Global Footsteps
Global Footsteps is the educational programme affiliated to The Rendezvous Society a non-profit British charity organisation (UK Registered Charity 293357), based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.[1]
Projects
Global Footsteps organises educational programmes around the world. These include study tours, youth conferences and youth exchanges among Gloucestershire and its linked communities around the world. It aims to promote inter-cultural linking and environmental education. In 2009, Global Footsteps launched a new project called Global Ventures in which young individuals embark on personal life-changing and enriching ventures.
Conferences
The conferences organised by Global Footsteps are aimed at youth aged 18 to 25 from any of Gloucestershire's linked communities around the world.
Past conferences include:
- Footstep 6 'Footprints from Afar' - Kisumu, Kenya in 2001
- Footstep 7 'Youth's Global Vision for a Harmonious Earth' - Sochi, Russia in 2002
- Footstep 8 'Creating Tomorrow' - Toruń, Poland in 2003
- Footstep 9 'Our Future Starts Today' - Göttingen, Germany in 2004
- Footstep 10 'Creating Tomorrow, Together Today' - Cheltenham, United Kingdom in 2005
- Footstep 11 'Shaping and Sharing the Future' - Saint Ann, Jamaica in 2007
Positive action
Recent positive action arising from Global Footsteps conferences include:
- The provision of water collection and storage tanks for three rural communities in Kenya which is vital to ensure these communities have access to clean water.
- Collaboration with the British Council in Kisumu and Sochi to let internet facilities be made available to young people in the communities who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford access to the latest technology.
- Supporting young Russian women on a fact-finding mission to visit homelessness projects in the UK, to help them with the setting up of a shelter in Russia.
- Enabling musicians from other countries to perform in UK schools to promote cultural understanding and providing positive contributions to the Citizenship curriculum.
Footstep 11
In July 2007, Global Footsteps organised its latest International Youth Conference Footstep 11: Shaping & Sharing The Future at Moneague College in Saint Ann, Jamaica. The principal theme of the event was Consumerism and its impact on the natural environment.
Youth participants aged between 18 and 25 represented linked communities in countries as diverse as Jamaica, Kenya, Poland, USA, Russia, the United Kingdom, Turkey and newcomer Brazil. The youth took part in active workshops, field trips and activities with the aim of educating the youth, so that they could then share their knowledge with their local community and achieve sustainable development in a spirit of global citizenship.
Footstep 12
The last International Youth Conference Footstep 12 took place in Cadca, Slovakia in August 2010.
Study tours
Global Footsteps has organised educational study tours to many of the linked communities. In recent years, these have been concentrating on Sochi (Cheltenham's Russian twin town) and Toruń in Poland. These study tours are aimed at educating people about cultural understanding on a local level.
Youth exchanges
Between 1985 and 2000, Global Footsteps ran a successful youth exchange programme between Gloucestershire, England and Kisumu, Kenya. Youth from both countries took part in productive environmental and educational activities. They also gained a vast knowledge of different cultures, mainly helped by staying with local families.
See also
- The Rendezvous Society
- Fair Trade