IDEA Network receives GENE Quality in Global Education Award
The IDEA network received a Global Education Network Europe (GENE) Quality in Global Education Award for the Code of Good Practice for Development Education at a ceremony on 19 May. This was hosted by Chair of GENE, Annette Scheunpflug, with 73 attendees including the Greek Minister for Education, Niki Kerameus, and Áine Doody, Head of Development Education /Global Citizenship, Irish Aid.
47 initiatives were nominated for the award, which was given to 7 Global Education initiatives across Europe. These programmes ranged from a Masters in Global Citizenship Education, to a 'study trip' approach to learn about campaigning on sexual and reproductive health in the Global South, to gathering diverse students and teachers, including Greek and Turkish Cypriots, in the buffer zone in Cyprus to bring about reconciliation.
The Code of Good Practice for Development Education is a trailblazer internationally, providing educators and organisations working in Development Education with a quality framework to strengthen good practice. Key to the award criteria was the active involvement of 'participants', collaboration, learning and networking, all elements that were core to the development and roll-out of the Code.
The IDEA membership began developing this Code 5 years ago, and this award is a wonderful acknowledgement and recognition of their work. The successful roll-out of the Code to date, which has not been disrupted by the challenges posed by Covid-19. highlights the strong commitment to and ownership of the Code by members.
IDEA would like to congratulate all our members whose input and commitment were crucial to the development process and who are now bringing the Code to life. We would particularly like to congratulate and thank Elaine Mahon and Morina O’Neill, for their work on the coordination and development of the Code.
We would like to thank our donors, Irish Aid, Trócaire and Concern, who have supported this initiative. Our strategic partnership with Irish Aid provided us with the time and space to develop the Code. We are grateful to Irish Aid for nominating us for this award.
This is the second Irish initiative to win a GENE Quality in Global Education Award, following WorldWise Global Schools’ win for its Global Passports Award in 2018. WorldWise Global Schools is a member of IDEA.
You can find out more about the Code of Good Practice for Development Education here
Last week, IDEA hosted the second webinar from our 2025 series, ‘Exploring Contemporary Crises and Issues through Global Citizenship Education, ' focusing on Palestine. If you missed out, you can watch the full video below!
At the end of March, IDEA staff and representatives from three IDEA members travelled to Riga, Latvia, for a two-day event marking the launch of IDEA’s Erasmus+ project with our partner LAPAS (Latvian Platform for Development Cooperation) focused on the IDEA Code of Good Practice The project’s core objective is to enhance the quality of global citizenship education (GCE) at local , national and European levels. Central to this work is the creation of a Code of Good Practice for Latvia based on learning from the IDEA Code that will support Latvian GCE practitioners, including teachers, NGOs, youth workers and others, by fostering a common understanding and approach to GCE. This represents the first piloting of the IDEA Code in an international context. The new IDEA task group for the project, made up of Code members, alongside IDEA staff, are supporting LAPAS members to adapt the Code for the Latvian national context by sharing our own experiences and learnings from the Code and GCE in Ireland. The event in Riga was the first in-person gathering of the project, bringing together LAPAS and IDEA members. This face-to-face interaction allowed us to begin the process of knowledge exchange, and mutual learning which will spread the Code’s reach and strengthen our GCE practice. IDEA was represented in Riga by Dean Oke (CDYS (Cloyne Diocesan Youth Service), Georgina Eastaugh (Concern Worldwide) and Claire Glavey (Global Village), alongside IDEA staff Elaine and Aine.
06 May 10.30am – 4.30pm
IDEA offices, 6 Gardiner Row
