- Formation of thematic sub-groups in the network (preparatory process of three valuation seminar, newsletter & webpage of the week…)
Presentation and feedback on the Global Education Guideline
- Process, content, challenges of the Guideline
- Individual/group reflection on the content of the Guideline and its chapters, followed by general comments and reflections in plenary
Transfer, implementation and dissemination of the guideline in different countries and contexts
- four working groups: identification of strategies, and possible approaches
- plenary presentation of results and comments
Due to timing constraint the agenda focused on :
1) updating the GEW network coordinators about recent developments within NSC GE programme;
2) the evaluation of GEW 2007 activities through a sharing of highlights and constraints in working groups followed by a presentation of main outcomes in plenary, and
3) the presentation of the Global education guideline draft version and subsequent consultation process with the GEW network coordinators for the analysis and improvement of this pedagogical tool.
The last foreseen point of the agenda dealing with the implementation and dissemination strategies of the guideline could not be dealt due to time limitation and the duration of previous sessions.
OUTCOMES
The seminar outlined the strategies developed so far by the GEW network for more and better Global Education emphasising the co-ordinated approach between stakeholders at the level of educational practitioners, decision-makers and civil-society.
It also gave the opportunity for a critical reflection on the network’s need for improvement, notably the need to plan GEW related activities longer in advance – namely the choice of the GEW theme and the preparatory process of the evaluation seminar – and the inclusion of the Southern perspective about the perception and practice of GE, either by associating GEW network national coordinators’ partners from the South in the GEW process or enlarging the GEW network to members from the South.
It allowed for reflection on how to optimise networking strategies through the CoE political channels and through the North-South Centre Youth programme and Intercultural Dialogue programme, an outcome that the Global Education programme of the North-South Centre should take into account and monitor in order to improve its strategy for more and better global education with the GEW network.
Furthermore, the global education guideline, in a future up-dating and improvement phase could reinforce the participation of the GEW network and partners and their interaction with the NSC GE programme.
Global Education Week theme
The theme for the Global Education Week 2008 was confirmed to be Intercultural Dialogue and the selection of the motto was left up to the national coordinators to select.
For the Global Education Week 2009, it was agreed that the theme would be Food for All.
As to the theme for Global Education Week 2010, it was agreed that the theme would be related to the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010).
It was established that the choice of a motto did not exclude the possibility to adapt its wording in order to facilitate its understanding and impact to the national context.
In 2008 the GEW will take place from 15 – 23 November.
The following recommendations were outlined :
Global Education Week
1. The Week shall be seen as a ‘kick-off momentum’ and not as an isolated action;
2. The format of the Week has to remain flexible to ensure greater participation considering the diversity of actors, needs and realities;
3. The GEW theme should be decided earlier in order to provide better preparation;
4. The GEW logo contributes to the visibility, the credibility and recognition of the event;
5. At national level, the GEW network national coordinators can strengthen dissemination to stakeholders through existing networks or platforms; through the creation of a GE related website and by increasing the role of media in practical implementation of GEW strategy.
The role of the North-South Centre
7. The North-South Centre role in monitoring the GEW should focus on a greater interaction with the GEW network all year-round through regular consultation processes and through a greater support in terms of communication strategies in general and at official level in particular to improve the visibility of the GEW;
8. Introduce consultation processes on programmatic issues with the GEW network; this consultation process could be done through the format of electronic forums or through existing consultation channels made available on the North-South Centre website;
9. Provide subgroups within the network to work on:
. evaluation criteria and indicators for the assessment of GEW implementation strategies;
. preparation and agenda of the GEW annual evaluation seminar;
. GEW webpage & GE electronic newsletter presentation;
10. Facilitate interaction between the GEW network and the CoE Directorate General for Education, Culture, Heritage, Youth & Sports ( DGIV ), namely the Education for Democratic Citizenship & Human Rights division and its respective network ( EDC-HRE network ), the All Different All Equal campaign (second phase) against discrimination and the CoE quadrilogue representatives.
Follow-up measures resulting from the working sessions:
As to:
Improving synergies with CoE & other NSC programmes, the NSC GE programme intends to develop a systematic sharing of information and improved coordination with :
. CoE DGIV and EDC programmes;
. EDC expert group and the EDC network of national coordinators;
. All Different All Equal Campaign (second phase) secretariat;
. CoE quadrilogue representatives through the NSC Executive Council quadrilogue representatives;
Furthermore, the NSC Youth and Intercultural Dialogue programme coordinators can facilitate the inclusion of Southern perspective in the GEW networking mechanism by identifying interlocutors for GE issues within their respective networks. The inclusion of Southern perspective will be reinforced also through the foreseen cooperation between the NSC and the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation (ALECSO) and the Anna Lindh Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures (ALF).
Improving synergies with other international events, the NSC GE programme intends to develop a systematic sharing of information with :
. United Nations events/initiatives – UNESCO Education for All programme; UN decade for education for sustainable development; OHCHR World Programme for Human Rights Education; MDGs and Alliance of Civilizations initiatives;
. EU events/initiatives - E.U. Development Days & E.U. Year of Intercultural Dialogue.
and invites GEW network coordinators to make contact with national offices/representations of such events/initiatives.
Improving the interaction with the GEW network coordinators through :
a regular consultation on the Global Education Guideline process, the GE country profile project and CoE white paper on intercultural dialogue white paper;
and by formalising the creation of subgroups dealing with:
. evaluation criteria and indicators for the assessment of GEW implementation strategies;
. preparation and agenda of the GEW annual evaluation seminar;
. GEW webpage & GE electronic newsletter presentation
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