Welcome to our Nordplus Junior Project:
Global Goals Enquiry
In the Global Goals Enquiry Project, we work together to create solutions to reach the Global Goals for Sustainable Development through actions in our own lives, at our school and/or in our local community. The project is carried out in a partnership of six schools -Careeria (Finland), Kuressaare Gymnasium (Estonia), Madona Secondary school (Latvia), Borgarholtsskóli Reykjavík (Iceland), Karalius Mindaugas Vocational Training Centre (Lithuania) and Kalundborg Gymnasium (Denmark).
The aim of the project is to educate students at secondary level to be globally engaged citizens and to prepare them for the 21stcentury (see below for more information about 21stcentury skills). During six mobilities with participants from all six schools, we will engage ourselves in international exchange of ideas and explore the Global Goals through enquiry-based learning. At each mobility one particular goal is in focus in order for the participants to work in depth with the Global Goal in question.
The project is funded by the Nordplus Junior Programme. Nordplus is the Nordic Council of Ministers’ most important programme in the area of lifelong learning.
21st Century skills
During the latter decades the world has undergone an accelerating pace of change. The speed of digital transformation, with immediate access to massive knowledge sources, has made the ability to learn a critical skill. The rapid change also brings a much higher level of uncertainty and to succeed in this world students must be prepared to engage with the unexpected. In this project teaching methods which meet these circumstances andprovide an opportunity for students to evolve and use 21st Century skills are introduced in order to prepare our students for a rapidly changing society. The aim is to evoke the students’ curiosity about the world and its function and to help them see the role that they can play in improving their world – locally and globally. This aim can be reached by helping students to master 21st century skills such as analytic reasoning, complex problem solving, and teamwork.
Visits to and workshop with the surrounding community (organisations and companies) are important parts of the mobilities. This will give inspiration on how students and teachers can contribute to the Global Goals and it will highlight that all sectors will have to work together to make the world a better place through contributing to the success of the Global Goals. This will also develop the participants’ resilience and they will learn to be innovative, flexible and see opportunities (including seeing change as opportunity).
The Global Goals for Sustainable Development
In September 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
The SDGs, also known as Global Goals, build on the success of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and aim to go further to end all forms of poverty. The new Goals are unique in that they call for action by all countries, poor, rich and middle-income to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and addresses a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection.
While the SDGs are not legally binding, governments are expected to take ownership and establish national frameworks for the achievement of the 17 Goals. Countries have the primary responsibility for follow-up and review of the progress made in implementing the Global Goals, which will require quality, accessible and timely data collection. Regional follow-up and review will be based on national-level analyses and contribute to follow-up and review at the global level.
“We are the first generation that can end poverty – and the last that can end climate change before it is too late”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (2015)
Global Goals Enquiry 