Bridge 47
Building Global Citizenship
IDEAS was the Scottish Partner of Bridge 47, an EU funded project co-created and implemented by 15 European and global civil society organisations.
Bridge 47 promotes the importance of SDG Target 4.7 in our global mission to achieve all of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. The project focuses in particular on Global Citizenship Education (GCE), which is a key form of transformative education included within Target 4.7.
Members of Bridge 47 worked together to advocate for GCE to build capacity and partnership for GCE practice, and to innovate GCE methods all at national, European and global levels.
In Scotland, Bridge 47 has supported IDEAS members to evidence the impact of GCE and to advocate for the extension of GCE throughout formal and informal education. The project has provided opportunities to build the capacity of our members in innovative practices and advocacy, though various trainings and events as well as sub-granting schemes.
Through Bridge 47, IDEAS has formed exciting new partnerships with NHS Scotland and with the Scottish Government, which have evidenced the cross-cutting nature of GCE, showing its relevance extends into areas such as public health and policy making.
All of this work has contributed to strengthening the role of Global Citizenship Education in supporting crucial progress towards achieving the UN sustainable Development Goals - both in Scotland and across Europe and beyond.
As a founding partner of the project, IDEAS continues to be actively involved in Bridge 47. Although the project ended in July 2021, it is kept alive through the Bridge 47 Network. The Bridge 47 Network brings people together from all over the world and opens opportunities for them to exchange ideas, experiences and best practices on GCE and other forms of transformative education under Target 4.7. Made up of representatives from civil society organisations and NGOs, researchers, policy makers, activists, business people and educators, the network provides the space for finding common ground and exchanging knowledge.
Some of our work made possible by Bridge 47
In February 2020, we hosted a training workshop in Edinburgh on Critical Global Citizenship Education for the current climate. Led by Dr Karen Pashby (Manchester Metropolitan University), participants from across Scotland and beyond came together to discuss how to harness critical learnings for their work on climate action in the run up to COP26. Read more here.
Though our partnership with the Scottish Global Health Co-ordination Unit and Scotdec, we developed a resource aimed at increasing knowledge and understanding of the SDGs within NHS Scotland. The booklet and accompanying flashcards use a GCE approach to help negotiate the tensions between local actions and global impacts, and support critical engagement with complex issues.
Over 100 teachers joined our virtual conference in June 2020, ‘Whose Voice is it Anyway? Active Participation for a Better World’. Organised with Edinburgh City Council, Learning for Sustainability Scotland and Scotdec, the event explored innovative ways to engage and empower young learners to effect change and deal with the uncertainties of the global issues facing our world today. Read the Scotsman’s article on the event here.
Through the support of Bridge 47, IDEAS member One World Centre collaborated with Kingspark School in Dundee and local community musician, Sorcha Pringle, on the Welcome To Our World project. Its aim was to use music as a means of exploring Global Citizenship.
In May 2020, we hosted an online training workshop on Storytelling Frameworks for Educators in Sustainability & Citizenship. Led by Bobby McCormack (Development Perspectives), the training explored the power of storytelling as a tool for amplifying activist voices and creating change through Global Citizenship Education and transformative learning. Read more here.
Through our partnership with the National Performance Framework team at the Scottish Government, SDG Network Scotland, Scotland’s International Development Alliance, and Oxfam Scotland, we developed a policy making guide that champions the SDGs via our National Outcomes. The resource explores holistic, coherent policy making for Scotland as a global citizen to have a positive impact on people and planet. Find it here.