The Global Education Week 2016 (GEW) takes place from November 12 to November 20. This year’s motto in Germany is:

Together for a World of Peace

The GEW is Europe-wide. Its aim is to make educational institutions, organizations, as well as the general public more acquainted with the issues of Global Learning.

The term “peace” can be defined in many ways. For some, it is connected to tranquility and inner peace. For others, peace is signified by the absence of war. For others, in turn, peace implies that people do not have to fear for their lives, and that they are able to establish a secure livelihood for themselves without having to dread the future. Terms like arms industry, dialogue, education, peace agreement, children’s rights, reconstruction, sustainable development, to name a few, can be related to peace or its absence.

In September 2015, the United Nations resolved the Sustainable Development Goals of the Agenda 2030. Goal No. 16 refers to “peace and justice”. With regard to a sustainable development, this goal is supposed to promote peaceful, inclusive societies, and to implement them globally. But how is peace actually realized on a state or local level? How can states and other protagonists accomplish peace, and what can every citizen contribute to achieve this goal? The responsibility to bring peace to conflict zones, and to maintain it where peace has already been institutionalized, is a universal task. Peace affects everybody. It can only come into existence in places where society actively supports its formation. In this respect, Global Learning and developmental education can make an important contribution.

This is exactly the issue that is going to be tackled with this year’s GEW! Therefore, we would like to invite all Global Learning agents (schools, universities, NGOs etc.) to organize an event in the course of the GEW, which we will be happy to advertise on our homepage. The involvement of children and adolescents in these events is particularly welcome. The Europe-wide campaign week is organized by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe in Lisbon.