Students Attend Matariki Global Citizenship Meeting

A group of 27 faculty and students from six partner institutions in the Matariki Network of Universities (MNU) came together for a multi-institutional, faculty-student workshop in Uppsala, Sweden, April 18-21, 2016. It was the first meeting of the Global Citizenship Programme. The Dartmouth delegation included Dickey Center Associate Director for Programs and Research and Adjunct Professor, Melody Brown Burkins (PhD '98), Victor Cabrera '19, and Freya Jamison '17 as well as Assistant Provost Laurel Stavis and Research Professor Ron Edsforth.

The event focused on developing the future of the new Global Citizenship Programme, which aims to set up substantial links and projects around global citizenship between and within partner universities. The programme can cover both education and research, along with outreach activities, but it initially is focused on the following strands:

Empowering Learners is inspired by the idea that students are key stakeholders of the future.  It aims to identify, discuss and develop initiatives and approaches in which students are active co-creators of higher education and through empowering experiences, are acquiring the tools, mind-sets and courage to be able to act as global citizens.

Community Engagement  As the word Matariki, in Māori, has come to mean a celebration of the unique place in which we reside, and the giving of respect for the land on which we live, a place-based and community-centered approach to educating global citizens seems appropriate.  This strand calls for MNU initiatives that enable students, through multi- and transdisciplinary work modes, to become community-engaged, socially and environmentally aware learners.

Open Strand  This open strand invites ideas for key strands of a global citizenship programme that MNU partner universities are particularly interested in exploring further, and which would complement and build on the already suggested strands.

The event provided a forum for delegates from partner universities to share their own ideas, experiences and suggestions to contribute to forming the programme's future. Possibilities discussed included online/distance exchange activities and collaboration, travel and exchanges between partner universities, educational offerings across institutions, research related to global citizenship within and outside universities, funding possibilities for student or staff-initiated projects, development of new educational models, sharing of ideas and models for community engagement, and more.