Resources

This document was written as an introduction to global education and as a practical support tool for planning, managing and evaluating global education projects. It is addressed to members of GLEN, the Global Education Network of Young Europeans, as well as to other global educators. The following pages are the result of numerous discussions that have occurred during the last five years both within GLEN and with external global education practitioners and academics. Many of these discussions crystallised at the European Global Education Days (EGED), a five-day seminar that GLEN organised on the occasion of the network’s fifth anniversary in November 2008. The EGED brought together more than 70 global education activists, practitioners and academics from 15 European countries, with the aims of exchanging experiences and good practices of global education, discussing how to evaluate global education projects and measure impact; reflecting on the potential of global education as a tool for activists and how it relates to concepts such as citizenship or development; and using the results of these discussions for the future work of our network: planning global education projects and further engaging with other stakeholders. The world is currently going through a period of accumulated crises: the ecological crisis, the financial and economic crisis, the food crisis. And this on top of all the other problems: hunger, poverty, unequal distributions of resources, violent conflict, etc. The challenges which humankind is facing seem to be greater than ever. However, the Greek word ‘crisis’ does not mean downfall, but decision. We, as human beings and as citizens of this world, can decide to contribute our share for bringing about more just political and economic structures; and more sustainable, democratic, peaceful and inclusive ways of living together. If we do global education, it is in order to address exactly these issues; it is to empower people to become agents of change in view of this vision. So, in this spirit, let us use the present momentum and make the current ‘crisis’ a turning point.