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Promoting Active Global Citizenship among Young Eu..
Promoting Active Global Citizenship among Young Europeans
Start date: Jan 1, 2015,
End date: Jun 30, 2015
PROJECT
FINISHED
Today we live in a fast-changing and interdependent world, which is full of challenges and opportunities. Every day we face a wide range of social, economic and environmental issues, which connect us to the other parts of the world and make us feel the members of the global society. In order to make people, especially youngsters, able to meet the global challenges, we need to ensure opportunities for young people to learn about global issues and make the connections to their own lives.
Today's Europe needs citizens who are able to critically assess the issues and identify their approaches in local, national, European and global contexts. It needs citizens who are sensitive for the issues having impact for sustainable development of the EU as well as the whole globe and are able to take and active role towards contributing to sustainable development of the whole world. In order to foster active citizen's participation in the growth of the EU as well as contributing to the sustainable global development, they need to understand the reasons of the global issues, their consequences to the European and global society and to be able to take an active civic role towards making the world more sustainable. Furthermore, they need to become tolerant towards people of different origins, ethnicities and cultures living in their neighborhoods in order to ensure sustainable growth of their local communities.
The project aims of the project is to reinforce active global citizenship among young Europeans and make them become promoters of the fundamental values, such as solidarity, tolerance, respect for diversity, equality, justice and peace.
The project expects to raise awareness among young Europeans on interconnectivity existing among people, countries and cultures across the globe; to explore the common issues existing in local, national and global level; to build their active global citizenship skills in order to make them active towards coping with the challenges in the global society; to foster civic actions of youngsters towards sustainable future of the communities in Europe and around the world.
The objectives of the project will be achieved by establishing a laboratory for young Europeans, where they will be able to share their views and become aware of the realities of different communities in the context of globalization, to define their own roles in a global society, as well as to develop competencies necessary for contributing to sustainable changes in both local communities and globally. The activities of the youth exchange will also stimulate their behavioral change in order to contribute to sustainable development both locally and globally. The project will also allow its participants to identify the effects of the global issues to their own lives and make them become more active and responsible by changing their own views, attitudes, daily habits. It is also expected that the respect for diversity, self-esteem and personal responsibility of the project participants towards the issues happening around will be increased.
The laboratory will engage 28 young people supported by 4 group leaders, coming from 4 EU countries: Lithuania, Bulgaria, Slovak Republic and Cyprus. The project will involve those willing to take an active civic role in the sustainable global development processes. Motivation of the participants will be one of the most important criteria during the selection process. The project will also engage at least 4 participants with fewer opportunities, arising because of cultural differences and social obstacles. These will be representatives of ethnic minorities, people from migrant or refugee families, etc. They will be like "live books" telling their own stories from the global perspective. This will help the project to avoid stereotypes among the project participants about different people, countries and cultures.
The laboratory will be organized by applying global education methodologies, aimed 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.
6-steps approach will be used in order to train tomorrow‘s global citizens. These steps include:
1. exploring their understanding, values and attitudes towards global realities and global citizenship;
2. generating important issues affecting the lives of young people and thinking about them in local and global contexts;
3. finding out more about the issues participants of the laboratory have chosen, understanding the reasons why the issues arise, and the consequences to the society, if the issues are not met;
4. deciding what action to take and how to implement it in order to meet the chosen issues;
5. taking action;
6. reflecting on the achievements of the young people and discussing the possibilities to apply them in their local contexts.