By the mid-2040s, the Earth will be home to more than 9 billion humans. Our current model of organizing ourselves through nation states provides us a sense of geographical, historical, and cultural identity but often places our connection with the ever-increasing body of humanity on the backburner. Today, not only does human connection transcend international borders, but our impact does too. Fires in Australia can impact the climate of the entire Asia Pacific. Protests in North Africa can inspire revolutions across the Middle East. Technology produced in America can affect democracies everywhere. A virus that originates in China can bring the entire world to a standstill. With each passing day, we are bound tighter and tighter in a lattice of cause and effect which demands a broader, more global understanding of the world. The United Nations and the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals goes a long way in creating a global framework for human progress, but it needs inspired implementation to create a world that offers a high quality of life to all its inhabitants - human and non-human alike.
At Worldview, our Global Citizenship programs give participants platforms to broaden their understanding of the world. We leverage UN SDGs to help them envision a world that offers equity, opportunity and justice for all organisms that share this planet. As they engage with the programs participants break the SDGs down into actionable steps and engage in activities that simultaneously develop their leadership, consensus-building, information processing and debating skills. We use globally acclaimed tools such as Model United Nations that involve components of travel, research, team building, negotiation and presentation to give participants not just a global perspective but also tools to imagine solutions. Participants dive deep into cultures and countries through role-playing activities that present demanding challenges. As they encounter points of conflict & cooperation, they learn to navigate the differences that make each of us unique and build partnerships with each other to arrive at favourable outcomes. Participants visualise their hypothetical policies at a micro and macro level and debate - all with the idea of getting not just what is best for their nation but also the world. The diverse body of participants our programs attract makes for a uniquely festive learning program that celebrates each participant’s intellectual efforts to navigate the complexities of the world.
The leaps and bounds we continue to make in science, technology and the evolution of societal mores demands thoughtful examination and empathetic implementation that has a positive impact the world over. By giving participants the opportunity to learn and debate about these issues from the point of view of a country they may never have focused on, we push them to think as citizens of the world.
In the words of Buckminster Fuller, “We need people to start thinking of themselves as citizens of Spaceship Earth.” Through our programs we hope to inspire a wave of leaders who can work together to solve the complex problems we face and lead us into a better, brighter future.
