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Youth, Adult & Community

Youth workers and adult education tutors are bringing global justice issues into their teaching and increasing the awareness of young people and adult learners about their role and responsibilities as global citizens. ‌

 SUAS ran this workshop for 24 students and recent graduates with ideas for social or environmental action based in Ireland. 2017

Youth, Adult & Community

While a lot of teaching and learning about development education takes place in schools and higher education, equally important is that which occurs in settings such as youth clubs and societies, adult education modules, community education courses and community activities.

Youth workers, community activists and adult education tutors are bringing global justice issues into their teaching and increasing the awareness and understanding of young people and adult learners about their roles and responsibilities as global citizens. 

The Development Education Unit now has two strategic partnerships in place to support this work in the youth, adult and community sectors.

1: Youth 2030: Development Education in the Youth Sector. 

Is a multi-annual strategic partnership with The National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI). (NYCI) is the lead partner in the Youth 2030 consortium, which is a development education strategic partnership programme for the Youth sector in Ireland. The Youth 2030 Consortium also includes Trócaire, Concern Worldwide and the Centre for Youth Research and Development (Maynooth University).

The consortium aims to enable young people to develop the confidence, resilience, capacity and critical thinking skills they need to be involved in society, to reach their potential and to become change makers – personally, locally, nationally, and globally. To achieve this goal Youth 2030 will work to embed Development Education in Youth Work education, policy and practice through NYCI member organisations throughout Ireland.

A key date in the Youth 2030 calendar is One World Week which takes place throughout Ireland during the third week in November every year, this is a week of awareness raising, education and action programmes organised by young people.

Over the last number of years, themes have been as diverse as young people's rights, justice systems, the impact of images and messages and the root causes of poverty.

Further information available from the National Youth Council of Ireland website and the One World Week website.

2: Saolta: Empowerment for a better world through Adult and Community Education.

Development Perspectives is the lead partner in the Saolta consortium which is a development education strategic partnership programme for the Adult and Community Education sector in Ireland. The Saolta consortium also includes AONTAS, Concern Worldwide, Irish Rural Link and the Adult and Community Education Dept. of Maynooth University. Their goal is to Increased accessibility, quality and effectiveness of development education within the adult and community education sector.  

The programme works across Ireland in the adult and community education sector through a number of targeted initiates such as, training and mentoring Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) advocates,  regional seminars for the general public, developing resources for further education tutors and mainstreaming development education in adult education teacher training, more details of the consortiums activities are available here.

Other partners working in the adult and community sector supported through the development education grants scheme are listed here

Dochas SDG 2017 Champion Award won by Development Perspectives.Stephanie Kirwan, Bobby McCormack Development Perspectives and David Donoghue

Image: Dochas SDG 2017 Champion Award won by Development Perspectives. In picture, Stephanie Kirwan, Bobby McCormack Development Perspectives and David Donoghue.