On the 26th of March, SIDA’s Global Citizenship Engagement Officer Hannah Clyne joined Mya Chemonges Murzynowska from ACAMHA and Catriona Willis from Highland One World at the Learn North Connect and Reflect CLD Conference in Inverness, where hundreds of Community Learning and Development (CLD) practitioners (those involved in education for adult learning, youth work, community action and volunteering) came together from across the north of Scotland.
Learn North connects over 300 practitioners from eight local authority areas – Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Argyll & Bute, Highland, Moray, Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles. Its goal is to improve professional development for the CLD workforce, but the conference showed that its work goes further: it’s about creating spaces where social justice is lived, community voices are heard, and where global citizenship is part of everyday life.
We believe strongly as a network that global citizenship and anti-racism are not optional extras in education, they are central to the work of helping communities, young people, and adults navigate an increasingly complex and divided world, and this was echoed again through the reflections of the educators at Learn North.
One moment captured this well. Mya asked everyone to close their eyes and raise a hand if they believed racism still exists in society. Every hand went up. The simple act revealed the scale of the challenge and the urgency of supporting communities across the North of Scotland to understand global issues, confront racism and inequality, and take action.
In our session, we shared our work on global citizenship and anti-racist education in the Highlands. The discussions that followed highlighted the growing diversity of communities, including people who have been forcibly displaced, and the need to equip learners – both young people and adults – to engage with complex global realities. These conversations come alive in youth clubs, community programmes, and informal education spaces, often reaching further than formal classrooms or curriculum could.
Kate O’Brien from Aban Outdoors, an outdoor education organisation in Inverness, reflected on the challenges young people face in a ‘VUCA’ world – volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous – and the need for learning and community that equips them to navigate it. Ross Martin, Assistant Director of the CLD Standards Council Scotland, highlighted that social justice lies at the heart of CLD. These points – the fear and uncertainty that communities are living through, and the need for action on social justice – came up repeatedly throughout the day, in conversations and reflections from other participants, showing the vital relevance of Global Citizenship and anti-racist education to CLD aims and practice.
What was particularly encouraging though, was seeing so many people deeply committed to the wellness and rights of their communities, and to the wider world. The dedication, creativity, and care in the room was palpable, a reminder that change doesn’t just happen in policy or classrooms, it happens when communities come together.
For us, the conference highlighted a clear point: global citizenship and anti-racism are most effective when they are part of everyday community practice. Real global citizenship happens where people live – in youth clubs, community centres, and informal learning spaces where reflection, dialogue, and action come together. Community leaders and practitioners are eager to strengthen their anti-racist practice and expand their understanding of Global Citizenship Education, and we are committed to supporting them in making that happen.
Because, as Joan Baez famously said, “Action is the antidote to despair.”
Find GCE and Anti-racist education resources here.
If you have any questions please email Hannah Clyne at hannah@intdevalliance.scot.