OUR MARKS: Ambrela – Platform of development organizations

13.12.2023

Edited by: Ambrela Team

How do you perceive the implementation of the EduGlobe project over time?

Our Platform of Development Organizations – Ambrela brings together three dozen organizations in Slovakia (mainly non-governmental organizations and a few universities), half of which are dedicated to global education (GV). Thanks to the project ‘EduGlobe – the path to the implementation of the National Strategy of Global Education‘ and support from ACF-Slovakia, we were able to expand the Umbrella team with a GV manager and thus take an even more active approach in the process of advocacy, i.e. in particular the creation of the Slovak National Strategy of GV.

They say that the journey is the destination, and in our case it is doubly true. Without knowing how the political situation in the Slovak Republic will develop after the parliamentary elections in 2020, and how many times the leadership of the Ministry of Education will change, our Umbrella tried to constantly contribute expert know-how, strategic recommendations and facilitating processes to the creation of the mentioned strategy its preparation. At the same time, she prepared an awareness campaign for the general public entitled We all have something to learn, which was intended to show people in Slovakia why the creation and especially the implementation of the mentioned Global Education Strategy is necessary, and what we as a society will gain by devoting ourselves to global education in schools. but also sensitizing the population and lifelong education of adults outside the school environment.

How did your EduGlobe project develop after the end of support from the ACF-Slovakia program?

The Ambrela platform continues to be perceived as a stable and important partner in the process of creating the national Global Education Strategy, the final form and implementation of which should take on real contours in the spring of 2024. The ball is now in the court of the newest leadership of the Ministry of Education, with whom we are currently developing cooperation. We continue with the regular meetings of the Umbrella Working Group for Global Education (PS GV), which we intensified during the implementation of the EduGlobe project. We are active in the Working Groups of the European networks CONCORD Europe, GENE and the North-South Center of the Council of Europe for Global Education, we continue advocacy at the national and European level. In the autumn, we implemented several stimulating activities, educational and networking events, which are directly related to the successes of the EduGlobe project. In addition to the Global Education Week (GEW), it was primarily an international conference at the Faculty of Arts of the Comenius University Bratislava – Umbrella Development Forum (ADF) 2023, in which we also actively addressed the topic of global education and education for global citizenship.

 

What results did you achieve within the EduGlobe project?

We have already mentioned the intensification of meetings of the Umbrella Working Group for Global Education (PS GV) thanks to the EduGlobe project. In the past two years, we have experienced the Covid-19 pandemic, the economic and political crisis, as well as the outbreak of war in our eastern neighbor and the enormous commitment of our Umbrella organizations in providing humanitarian aid to the needy Ukrainian people. Despite all these challenging challenges, through the activities of the EduGlobe project, we were able to ensure sufficient attention and greater participation of civil society in the creation of the Global Education Strategy in Slovakia, which was its main theme. Regardless of the state of development of the mentioned GV strategy, we actively worked on the preparation of the awareness campaign.

Halfway through the implementation of the project, it took on a completely different dimension (because of the war with our eastern neighbor). We needed to express the current topic of the perception and reaction of Slovak men and women to the beginning of the war in Ukraine and the arrival of tens of thousands of Ukrainian emigrants to our territory. We bet on emphasizing the need for greater awareness, consideration and solidarity with the needy around us, because they are the ones who can sometimes surprise us with their actions. The campaign was titled and sub-titled We all still have something to learn – about ourselves, about the people around us and about the ever-changing world in which we coexist’, which directly points to the definition and meaning of global education.

The Umbrella platform strives to fulfill three main long-term goals: advocacy, capacity building of its organizations and public awareness, enlightenment. All of them were also included in this project – precisely during the implementation of a series of discussions with the support of ACF-Slovakia, where we paid attention to the choice of topic, the current mood in society, the choice of hostesses and guests, as well as the educational and educational nature of the event.

Were you able to fulfill the goals you set in the EduGlobe project?

The platform fulfilled its intention to defend the interests of member and observer organizations, and opened up issues of solidarity, mindfulness and the need to think in global contexts, especially in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Another of the activities of our EduGlobe project was capacity building in the form of organizing seminars and workshops for Slovak stakeholders – experts in (global) education from the governmental and non-governmental sectors in cooperation with our Norwegian partner. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, some parts were implemented online, but even so, thanks to the expertise offered, they significantly contributed to the creation of the Slovak national strategy.

Prof. Robert James Didham – Director of the Center for Collaborative Learning for Sustainable Development at INN University (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences) was our strategic partner in the EduGlobe project and highlighted the main benefits of global education during the November 2021 webinar entitled ‘Global education in perspective’ , explained to those present the methods of defining the objectives and indicators within the GV. Later in 2022 and 2023, we welcomed him live in Slovakia at our educational seminars, and his expertise was fully utilized.

What successes have you achieved with the EduGlobe project?

The awareness campaign ‘We all have something to learn’ itself (especially its videos Unexpected help (Umbrella campaign: We all have something to learn 2023) and In the middle of history (Umbrella campaign: We all have something to learn 2023) about the importance of global education and the need to create and implement The strategy of such education in the Slovak Republic was extremely well received by the public.

The two campaign videos alone reached 476,000 unique user profiles on social networks. In addition to the high impact of the videos and accompanying discussions on the general public, as well as the interest of the professional public in our educational seminars, the project clearly contributed to the expansion of the ecosystem of value-oriented education in accordance with global challenges and current trends from around the world, thus preparing suitable advocacy ground for future the activities of the Umbrella platform together with its members and observers, as well as the overall possibilities for the development of work and cooperation in the field of global education.

What was/is the benefit of your EduGlobe project for the target groups and the surrounding area?

The EduGlobe project brought its fruit in the form of inspiration from abroad (primarily from Norway), new knowledge and skills for the general and professional public, as well as the Umbrella member and observer base itself.

Especially seminars and webinars with the participation of Prof. Robert James Didham – Director of the Center for Collaborative Learning for Sustainable Development from the INN University, intended for all members of the working groups of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic (including Umbrella organizations) who participated in the creation of the National Global Education Strategy (NS GV), had a good turnout. The final event in St. George – the seminar ‘On Civic Education – Globally and Locally’ from the end of June 2023 only confirmed this response.

What experiences has your organization gained from the implemented project?

Thanks to the support of ACF-Slovakia, we were also able to hold a series of online discussions on burning topics, which plagued the Slovak population after the start of the war in Ukraine. In the debate ‘War in Ukraine: How much politics belongs in school desks’ (April 20, 2022, recording on Facebook), we have recruited as discussants, for example, Vladimír Šucha (head of the Representation of the European Commission in the Slovak Republic) and Miroslava Hapalová (then director of the State Pedagogical Institute, cooperating with UNICEF on the integration of Ukrainian children into schools in the Slovak Republic).

What specific benefits and opportunities has the ACF directly provided you?

As part of the information campaign We all have something to learn, we had the opportunity to publicly present five of our members and observers of the Umbrella platform in addition to educational videos and accompanying discussions. People could read why, according to representatives from the Milan Šimečka Foundation, UNICEF Slovakia, CEEV Živica, Academia Istropolitana Nova, and Man in Danger, the implementation of the mentioned Global Education Strategy is necessary, and what we as a society will gain by devoting ourselves to global education at schools and outside them.

How do you evaluate the cooperation with ACF-Slovakia and what impact did the program have on your professional and personal growth?

The Ambrela team grew professionally and personally, for example, during the creation of the program for the final event of the EduGlobe project – the educational seminar ‘On civic education – globally and locally’. Those were the moments when we tried to fill the two days of June with stimulating lectures, workshops, screenings and panel discussions with experts from across Europe. Internally, we also needed to discuss topics such as: where has the creation of the national strategy for global education (NS GV) moved in Slovakia; how to open and communicate sensitive or controversial topics in schools; how to lead young people to sustainable development in the school system; what to focus on in global and civic education after the elections, and what type of education will help stabilize and sensitize society.

Reactions to our awareness campaign on social networks confirmed us as Umbrella in the need to continue to bring the topics of tolerance, solidarity, sensitizing the population and intercultural dialogue even among people outside the so-called ‘non-government bubble’.