Bringing together local and global perspectives

What was the main purpose of this project?

“Worldwise is a participative, activity – based global citizenship programme designed for adults. The One World Centre (OWC) in Dundee was asked to pilot this programme by the Scottish charity World Development Movement, now called Global Justice. Over a period of years, it has been used with and adapted by multi-cultural, local community, mental health and literacy groups.

Its main purpose of the Worldwise programme is to:

• raise awareness and understanding of our local /global interdependency and from this,
• identify issues within the local community which are of concern to people living there in order that,
• action can be taken to improve the welfare and social inclusion within the community.”

Think Global, Act Local lies very much at the centre of the programme.

How did the project foster cooperations and partnerships?

“Over a period of 10 years the One World Centre’s adult education has been focused on the development of our Worldwise Global Citizenship Programme. Because of the lack of funding and our very limited capacity, this could only have been developed working co-operatively with adult education workers, local community groups, ESOL groups, mental health groups and with input from Dundee University Community Work students who carried out three monthly placements within the Centre.

The relationships with local adult education workers has been vital in terms of the promotion, recruitment, facilitation and running of the programme. This model has also meant that the adult education workers are fully involved in learning how the programme works and, if inclined, can use it themselves. Where local short term funding has not available, the continuity has been held together by considerable voluntary effort.

The programme itself highlights our interdependency both globally and locally, giving participants the opportunity to share ideas about the role that co-operation and partnership play in our desire to make positive changes to our situation locally. Think Global, Act Local lies very much at the centre of the programme.”

What was the best practice learnt from this project that you want to share?

“The importance of each group taking ownership of the programme content and its development. This also means for the worker that the programme is new and different every time, depending on the group’s interests and input.

The importance and strength of programmes which provide a broad structure into which participant can bring their own experiences and interests.

The importance of basing a programme around group activity and participation.

Used with multicultural groups, the programme becomes quite a different experience, drawing from the varied backgrounds of the individuals involved. In this context, the group learns a great deal about the cultures of those involved. Our booklet ‘Happy to be Here’ is testament to how positively such groups can work together.

One of the most interesting outcomes from the Worldwise Programme has been the fact that one of the local community groups, The Thursday Troupe, went on to develop a programme called A World of Difference based on our Health and Wellbeing. This programme looks at our health as an individual, in the local community and finally from the point of view of someone living in a developing country. This final part of the programme asks the question What can we learn from each other? We have technology at our fingertips but, the group found that the resilience and the strength of family and community demonstrated by many people in Developing countries were aspects which we could learn from them

This project was developed and delivered by Helen Patrick who was a Trustee of the One World Centre but who is now a Volunteer. Helen wrote this report.”

Text: EAEAPhotos: Worldwise project