So what is Global Competence?

According to the OECD, it can be described as:

Global competence is the capacity to examine local, global and intercultural issues, to understand and appreciate the perspectives and world views of others, to engage in open, appropriate and effective interactions with people from different cultures, and to act for collective well-being and sustainable development.

We have spent a lot of time discussing how to define Global Competence and this is the definition we have finally settled upon. Why? Because it is all encompassing and although made up of a complex mix of dimensions and building blocking, it is itself, one competence. We have mapped this definition against other definitions such as those used by the Council of Europe (competences for democratic culture), UNESCO (intercultural understanding; global citizenship education) or the EU (key competences for lifelong learning) and will present these in a paper, accessible from this website, later this year.