Fully rooted in popular education, Education for Citizenship and International Solidarity (ECSI) takes many forms: formal, when integrated into school and university curricula; non-formal, through workshops, associative projects or intercultural exchanges; informal, through encounters, discussions and everyday media; and lifelong, through training, debates and civic engagement. Together, these approaches offer everyone, at every age, the opportunity to understand the world and act for greater justice and solidarity.
Providing everyone with the information they need to understand the world around them. Access to reliable, high-quality, diversified information awakens people’s curiosity and encourages them to ask questions.
ECSI’s actions don’t stop at raising awareness. They aim to give everyone the tools they need to understand often complex issues, compare points of view and form their own opinions. By learning to analyze and question the information they receive, participants become able to identify root causes, spot biases and draw informed conclusions so they can act with full knowledge of the facts.
an ECSI action must elicit a reaction from participants. Once the information has been received and understood, and in order to avoid discouragement, frustration or feelings of powerlessness, it is essential to inspire individuals to take individual or collective action, and to suggest courses of action.
This can be summed up in three words: Know > Understand > Act
ECSI stands for interculturality, citizenship, solidarity, commitment, social justice, participation and sustainability.
“Global citizenship education is an education that enables people to think critically about the world and their place in it; to open their eyes, hearts and minds to the reality of the world at local and global levels. It gives people the means and power to understand, imagine, hope and act to create a world of social and climate justice, peace, solidarity, equity and equality, preservation of the planet and international understanding. It implies respect for human rights and diversity, inclusion and a decent life for all, now and in the future. Education for global citizenship encompasses a wide range of educational provision: formal, non-formal and informal; lifelong and in all fields. We see it as essential to the transformative power of education and to the transformation of education.”
The European Declaration on World Citizenship Education to 2050 – The Dublin Declaration
