-    Respect and value diversity

-    Act to make the world a more sustainable place

-    Raise awareness of the wider world and interdependence

-    Engage in global citizenship

-    Promote an understanding of how the world works economically, politically, socially,
     culturally, technologically and environmentally;

-    Promote an understanding of the community at a range of levels from local to global

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What is Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship (ESDGC)?

ESDGC focusses on:

• The links between society, economy and environment and between our own lives and those of people throughout the world

• The needs and rights of both present and future generations

• The relationship between power, resources and human rights • The local and global implications of everything we do and the actions that individuals and organisations can take in response to local and global issues.

(ESDGC Why? What? How? ACCAC 2002.) .


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ESDGC can also be called Global Learning
Wales is one of three countries in the world to have Sustainable Development as part of its constitution. As a nation, it prides itself on development and delivery of education that supports the capacity of the whole population and increases understanding and awareness of the importance of sustainable development and global citizenship.

here

ESDGC CCLN Statement of Commitment - click here

ESDGC Tips on Being More Sustainable - click here

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WEA South Wales ESDGC Newsletters

Issue 1 please click here ......Issue 2 please click here
Issue 3 please click here ......Issue 4 please click here
Issue 5 please click here .....Issue 6 please click here

ESDGC practice shares a similar approach to Community Learning as it recognises the importance of a learner centre-approach which encourages critical thinking and aims to empower the student. ESDGC is not just about knowledge, but is also about values, attitudes and skills.

It’s about looking at the WHY behind the issues.
To initially start thinking about ESDGC it’s useful to use the "AIDA" model
A – Raising Awareness of the issues
I – Finding Information about the issue
D – Making a Decision about the issue
A – Taking some Action regarding the issue .

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Projects
WEA South Wales has 3 projects which overlap and compliment each other. The overarching themes through our work in this area are social justice, active citizenship and sustainable development.

The Transnational Project on Food Sovereignty and Global Poverty Reduction through Education and Active Citizenship, focusses on food security – ‘the right to access food that is nutritious and produced and traded sustainably.’ This means that we use the theme of food to look at global issues such as poverty, education, inequality, trade, climate change and health and understand interdependence. Wales is the only UK partner and we are working with Pembrokeshire based development education organisation Sazani Associates to a common understanding of global issues relating to hunger and poverty between Wales, EU countries and developing countries. WEA SW and partners are also developing an educational toolkit for active citizenship incorporating Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship and Food Sovereignty issues.

The Global Learners as Educators in Wales (GLEW) project provides training for staff and partner organisations on Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship (ESDGC). It introduces global learning and identifies issues relating to ESDGC and explores ways of embedding ESDGC into the curriculum.

The DFID (Department for International Development) project raises awareness of poverty. Awareness raising/training events for community activists, branches and learners have been orhanised which promotes the Millennium Development Goal’s during key dates in the global calendar, for example Refugee week, and Fair trade fortnight.

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Recent Events -
WEA South Wales Conference
Rural Education Between Global Active Citizenship and Food Sovereignty
19th & 20th October 2009

A conference held recently at the Rhondda Heritage Park was an opportunity for international partners of the Workers’ Education Association (WEA) and Sazani Associates to review their progress in the teaching of global active citizenship and food sovereignty. The meeting, attended by delegates from organizations from across Europe and the Global South, was part of an ongoing project, which aims to improve understanding of global issues and rural development and raise awareness of the importance of rural livelihoods and sustainable development on a global scale.

The purpose of the conference was to review the research, models and toolkits developed by partners over the last year, and to pilot and take them forward. Action research was carried out in six countries from Europe and the global South. This research identified existing connections between global learning and sustainable livelihoods, and opportunities to develop a community based learning model for active global citizenship, rural development and food sovereignty. The project has identified models of good practice, which have been used with young people and in community development.

These focus on increasing the capacity and capability at an individual, community and regional level, concentrating on rural areas, food sovereignty and global issues. The event, gave delegates the opportunity to take part in workshops and demonstrations of the teaching toolkits which have been developed . Both the training tool and ‘Edukit’ were piloted and featured activities such as pod casting and radio editing as well as sessions on good sustainability practices with an emphasis upon the importance of capital assets in achieving well rounded sustainable development.

The conference presented an ideal opportunity for Welsh partners to feedback to their international counterparts, while promoting the principles of global citizenship and shared responsibility. Talks from European delegates brought all of the partner organizations up to date with the project’s achievements while an address from Assembly member Leanne Wood emphasised the importance of rural livelihoods and local production and cited Cuba’s allotment scheme in the wake of their ‘peak oil’ crisis as an example of sustainable land reform.

The results of the project are expected to improve poverty reduction policies and programmes by understanding the connection between global interdependence, education, food sovereignty and sustainable rural development.

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