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29 teachers, educators and policy-makers from 21 countries in the Asia-Pacific region attended the 19th Asia-Pacific Training Workshop on EIU in Seoul and Inje, from 20 June to 28 June 2019. The Workshop focused on deepening the participants’ knowledge of key concepts and pedagogies of GCED so that they can design and implement GCED projects in their local contexts. 

Recognizing the closely interconnected and interdependent society with the complicated challenges we face as global community such as inequality, violence, intolerance and environmental crises that are being exacerbated by the unsustainable development and ways of life, the Workshop aimed to deepen the participants’ knowledge on the issues and to empower them to realize their roles as agents of change to bring transformation in the society through education for the betterment of all. 

To do so, the 9-day-long workshop consisted of three main sessions - lectures, hands-on activities, discussion and interactive workshops - in order to encourage the participants to share ideas about how to deal with common challenges of the global and local community: sustainable future and education, the 21 century competency and teachers’ roles, global/glocal justice, human rights, intercultural dialogue, gender equality, as well as pedagogies of GCED. Along with those sessions, a joint seminar with Korean GCED Lead Teachers deepened the participants’ knowledge on GCED, by sharing innovative cases of GCED in the Republic of Korea. 

Another portion of the workshop was held in Inje in order for the participants to further explore issues of sustainability and peaceful co-existence. The attendees visited the Eul-ji Observatory Tower, the 4th Tunnel and Seo-hwa-ri village, witnessing how the local community in Inje has contributed to establishing sustainable and inclusive communities in the local area, as part of overcoming historical division in the Korean peninsula. The last session in Inje enabled the participants to lead inter-cultural classes with students of Shin-Nam High School, thus enhancing their skills at implementing EIU with people from different countries.

On the last day of the Workshop, the participants synthesized what they have learned from the lectures, discussion and visits and crafted action plans that they could hypothetically implement in their organizations. Their action plans had a wide range of target groups - including local communities, teachers, universities - in order to develop and tailor teacher training courses, GCED curriculum and community-engagement programmes by their national or regional contexts. All in all, the 19th APTW was filled with the participants’ increased motivation and competency to carry out their own initiatives on GCED and further disseminate global citizenship education in the Asia-Pacific region.