-The Ministry of Education (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, KIM Sang-kon) and APCEIU (Director CHUNG Utak) will hold the 2017 Global Citizenship Education (GCED) International Conference from September 13 to 14 at the Sheraton D Cube City Hotel in Seoul.

The aim of GCED is to cultivate citizens who understands and practices universal values such as peace, human right, and cultural diversity.

This Conference is an annual international conference first launched in 2016 to build a global network on GCED, which was adopted by UN and UNESCO as one of the educational goals. 

-The theme of this year's Conference is "In Pursuit of GCED in a Challenging Environment," which will shed light on how to overcome various issues such as nationalism and racism, and rethink the role of GCED.

About 300 participants from international organizations, education sites, and civil society will gather together.

Norbu Wangchk, Minister of the Bhutan Ministry of Education, will present the notion of incorporating GCED and Gross National Happiness (GNH) during the opening ceremony, and experts from Austria, Malaysia, and Georgia will present and lead discussions on GCED curriculum.

-On the first day of the Conference, September 13, participants will discuss about how to pursue GCED in a challenging environment and share practical ways to implement GCED.

On September 14, participants will examine pedagogical practices to tackle issues such as terrorism, religion, and cultural diversity, and explore ways to scale-up GCED in the international community.

-The Korean Ministry of Education has integrated GCED learning contents in the 2015 National Curriculum Guideline, developed and disseminated GCED teacher's guidebooks, and supported GCED lead teachers. These actions have been taken to nurture democratic citizens who can actively resolve both global and local issues.

-KIM Sang-kon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, addressed, "Education needs to go beyond teaching reading and writing skills, in order to promote comptencies for the global community's peace and sustainable development."

And added, "I hope this Conference will provde an opportunity for participants from all around the world to come together and discuss ways forward to put GCED into action."

*unofficial translation