Last week some 170 participants gathered in Belgrade, Serbia for Bridge 47’s Global Event. The gathering was held as part of International Civil Society Week (ICSW 2019) organised by Civicus.
Bridge 47 functioned as the biggest event partner and hosted a total of four sessions under the title ‘Global Citizenship Education: Recalibrating Action for Systemic Change’. With members hailing from all continents of the world and a total of 48 countries, the gathering provided a dynamic hub for exchanging experiences and perspectives on the different types of value-based education.
Throughout the week Bridge 47 Network members were invited to reflect, learn, discuss and engage with each other on different aspects of Global Citizenship Education (GCE). In particular, attendees worked to create a shared notion of the essence of GCE, critically reflected on their own work, and were provided new ideas and tools to use value-based education for social change. Participant-led sessions on new initiatives and key debates were also held to facilitate new partnerships, fresh perspectives and validation of proposed projects.
Apart from getting to know each other and strengthening their work, Bridge 47 Network members were also given ample opportunity to explore the multitude of topics at other ICSW 2019 event sessions. Shrinking civic space, hope-based communications and fundraising for civil society were just a few of the other topics covered during the week. The Bridge 47 event sessions themselves were also open to non-Bridge 47 Network members in order to further disseminate information about GCE as well as to facilitate new, cross-sectoral partnerships amongst the international civil society community.
All in all, the Bridge 47 Global Event in Belgrade provided an exceedingly dynamic platform for people from all over the world to get together, reflect on their work, as well as devise new networks and tools to more effectively continue the strive towards a fairer and more equitable world. Reinvigorated with new knowledge, ideas and partners it is now time to put our dreams into action!
A big thank you to everyone that came out and participated!
The Bridge 47 Network will continue its mission to facilitate coordination, action and follow-up on SDG Target 4.7. If you would like to join us for the next event, please make sure to join the Network.