Experience global learning

Sustainability issues, such as environmental protection, liveable cities, etc. are extremely important to young people. The recent youth consultation ‘du »Europa» wir’ revealed that young people are more interested in the environment and sustainability than in any other issue. The various subjects around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations therefore also provide material for cultural education work. They include the greatest global challenges that currently affect, and will affect, young people in particular. The variety of subjects covered by the 17 SDGs also guarantees that interesting content that affects young people can be developed for all young target groups.

Every young person should have the chance of getting international and youth exchange experience to shift their perspective, make new experiences and gain a better understanding of cultural backgrounds and social contexts in the partner country as well as their own country. A stay in a country in the Global South or the Global North can broaden your horizon and enable you to appreciate increasingly dynamic and far-reaching globalisation and make you aware that we are all part of one global society. An understanding of global context and the ability to recognise and realistically assess your own options for action and for exerting influence are becoming increasingly important personality traits for everyone.

Teams up! exchanges in the area of cultural education provide individuals with a variety of opportunities to become creative themselves and work with exciting partners in an unusual environment to develop and organise artistic projects that transcend continents.  Not only will participants be able to examine the content of the many issues covered by the UN Sustainable Development Goals and explore them artistically but by working with artists, cultural educators and other partners on other continents, they will see inspiring ideas, different forms of artistic expression and unfamiliar perspectives flow quite naturally into their own work.

Teams up! exchanges give you the option of submitting a single application for exchanges in both directions and fund activities hosted by the project partner in the Global North or the Global South in the period before, between and after the exchanges. Funding is available for projects with a total duration of up to two years to provide long-term planning security. The funding application offers you plenty of flexibility to apply for external training, for example on intercultural communication and diversity, or to invite speakers who can provide information about the relevant partner country or the content of individual Sustainable Development Goals. This may cover costs for travel, materials or fees; a wide range of components is eligible for funding.

Artistic methods and creative exchange formats are a particularly exciting and motivating means to address development issues and to contribute to establishing global awareness – a ‘global citizenship’ – among young people. It is precisely because the concepts of cultural education and global learning have many things in common that it is possible to transfer methods and use synergies to provide young people with an intensive, holistic, self-organised and wide-ranging learning experience of sustainability issues. Exchanges between youth groups across borders and continents demonstrably have a powerful impact on the lives of the young people involved and so represent an effective form of global learning.

Teams up! exchanges give professionals the opportunity to experience first hand how fair and cooperative partnerships with counterparts in the Global South work, from the first meeting to the sharing of plans, ideas and concepts. They provide the time and space to develop long-term relationships and close contacts between North and South. The format also opens up the possibility of fully involving young participants from two continents in the process. weltwärts exchanges therefore provide the opportunity to question one’s own conceptual aims and one’s own role in the international collaboration. In order to receive support for their cross-continental work during the partnership, less experienced organisations can use the principle of a ‘learning partnership’ where, with the BKJ’s practical assistance, they can develop youth exchanges together with a partner in the Global South and so gain initial experience of this format. Experienced organisations can advance the qualitative development of their own concepts through weltwärts exchanges and the resulting global partnerships.

Within the context of the weltwärts exchanges fund, the BKJ offers organisations in the area of cultural education an extensive range of support measures, including information events, impulse workshops, ideas, methods and formats as well as networking opportunities, the introduction of potential partners and guidance on specific project ideas. These services are available to you at any time.