World Citizen Education : World Citizen Society

World Citizen Education

The Concept

For all the measures mentioned under World Citizen Education, Dialogue / Dialogue Philosophy (as a method) is an effective tool for orientation and for developing all the necessary qualities that contribute significantly to the development of a world citizen.

In our current education, in our education systems, the focus is primarily on intellectual knowledge. The importance of social skills, social intelligence and the need to develop human competences, on the other hand, is underestimated. However, in order to meet the challenges of a globalized world and to find one’s way in it, one needs exactly these qualities and skills to overcome foreignness, cross borders and avoid conflicts. The philosophy of World Citizen Education recognizes a need for action here. This means that the development of human competences should be given greater importance throughout the education system, in universities and schools, but also in social life. The concept of the world citizen offers an answer to this question in terms of SOCIAL INNOVATION. The concept of the world citizen is based on characteristics that have their origins in universal ethics. They are characterized by the two dimensions of universality and diversity. When attempting to define the term “world citizen”, we come across a view of human nature that is characterized by respect for the uniqueness of individuals and cultures and also by the ability to contribute to the harmonization of interpersonal coexistence through universal, culture-independent values. In shaping relationships, in the quality of relationships, in recognizing and respecting otherness, we find answers to the questions of living up to diversity, living up to interculturality and ultimately of achieving a peaceful coexistence.

Implementation Goals

For this purpose, universities should address these heuristic questions:
What education does the world citizen need?
What are the characteristics of a world citizen?
What does a world citizen need to know and be able to do?
Which specific dimensions and categories are important for the research and teaching perspectives of the humanics?
It is about formulating human standards in a global world. It’s about developing competences: social competence. It’s about openness. It’s about developing curiosity …
A certified Master of Humanics program is to be established for the training of teachers and educators.
Schools of Dialogue should be set up with the aim of acquiring the principles of dialogue. A special certification is linked to the criteria and qualities that characterize educational institutions as educational institutions for global citizenship. This would include, for example: special meetings and events, such as “Youth in dialogue”, festivals, congresses, which are linked to special training and activities to raise the sensitivity for dialogue. It would also be possible to include: An international exchange of schools, in which ethical competence development also takes place through teaching units and practical training and activities in encounters with many cultures. Here, too, certification is to be issued.

Criteria & Certification

The awarding of World Citizen Education certification is an incentive for educational institutions to align their educational offerings with the World Citizen Education criteria and to include corresponding offerings in the teaching and profile of the educational institution. The awarding of the certification and permission to use the World Citizen Education logo in the external presentation is linked to a corresponding presentation of the school’s profile to the World Citizen Society/World Citizen Education. It is limited in time and must be reconfirmed after 5 years.

The development of the criteria for the award and use of the World Citizen Education logo can take place within the framework of a World Citizen Syntegration syntegrative event with high-profile representatives and stakeholders.