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 Dresden international school 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 also been a stage for intercultural exchange and critical thinking on the mechanisms that shape our societies at the national and international level. In this regard, an intercultural evening has been hosted, during which the participants shared 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 of the Johannishöhe in Tharandt and shared her passion for biodiversity preservation.

As a result of this Global Learning training, participants received insights on how to adapt their behaviour towards a more sustainable lifestyle and learned about examples of how to bring the workshops’ 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.

We had an interesting exchange; therefore, we want to thank all participants for their active involvement in the camp. Also, we want to thank our youth hostel Jugendfreizeithof Grillenburg for the great hospitality, as well as Esther Widmann and  Stefanie Töffi  Beine (cooking team), Tafel e.V. and Frau Müller (organic grocery store, Tharandt) for providing us with delicious vegan food.