Citizens of the World? Building global justice perspectives in challenging times

The  2013 IDEA Annual Conference  focused on the theme of “Global Citizenship” and considered how we can harness the energy of new social movements and individual activists as they respond to the global crisis, in our development education practice. Key questions explored during the day included:

  • In the European Year of Citizens, is global inequality part of the conversation?
  • In teaching about global citizenship issues, what progress have we made in moving from a charity mindset to a justice perspective? 
  • How can the Development Education community bring the energy and passion about local and global crises into learning spaces to make citizenship education a more engaging and dynamic process? 

The opening session with keynote speakers Bahia Shehab and  Maureen Freely , proved an inspirational start to the day, with Bahia sharing her personal journey to becoming an active citizen in Egypt and Maureen contributing an insightful and interesting overview of the current situation in Turkey, while situating this within the historical context.  Their inputs highlighted the role of individuals in stepping beyond their usual roles and comfort zone and overcoming the barrier of fear to take a stand as active citizens in protecting human rights and creating the space for a vibrant democracy.  A common thread was the need to learn from the past and other examples from across the globe in order to develop new leadership and a critical citizenship. The significant role of social media in spreading messages about crises as they unfold was also to the fore, enabling people to become ‘citizen reporters’ and share their perspectives and experiences with a global audience. Creativity, the use of humour and the power of storytelling were shared as examples of ways in which activists can convey a message in a non-threatening and peaceful way, while capturing the imagination of the broader public and contributing to a viral effect.

The panel discussion built on these themes and considered ways in which the energy described above can be channeled into educational spaces and learners supported to take action on issues of concern. The need for educators to overcome their own fears of moving beyond a comfort zone and safe parameters for discussion with learners and to embrace creativity was also acknowledged. The space and support for individual versus collective action and critical debate was also raised as an issue in Irish education, with significant scope to improve the centrality of global education to the curriculum and to broaden the conception of what it means to be an active citizen, beyond that of voting in elections.

The conference also introduced IDEA’s new EU project,  Challenging the Crisis,  which aims to engage young EU citizens from highly indebted countries to become informed and active advocates on global justice. A second workshop encouraged participants to unleash their own imagination in considering the use of the public space around Wood Quay as a vibrant place for active citizenship.

Overall the day was highly engaging and challenged us to step beyond our comfort zones and be active!

October 8, 2025
We are looking for a consultant to design an interactive data visualisation tool for our Theory of Impact for Global Citizenship Education in Ireland. The consultant will lead the design or tailoring of off-the-shelf survey software and analytics software to our needs, in collaboration with IDEA staff. Please submit a tender including a description of stages in the development process, number of days, expected fee, and experience of relevant personnel for the work to be carried out to anya@ideaonline.ie . The deadline for application is Wednesday, 29 October, 5.00pm. Read the full terms of reference here.
October 6, 2025
After three remarkable years with IDEA, we are sad to share that Anya Sparynska is moving abroad to begin a new adventure. During her time with us, Anya made an indelible mark - first by shaping a pioneering programme role, and later by guiding us in a capacity development role that strengthened our impact across Ireland’s development education sector. From designing and implementing innovative initiatives to building partnerships and capacity across our member organisations, Anya has left IDEA stronger, more connected, and more ambitious for the future. “I am sad to leave at such a pivotal time in IDEA: we are faced with unspeakable horror, as the need for justice and accountability grows ever more urgent. I have seen, however, our members and staff respond with creativity, humanity and dedication to these challenging times and find inspiration in it, even at this darkest hour. A desire to be close to my family and the pressure of the housing crisis have driven me to Brussels, but I know I will be back as Ireland - it’s passionate, brave and kind people - now feels like home. I will be sure to follow IDEA and our members’ work closely in the coming year and hope to stay in touch! “Working at IDEA has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. Seeing ideas and passion turn into real impact and change has been incredibly fulfilling - I’ll carry those lessons, and the very special friendships made along the way with me always.”
September 26, 2025
Date: Tuesday, 04 November, from 3.30–4.30pm Location: Online via Zoom IDEA is thrilled to invite members to the online launch of our new “Theory of Impact for Global Citizenship Education” on Tuesday, 04 November, from 3.30–4.30pm, Online via Zoom. During this session, we will present the model, share insights into the process behind its development, and explore how it will be used to strengthen impact across the sector. We will also introduce a new tool in progress, an interactive data visualisation map designed to showcase our collective impact as a network. For many years, IDEA and its members have been grappling with the concept of impact in Development Education/Global Citizenship Education (hereinafter ‘GCE’). As GCE practitioners, tracking impact helps us to identify how, where and with whom our work is creating positive change, as well as investigating areas in which our impact could be stronger. Furthermore, we can also benefit from examining the collective impact of GCE carried out by the wide-ranging work of IDEA members, and from exploring how these impacts contribute to the major social changes to which the GCE community aspires. Driven therefore by the need to understand how projects and programmes are collectively “making a difference” in IDEA we looked at models that could help us visualise and capture GCE “impact networks”. We formulated our vision of impact and then a theory of how we expect this desired impact to be achieved to allow us to map our activities and collect data to corroborate that theory. This Theory of Impact model is how we hope to illustrate this complex GCE impact network. Building on work done by IDEA over many years including building sectoral capacity in using Results Frameworks for GCE, our Quality & Impact working group, engagement with Irish Aid on their Performance Measurement Framework (PMF), and the successful roll-out of a Code of Good Practice for DE/GCE, this Theory of Impact represent the next stage of our effort to ‘develop a consistent approach to measuring impact among the sector’. We are therefore thrilled to invite you to the presentation of our ‘Theory of Impact for GCE’. At this online presentation, we will tell you about the process that led to the creation of this model, how it will be used and what we hope it could bring to the sector. We will also touch on a new tool being developed based on the model, which should allow the creation of an interactive data visualisation map of our collective impact as a network. Join us as we launch into this exciting new phase of our Impact Measurement work. Join us as we begin this exciting new phase of our Impact Measurement work. Register below!