On May 3rd and 4th, all the partners of the Erasmus+ project Just Maps – Schools strengthening global citizenship by mapping local communities met in Tallaght (Dublin) for the first Transnational Meeting, jointly with the Teacher’s training. It was an exciting weekend, perfectly organised by the host organisation GAP Ireland, in the relaxing Dominican Retreat in Tallaght.
Just Maps continues Just Action’s Global Citizenship Education journey with a specific focus on children and youngsters’ active participation in local communities through the construction of digital maps with a global citizen perspective. The maps will help highlight problems and opportunities for improving local communities and will be the basis for joint action by the students from all the involved schools.
The partnership sees the experience of the Spanish, Italian and Irish partners of the Global Action Plan International network (already part of the Just Action team) strengthened and extended by the entry of GAP members from Poland and Kenya into the team, as well as the active presence of Spanish, Italian and Kenyan schools: the Istituto Comprensivo Statale Umberto I from Lanciano and Artxandape Ikastola from Bilbao (already beneficiaries of Just Action), plus Zaragoza School House from Zaragoza and Aga Khan Academy from Mombasa. As associated partners, the Polish XXXV Liceum Ogólnokształcące z Oddziałami Dwujęzycznymi im. Bolesława Prusa and Our Lady of the Victories from Ireland.
The weekend’s groundwork was put together in two online preparatory meetings, on March 25th and April 7th. During these workshops, principals and teachers worked on mapping school stakeholders and curricula related to teaching global citizenship in their countries and regions. The goal was to take the next steps by systematizing the different needs and perspectives to create a practical and dynamic training program that can be easily transferred and replicated in other schools and countries.
The May weekend in Tallaght was meant to acquire information about participatory mapping with students (children and youngsters), to co-create the foundations of the teachers’ training by involving teachers in all the training’s planning phases, and to build a strong and united transnational team, ready to cooperate efficiently for the project.
As for the participatory mapping, the team was guided by the expert Dr. Joe Usher (Dublin City University – DCU), who introduced the participants to different types of activities, highlighting the pros and cons of their use within Just Maps’ project, with the specific project target. The workshop was balanced between theory and practice.
It was such a fruitful weekend that we just can’t wait to take the next steps together!
A little reminder: where did Just Maps come from?
During the implementation of Just Action (which ended in November 2024, but whose materials are still accessible and free on the official website), it became evident that students’ favourite educational activities were those that led them to take action in local communities and with its members, to be more active beyond school, to be an integral part of local (and global!) society. And here is Just Maps: a new operation that starts right in the community, and puts the heads, hands and hearts of children and young people aged 8 to 15 to its analysis and improvement.
