Four Global Initiatives Informing This Area of Work
“On 1 January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit — officially came into force. Over the next fifteen years, with these new Goals that universally apply to all, countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind.
The SDGs, also known as Global Goals, build on the success of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and aim to go further to end all forms of poverty. The new Goals are unique in that they call for action by all countries, poor, rich and middle-income to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and addresses a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection.
While the SDGs are not legally binding, governments are expected to take ownership and establish national frameworks for the achievement of the 17 Goals. Countries have the primary responsibility for follow-up and review of the progress made in implementing the Goals, which will require quality, accessible and timely data collection. Regional follow-up and review will be based on national-level analyses and contribute to follow-up and review at the global level”.
“The goal of global citizenship education is to empower learners to engage and assume active roles both locally and globally to face and resolve global challenges and ultimately to become proactive contributors to a more just, peaceful, tolerant, inclusive, secure and sustainable world. Global citizenship education has three conceptual dimensions. The cognitive dimension concerns the learners’ acquisition of knowledge, understanding and critical thinking. The socio-emotonal dimension relates to the learners’ sense of belonging to a common humanity, sharing values and responsibilities empathy, solidarity and respect for differences and diversity. The behavioural dimension expects the learners to act responsibly at local, national and global levels for a more peaceful and sustainable world.
Global Citizenship Education (GCED) aims to empower learners to assume active roles to face and resolve global challenges and to become proactive contributors to a more peaceful, tolerant, inclusive and secure world.
GCED is for learners of all ages – children, young people and adults alike.
Focus areas
- Global advocacy and policy dialogue
- The global measurement of progress on GCED and ESD (SDG Target 4.7)
- Peace and human rights education
- Preventing violent extremism through education
- Education about the Holocaust
- Textbook Development
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002482/248232E.pdf
“We are living in a world characterized by change, complexity and paradox. These changes signal the emergence of a new global context for learning that has vital implications for education. It requires that we revisit the purpose of education and the organization of learning. The complexity of today’s world requires a comprehensive approach to education policy embedded in a better understanding of the way in which knowledge is created, controlled, disseminated, acquired, validated and used. It also requires further development of the ethical principles that govern education and knowledge as common goods.
Towards a global common good?
Recognizing the emergence of a new global context of learning the Director-General of UNESCO established a Senior Experts Group to rethink education in a changing world. The result of the work of the group is presented in Rethinking Education: Towards a global common good? (2015). In the spirit of the landmark publication Learning: The treasure within (UNESCO 1996), the report of the Senior Experts Group reconsiders the purpose of education and the principles that govern education and knowledge as common goods. The publication is intended a call for policy dialogue and as a platform for research on the future of learning.”
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“The Earth Charter Initiative is a global movement of organizations and individuals that embrace the Earth Charter and use it to guide the transition towards a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world.
The Earth Charter Initiative consists of individuals and organizations that predominantly act independently and occasionally collaborate. The ECI Secretariat functions as the coordinating hub for this worldwide movement.
The following are the goals, strategic objectives, and strategy of Earth Charter International.
Mission:
The mission of Earth Charter International is to actively participate, in a systemic and integrated way, in the present transition to sustainable ways of living on the planet, founded on a shared ethical framework that includes respect and care for the community of life, ecological integrity, universal human rights, respect for diversity, social and economic justice, democracy, and a culture of peace.
Goals:
- To raise awareness worldwide of the Earth Charter and to promote understanding of its inclusive ethical vision.
- To seek recognition and endorsement of the Earth Charter by individuals, organizations, and the United Nations.
- To promote the use of the Earth Charter as an ethical guide and the implementation of its principles by civil society, business, and government.
- To encourage and support the educational use of the Earth Charter in schools, universities, religious communities, local communities, and many other settings.
- To promote recognition and use of the Earth Charter as a soft law document.”
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