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More than 500 experts, practitioners and policymakers from across the world gathered in Ottawa, Canada and explored pedagogical approaches and teaching practices to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Global Citizenship Education (GCED). 

The UNESCO Week for Peace and Sustainable Development: the Role of Education (6-10 March 2017) brought together the Global Review Forum for the Global Action Programme on ESD (GAP) and the Third UNESCO Forum on GCED representing UNESCO's two major educational approaches. Participants examined good policies and practices for educators and teacher trainers to empower learners to become global citizens. 

On 8 March, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova officially opened the 5 - day event and an exhibition of 42 booths showcasing a wide variety of practices and approaches to ESD and GCED. “We need the education that promotes understanding between cultures, that strengthens the resilience of societies. And we need teachers equipped with the skills and confidence to foster these competences.” She highlighted the importance of teachers’ role to cultivate global citizenship. 

APCEIU participated in the exhibition under the name of ‘Global Citizen Campus’ which consists of hands-on activities related to GCED as well as SGDs, Global Citizen Passport, online materials such as GCED Clearing House, APCEIU’s publications including GCED best practices, etc. The APCEIU’s booth drew the attention of many participants, providing a platform for sharing practices, ideas, and insights on GCED.  

The Third UNESCO Forum on GCED, which opened on 8 March, drew together GCED experts, educational practitioners, civil society organizations, young people, research institutions and universities, UN agencies and other partners from the public, non-governmental and private sector from all regions.

“Teachers are on the frontlines of bringing GCED into learning environments. Without confident, qualified and well-prepared teachers, we cannot advance GCED,” said UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, Qian Tang, at the official opening of the Forum.

Utak Chung, Director of APCEIU, in remarks at the opening of the Forum, pledged that APCEIU will continue to support promoting GCED with UNESCO and other partners. He also renewed the APCEIU’s endeavours towards the global advancement of GCED and reaffirmed that fostering global citizenship is not just the UN or UNESCO’s agenda, but ultimately a global agenda for all. 

During the Forum, APCEIU co-organised and supported two concurrent sessions. In collaboration with the UNESCO Bangkok Office, APCEIU organised a session titled “Preparing teachers for global citizenship education in Asia: what works?” on 9 March. Inviting two experts from the region, Francis Daehoon Lee (Sungkonghoe University) and Toh Swee-Hin (University of Alberta), the session explored themes and pedagogical methods through which GCED can be approached.

On 10 March, APCEIU supported a session titled “Teaching with young people: What do learners expect from GCED?”, led by the GCED Youth Network. The GCED Youth Network was established by a group of youth advocates for GCED who participated in APCEIU’s annual programme for youth. Anna Susarenco from Moldova and Lorena Gamarra from Peru introduced advocacy techniques which teachers and educators can use to engage young people in GCED. 

The third UNESCO Forum on GCED focused on teachers’ crucial role for pioneering frontline to bring GCED into classrooms and for achieving SDGs. Throughout the Forum, participants exchanged ideas and information on GCED and strengthened networks to ensure that practical change is brought into learning environment. 

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Examining practices for educators to empower learners to become global citizens: UNESCO Week for Peace and Sustainable Development > APCEIU News - APCEIU (unescoapceiu.org)