Global Education Week 2026: From Critical Thinking to Collective Action

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Educators, learners, youth, policymakers, and civil society will gather from across Europe from 16-22 November 2026, for Global Education Week. This year the motto is “My Voice, Our Action, A Common Future.”

The week is part of iLEGEND III: Intercultural Learning Exchange through Global Education, Networking and Dialogue, a joint project of the European Union and the Council of Europe, co-funded by both institutions and implemented by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe.

This year’s theme focuses on the five pillars of the 2030 Agenda – People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership – with emphasis on critical thinking as a democratic competence. In a world shaped by information overload, polarisation, algorithmic systems, and AI-generated content, global education helps learners analyse information, question manipulation, and participate meaningfully in democratic life.

But Global Education Week is not only about concepts. It is also about lived experiences that help young people see the world – and their own role in it – differently.

In Romania, Global Education Week has become a flagship initiative, mobilising more than 2,800 pre-university teachers in its most recent edition. For geography teacher Daniela Mihaela Albu, from Mihai Eminescu National College in Buzău, global education has long been a way to help students understand that global challenges begin with local action.

One initiative, organised under the theme “Make Equality Real”, brought Daniela’s students together with a local special school for children with hearing impairments. The students formed a mixed dance group, bringing together hearing and hearing-impaired young people to prepare for the National Dance Competition for people with disabilities.

At first, many students struggled to imagine how someone could dance without hearing music. Through rehearsals, they discovered that their partners felt rhythm through vibrations from the speakers. Over several weeks, they practised waltz, tango and traditional Romanian dances together, learning patience, trust and new ways of communicating.

A deeper change came afterwards. Students learned the sign language alphabet, built friendships, and several continued visiting the special school for years, supporting their peers with homework and daily activities.

“It is not simply learning about human rights or inclusion,” Daniela said. “It creates opportunities to experience them. When young people work together, they stop seeing differences as barriers.”

For Daniela, this is the lasting value of global education: helping young people question stereotypes, develop empathy and take responsibility in their communities.

As Global Education Week 2026 approaches, its motto captures that journey: from individual awareness, to collective engagement, to a shared future.

For more information, visit the Global Education Week webpage.

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