In the last few decades, more and more focus has been given to learner-centred and collaborative, dialogue-oriented approaches in education, both within school as well as in informal settings. Educators are increasingly adopting holistic and global learning approaches to support their students in developing skills and values. Many are also eager to explore various techniques and resources that provide improved access as well as training opportunities.

Over the past three years, Kopin (VO/0200) has offered face-to-face and online live training sessions on participatory learning methodologies to 130 educators and tertiary students in Malta. This was made possible through the educational project “Developing capacities together: European CSO-university networks for global learning on migration, security and sustainable development in an interdependent world” (InterCap).

InterCap focuses on promoting global learning on migration and sustainable development through the use of participatory education methodologies. It brings together a consortium of 13 NGOs and Universities from 12 EU countries, with expertise in teachers’ training, global education, sustainable development and migration issues.

A number of resources for educators and tertiary students were developed by experts and are available online and free of charge, as part of the InterCap Training Package.

The methodologies proposed by the InterCap training are:

• Communities of Philosophical Enquiry, a methodology that draws from that of Philosophy for Children, focused on thinking, reasoning and questioning
• Interactive Learning Communities, which supports the opening safe spaces for critical thinking and discussion on global issues
• Theatre for Living, wherein drama and theatre methodologies are used to address social issues.

Besides its training activities, the project saw the successful implementation of a number of initiatives using informal learning in schools, development of educational resources and online events such as movie screenings and webinars. These were carried out with the support of University students and educators involved in the project. Students at the University of Malta were offered internships with local NGOs and had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge in relation to global education, migration and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

While the project is coming to an end in January 2021, the InterCap online Training Package remains available for free-of-charge on www.developtogether.eu. In order to access the full Training Package, users are asked to register with a free account to the website. This will enable them to receive a certificate for each of the training modules they complete as well as save their online progress, to go through the materials at their own pace, and to download the educational resources available.

The InterCap project is co-financed by the European Commission through the EuropeAid programme and by the NGO Co-financing Fund under the Parliamentary Secretary for Youth, Sports and Voluntary Organisations within the Ministry for Education and Employment.

This project is part of Kopin’s ongoing mission to provide quality training and resources on sustainable development, community empowerment, migration, human rights and global education to students and educators in Malta and abroad. For more information, visit www.kopin.org.