Arigatou International Geneva participated in the Global Citizenship Education for Peaceful Societies in South-East Europe: A Sub-Regional Capacity-Building Workshop on the Prevention of Violent Extremism, which was held on 2-4 May 2018 in Venice, Italy.
The workshop was organized by UNESCO Headquarters and the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, with the support of UNODC’s Education for Justice initiative, and it was conducted in the context of the UNESCO/UNODC partnership on “Global Citizenship Education for a Culture of Lawfulness”.
The 3-day program aimed at strengthening the capacities of education stakeholders (policy-makers, teacher trainers, and curriculum developers, in particular) to design and implement educational interventions and approaches that help to effectively and appropriately address current challenges to peaceful societies, in particular, violent extremism.
In her welcoming remarks, Ms. Ana Luiza Thompson-Flores, Director of the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, underlined that it is through the transformative power of education that we can not only prevent violent extremism but also build peace – real, lasting peace – in minds of the young men and women that represent the future – of this region and of the world.
“It is in this same collaborative spirit that we are working together to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and I am very pleased to note that your discussions in these days will work towards Sustainable Development Goal 4 on quality education, specifically towards Target 4.7.”, she added.
During this expert consultation meeting Ms. Vera Leal, Senior Program Officer, Arigatou International Geneva, represented the Ethics Education for Children initiative, providing inputs to the discussions and introducing the Ethics Education Framework as an innovative educational pedagogy.
We thank UNESCO Headquarters, the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, and UNODC’s Education for Justice initiative, for creating the space to work collaboratively towards a more peaceful society through fostering global citizenship education, and for inviting Arigatou International Geneva to contribute to the discussions from the perspective of our experience.
