Ireland will host a European Congress on Global Education in November 2022.

The Congress will mark the culmination of an 18-month process to develop a new European Declaration on Global Citizenship Education to 2050. The Dublin Declaration will be adopted on the 20th anniversary of the Maastricht Declaration, the starting point for Europe-wide activity in this area.

The Declaration will set out how education will encourage the public to act, individually and collectively, to help build a fairer, more tolerant and more sustainable world for all. It is likely to have a focus on youth, adult and community education, including reaching those who may have become marginalised from mainstream education.

The process is being convened by GENE – Global Education Network Europe, the network of Ministries and Agencies with national responsibility for Global Citizenship Education in European countries. 60 Ministries and Agencies from across Europe will participate. Ireland is one of the co-founding member states of GENE and will chair the declaration process and Congress.

The Declaration will be endorsed by Governments from across Europe. It will involve the European Union, the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The European Commissioner for international partnerships, Ms Jutta Urpilainnen, has already strongly endorsed the process.

In addition to Governments and International Organisations, the Congress and Declaration will involve civil society and youth organisations, and research and educational institutions. Local and regional authorities will also be important participants, as will voices from across the world.