New Competencies for Global Citizens
July 25, 2017 Kosmos Community News


Call for Essays | Global Transformation

Twice a year Kosmos invites our readers to submit an essay up to 830 words. We choose two or three essays to […]


KOSMOS LIVE podcast | Mark Gerzon, Mediation in a Time of Division

Mark Gerzon is a leadership expert who convenes and facilitates conversations in high conflict areas. He has advised the U.S. Congress, the World Economic Forum, UNDP, and many others.

“…Ultimately, you will have to involve hundreds of people in your community, but I believe the right place to start once you and your co-conveners have decided to launch something is with a microcosm of the system. Because the microcosm of the system can actually look each other in the eye. They can see the other person cry or laugh.”


Global Citizens, Part I

By Mark Gerzon

Once we recognize that global citizenship matters, many questions immediately arise. After all, what exactly does ‘global citizens’ mean? How are global citizens different from those who identify solely with their state or country? Do they have different, skills, abilities or attitudes—and if so, what are they?

Unfortunately, the media hype and academic buzz that surrounds the phrase ‘global citizen’ is often more distracting than helpful. ‘Global citizen’ is not a trendy, ready-to-wear eco-identity. It is not a hip ‘lifestyle’ that we adopt by turning down our thermostats, eating locally grown foods or driving a hybrid. No matter how good our intentions may be, declaring ourselves ‘citizens of the world,’ singing John Lennon’s ballad “Imagine,” and boldly proclaiming that we live in a borderless world is simply not enough.


Global Competence

By Anthony Jackson, via Asia Society Center for Global Education

“Global competence also requires the ability to understand prevailing world conditions, issues, and trends through an interdisciplinary lens as well, in order to understand the interconnectedness of the issue and its broad themes as well as subtle nuances.  A competitive advantage will go to those students in San Francisco or São Paulo who know what’s going on in the world, can comprehend the interconnectedness of environmental, financial, social, and other systems, and understand how the relative balance of power between societies and cultures has significant short-and long-term consequences. Educating students for global competence requires substantive, developmentally appropriate engagement over time with the world’s complexities.”


A Diverse Wisdom Culture

Excerpts from a dialogue between Duncan Campbell and Paul Ray, via Living Dialogues

Paul Ray | …we’re not out there to kill dragons, we’re out there to build something new together. Each one of us cannot imagine the whole of a new civilization. It’s too big to hold in any one mind, but each one of us can help build one of the facets of a new civilization. Kind of like a Fuller Dome or a bee’s eye which has thousands and thousands of facets. In fact, I’ve done brain storming with citizen groups where they clearly see this after awhile – that no one of them can encompass the whole complexity – but together we do indeed invent an image of a desirable future, an image of a new guiding story for ourselves. That’s quite remarkable. You can get that sense of having to create it together, having to trust, so that all of us together will do the job. That in fact, we are all needed now.


Brilliant Apps Solving Local Problems Worldwide

By Tej Adeleye, via Amaphiko

Apps are often developed to solve convenience problems – cheaper taxis or snack delivery services. We highlight the innovators across the world who are improving lives with apps that offer tangible solutions for a range of issues from cattle care to an online queing system for village water-collection so that girls can spend more time studying.