Formal, non-formal and informal learning

Formal Learning

With regard to the dissemination of information on global issues in upper secondary education, Italy has several tools, such as Law 92/2019, which introduced the teaching of civic education, regulated by the guidelines of the Ministry of Education and Merit. Civic education is a cross-curricular path designed to form responsible citizens and its teaching revolves around three main themes: 1) Italian Constitution, law (national and international), legality and solidarity; 2) Sustainable development, environmental education, knowledge and protection of heritage and territory; 3) Digital citizenship. The law stipulates that this teaching must have a minimum duration of 33 hours per school year, leaving significant autonomy for schools to implement it.

The importance of formal education also emerges from the National Action Plan – Global Citizenship Education (ECG) approved in May 2023, which outlines the objectives to be achieved, the tools and actors involved as prescribed by the National Strategy for Citizenship Education (Cf. 9.1).

Non-formal Learning

The National Action Plan – Global Citizenship Education (ECG) recognises the importance of ensuring continuity and integration between formal and non-formal education, in order to promote a change in perception and behaviour through lifelong learning, participation and citizenship. The development of the capacity of younger generations to take action and contribute to decision-making and policy-making is one of the key actions identified by the Plan.

Moreover, in the context of non-formal activities, several organisations promote initiatives to share knowledge on global issues with young people:

• Network of Universities for Sustainable Development (RUS) – it is a program of information dissemination in the university environment (lifelong and lifewide learning). It focuses on the different methods of education to and for sustainable development, highlighting good practices and proposing effective teaching and educational approaches and methods to ensure that all the university community members (students, teachers, technical and administrative staff) are aware of the UN 2030 Agenda and the principles of sustainable development, also in relation to their field of study;

• National Strategy for Sustainable Development (Cf. 9.1) – it is one of the most important tools for spreading knowledge about the environment and sustainable development, particularly through its Vector 2 - Culture for sustainability, which envisages a wide educational effort at the national and territorial level;

• Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS) – it is one of the main Italian associations organising events and opportunities to spread knowledge among young people about the environment, social equity, sustainable development and issues related to the UN 2030 Agenda;

• Amnesty International Italy – it promotes the “Human Rights Friendly Schools” project, involving each year around 20.000 students aged 14 to 19, as well as teachers and non-teaching staff, through specific courses, thematic workshops, and training courses aimed at spreading the culture of human rights.

Educators’ support

Supporting educators and teachers engaged in the dissemination of information on global issues is a task carried out by several actors through some platforms such as:

• Scuola 2030 – an initiative promoted by the Ministry of Education and Merit, Indire, and ASviS, it is a portal that offers content, resources, and self-training materials to all teachers for an education inspired by the values and vision of the UN 2030 Agenda;

• Acra – a non-governmental organisation engaged in international cooperation, human rights protection and the fight against poverty and inequality; in Italy, it promotes a culture of dialogue, integration, intercultural exchange and solidarity, implementing projects to fight gender-based violence and climate change; educational kits, multimedia products, publications and research are available on the platform;

• Get Up and Goals – an international platform providing teaching materials for teachers and students on global issues; the Italian content is developed under the coordination of the NGO International Committee for the Development of Peoples.

In addition to providing educational materials, many NGOs offer specific courses for teachers and educators, such as IBO Italy with its course "Educate to Global Citizenship," the International Cooperation Center, FOCSIV and others. These courses, organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Merit and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, provide teachers and educators with the tools necessary to better formulate the educational offer at the school and out-of-school levels.

Youth targeted campaigns on global issues

The main publicly funded campaigns are:

• GenerAzione 2030 – launched in November 2022 for 24 months, the Regional Alliances for Global Citizenship Education project was an idea of the Tuscany and Puglia Regions. Thanks to the collaboration with different non-governmental organisations, it has established itself as a national reference point. This initiative was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, with a budget of about € 580.000;

• All4Youth – an information campaign run by the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under the Youth4Climate program. It took place in 2023 during the month leading up to the Y4C event on 15 October, promoting events organised by institutional and private sector actors aimed at highlighting the essential role of youth in the fight against climate change.

Information providers

In Italy, there is no single contact point to which young people can turn for information on global issues. At the national level, the actors most involved in projects related to global issues are the Ministry of Education and Merit and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Key initiatives

Sustainable Development Festival – it is the main event organised since 2017 by ASviS on sustainable development. It involves hundreds of organisations, associations and NGOs in events throughout Italy over several weeks each year.

Human Rights Festival – organised by the Human Rights Foundation, it began in Milan in 2016 and has had editions in Turin, Bologna, Florence and Rome. It aims to spread knowledge of human rights, focusing on their promotion and defense.

Festambiente – organised since 1989 by Legambiente in Tuscany, it is one of the main events regarding nature protection and preservation. Within it, discussion panels and debates among experts in the field allow the population, with particular attention to the younger groups, to understand the importance of environmental protection.

You Don't Have to Be a Genius to Understand That Something Needs to Be Done – a NGO Plastic Free online campaign to raise youth awareness of the problem of dispersion of plastic in the environment, It was launched in 2023 with the aim of acting as a catalyst for concrete change, involving more people in their environmental clean-up activities. Plastic Free is one of the most active groups in organising public place cleanups.

There are also several local initiatives organised by NGOs and local authorities, such as the Sustainable Cities Network (RCS), the largest national association of municipalities, provinces, metropolitan cities and regions in Europe dedicated to sustainable development and the territorialisation of the UN 2030 Agenda’s Goals. Active since 2021, the RCS aims to support municipalities in achieving the Agenda's goals, monitoring specific indicators and spreading good practices.