“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” (M. Mead) 

From the 7th to the 13th of November 2022 twenty-eight youth workers from Poland, Czech Republic, Italy, Slovakia, France, and Germany have gathered in Grillenburg, near Dresden, taking part in the Erasmus+ Training Course “Global World? Global Learning! - Education for global equity “organized by CAMBIO e.V. 

During the week spent together, they became familiar with the concept of Global Citizenship Education (GCED), discovering new educational methods and widening their perception of global problems and possible solutions. The participants had the opportunity to learn by doing and directly test the content they had learned by leading GCED workshops for the other participants in pairs or small groups. The more daring also tested their skills as moderators in the international school in Dresden with high school students, who warmly welcomed them and treasured the open-minding experience.  

The contents of the methods covered crucial aspects of our globalized contemporary societies. Participants had the opportunity to elaborate their workshops on topics like world inequalities, our pattern of consumption and the mismanagement of natural resources, the history of food and the relationship with colonialism, the different possible strategies towards sustainability, and our opportunities for action for changing the world.  

Besides the workshops, Participants used the time to reflect on their actions, writing a letter to themselves about how they want to shape our common future on this beautiful but fragile planet.  

The Training course has been also a stage for intercultural exchange and active critical thinking on the mechanisms that leads our societies at the national and international level. In this regard, an intercultural evening has been hosted, during which the participants shared with the group a lot of food, objects, and interesting facts related to their home country. On other evenings, there was time for exchanging ideas about how to transform the school system and to get to know local initiatives that work in education for sustainable development, with Lisa, a local activist, that introduced the participants to her project and shared her passion for biodiversity preservation. 

As a result of this Global Learning training, participants received insights on how to modify their behaviour towards a more sustainable lifestyle and got to know examples of how to bring the content to their local contexts, using the GCED methods as a possible and easily applicable means of strengthening values such as tolerance, freedom, ecology and human rights.