IDEA Annual Conference 2022

IDEA Annual Conference 2022

The Future of Global Citizenship: educating for a changing world


Tuesday – Wednesday, 21-22 June 2022


We are living in a time of great change. From the upheaval of the Covid 19 pandemic, to the push for systemic change to tackle racism and the climate emergency. Technology is allowing people to connect and mobilise around issues in a way that hasn’t been seen previously in history, but this is also fueling an increase in polarisation and division.



While the scale of the challenges facing can be overwhelming, we need to be effective and collective in our response to these issues. This will require skills that support interconnected global learning, critical thinking and effective action. Some of the questions we explored include, the role for Global Citizenship Educators in the coming years, what changes we need to make to respond effectively to what’s coming down the line, and what skills will be needed.


This conference was an opportunity to come together to explore the future of global citizenship & educating for a changing world. We ran a range of sessions across the 2 days including an Opening Conversation, a Panel Session, 2 Reflection Sessions, and 4 Workshops.


Key Elements of the Conference 

Opening Conversation

The speakers at the Opening Conversation were:


Dr. Peter T Coleman, Professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University, Director of the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (MD-ICCCR), and Executive Director of Columbia University’s Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity.


Dr Ebun Joseph, Diversity and Race Relations Consultant, Module Coordinator and Lecturer in Black Studies at University College Dublin (UCD), Director of the Institute of Antiracism and Black Studies (IABS), Founder and Chairperson (2018-2022) African Scholars Association Ireland (AFSAI).

Panellists

  • Ikal Ang'elei, Environmental Activist & Goldman Environmental Prize Awardee
  • Mamobo Ogoro, Activist, Founder of Gorm Media, Award Winning Scholar, and Artist
  • Dr Audrey Bryan, Associate Professor of Sociology in the School of Human Development, Dublin City University
  • Bobby McCormack, Co-founder and CEO of Development Perspectives


Workshops

  • Wednesday, 22 June, 9.30am - 12.30pm: Running in Parallel

    Transformative Education in times of Crises


    Trainers: Tereza Čajková, Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures Collective, and Aurèle Destrée, Consultant on land-based and transformative education for Civil Society Organisations


    Workshop Content: This online workshop explores how decolonial perspectives can support us to engage (with accountability) in a world characterised by increasing uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. It will look at questions such as: How has education perpetuated the ways of thinking, relating and acting that have brought us to this unprecedented stage of multiple global crises? How can education support a shift towards reconfiguring the systems we rely on, based on deep social and ecological accountability? 


    This workshop will invite you to take a break from the urgency of action and to develop greater understanding. It will explore how certain affective and intellectual patterns  - commonly internalised by those of us socialised in modern/colonial societies - are contributing to the unconscious perpetuation of the very way of being that has led us to the current complex global crisis. Participants will be invited into spaces of uncertainty and will be offered tools and practices with which they can occupy difficult realities without feeling overwhelmed.



    Ecosystem Restoration and Development Education: Regenerating people and wider nature


    Trainers: Co-founders of Síolta Chroí, Gareth Conlon, formerly Comhlámh, Development Perspective and ECO-UNESCO, and Karen Jeffares, Peace Brigades International 


    Workshop Content: How can systems be created that restore ecosystems, sequester carbon and build biodiversity while supporting communities to thrive? 


    This workshop will introduce the concepts of permaculture and regenerative agriculture exploring what Development Education can learn from them and what they can learn from Development Education and how together they can offer a powerful lens through which to reimagine and recreate our world. This perspective can bring us beyond sustainability and towards a more regenerative and abundant world.


  • Wednesday, 22 June, 2.00pm - 5.00pm: Running in Parallel


    War, Peace and the Future of Development Education


    Trainers: Zelalem Sibhat, Lecturer in Mekelle University, Tigray, Ethiopia, Gerard McCann, Senior Lecturer in International Studies and Head of International Programmes at St Mary's College Belfast, and Gertrude Cotter, Lecturer at the Centre for Global Development, UCC



    Workshop Content: This workshop focuses on the theme of War and Peace, the implications of conflict for ordinary people around the world, and an activity exploring the future role of Development Education in the context of the continuing destruction of millions of lives as people become trapped in a vicious cycle of violence, hunger, poverty and inequality. It focuses on the war in Tigray, with the story of one man, Zelalem Sibhat, who gives powerful witness to the impact of the war in Tigray on his life and that of his family, friends and community. It also explores the Northern Ireland context with particular attention to the complexities of peace processes. Facilitators will extract some wider meanings which may not be directly applicable to other parts of the world, but which at least offer a way of exploring hope in a deeply entrenched context. Workshop Facilitators see Development Education as an Education in radical hope and this hope is important for educators as learners. The format will be a combination of personal testimony, reflection on the implications of these experiences for Development Education and participatory methodologies. It will bring the collective experience of participants together to focus on our role as global citizens and the future of Development Education in seeking understanding, solutions and actions.  


    Global Business and Human Rights


    Trainer: Mark Cumming, formerly of Comhlámh, who has spent 30 years involved in international solidarity work


    Workshop Content: "Everything a Development Educationalist needs to know about business and human rights but was afraid to ask"! The relative power of business to nation states is frequently cited in development education resources and materials. However, many practitioners are not familiar with the range of accountability mechanisms that can be utilised by ordinary citizens, including the learners we work with, to pressure business and challenge corporate behaviour. This workshop will focus on the issues of the accountability of business to respect human rights. Specifically the workshop will equip participants to understand the discourses around Corporate Social Responsibility and Business and Human Rights. It will serve to equip participants with the necessary frameworks through which actions can be taken to engage in the process of holding businesses to account for abuses of human rights.


Photographs