Indian and Korean students promote the UN SDGs at the Global Creative Work Festival

Since April this semester, for two months, more than 200 IVECA students from India and Korea have been working together to prepare for a youth international virtual festival promoting creative works. Last week, the festival started as students presented creative works such as movies and literature from their countries and discussed the themes and ideas introduced in those works.

The international festival was not only to show creative works to each other for enjoyment. Besides learning about each other's cultures, the event aimed to highlight the relevance of the creative works with some of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (#SDGs) and understand how creative works can help raise awareness about the SDGs locally and globally.

Students found that the creative works they worked on can be related to many Sustainable Development Goals, including Gender Equality, Quality Education, Reduced Inequalities, and many others. For example, a student from Korea shared that the director of the drama "Itaewon Class" intends to fight against an unreasonable society toward #SDG10, Reduced Inequalities. He added, "the solution of the gap between the rich and the poor in SDG10 can instill a desirable perception in people, by the appearance of the protagonist who protected small businesses from the tyranny of large companies". Indian students found that the movie "Dangal" is related to #SDG5 Gender Equality. They shared, "the movie is about a patriotic fighter who evolved his daughters into World Class Fighters."

Inspired by the presentations at the festival, A Korean student expressed, "I was able to learn the mindset of not giving up until the end and felt that I need to work hard to achieve my goals." One Indian student commented, "Through the Korean students' presentations, I got to learn about Korean culture and cinema. I also learned that social events can be shown through films as these works are the mirror of society".

This virtual festival allowed students to engage their international friends using their unique elucidation of the creative works. To do so, some Indian students made their own inspirational videos to introduce their homeland's creative work and the SDGs reflected in the work. The following example video presents students' insights on their society addressing gender inequality in their movie:

#IVECA #interculturalcompetence #21stCenturyEducation #CreativeWorks #VirtualFestival #GlobalCitizenshipEducation #VirtualSchooling #VirtualExchange #SDGs #SDG4 #SDG16

Student Interactions Develop Awareness of Environmental Problems

Throughout the spring semester, students across the world have come together to communicate through IVECA’s Virtual Classroom. These student interactions have enabled them to grow and learn from each other. Ultimately, the students have bonded by sharing each other's values, culture, and environmental problems.

As the relationship began, students took the opportunity to get to know each other. Culture was shared with pictures of food like Bungeoppang, a Korean snack with red bean paste inside fish shaped bread. Argentinian students shared their favorite dessert, dulce de leche. Through this exchange students found similarities in their daily life even though living far apart. One student noted, “I can’t believe we have the same hobby! I also like to read cartoon books and my major is animation design!! You can draw your own cartoons!!! You are really good! I have a feeling we are going to be good friends!!” As friendships grew, intercultural communication was enhanced. Many students bonded over their values, “Coincidentally, we share the same values. I also think happiness is a very important thing in life.” Through these interactions students came to find, the world isn’t so big after all.

An important topic of conversation this semester surrounded animal conservation and climate change. Students researched problems in their country’s environment and had the opportunity to share with their IVECA friends. When discussing the endangerment of Bottlenose Dolphins, a student expressed their dismay at the news, “I am very sad and sorry for the fact that it is endangered. I will help and get interested in them, too. I was grateful to know such cute animals and I will search for them more. Let’s make an effort to save each endangered animal!” It was beautiful that students took interest in other countries' problems by sharing empathy.

Additionally, students shared concerns about their community, “With the development of the economy and society, there are more and more high rise buildings. The traffic has been improved drastically. But the speedy development also brought a lot of pollution to this city. A lot of people still like the old city. Because health is most important, living in a place without pollution is the dream of the contemporary people.” Partners were able to understand the effects that industrialization has on the environment from a first hand account. With this new knowledge, students could share this in their home communities and educate others on environmental conservation.

By communicating on natural disasters such as forest fires, students understood the interconnectedness of the world and built a sense of solidarity to solve such issues. In response to his Indian partner, a Korean student commented, “In recent years, there have been lots of fire accidents in Korea too. I heard that many fire accidents are generated from humans' careless behaviors. So I think fire accidents are not only a domestic problem but international. We have to be careful to protect various creatures…”

Intercultural communication allowed students to see beyond their own countries and work together on common goals. Through the direct interactions with their global partners, students have realized that many other countries have similar problems while noticing different causes and impacts on their daily lives. Notably, students became open minded with diverse perspectives and found the internal motivation to make our world a better place.

#IVECA #interculturalcompetence #21stCenturyEducation #21centuryskills #SDGgoals #GlobalCitizenshipEducation #Empathy #Awareness #SDG13 #SDG15

The World Presentation Contest: Students Inspire Audiences Through Stories of Migration

This spring semester 2022, IVECA hosted the World Presentation Contest for high school students from Argentina, China, and Korea. During the contest, students were able to evaluate each others' presentations and give feedback to participating groups. Students presented on Stories of Migration in their own countries and around the world. This new learning opportunity allowed students to research migration in their communities and find the best solution for recurrent challenges migrants face. The presenters’ goal was to inspire the audience to think or behave differently by engaging them in the life journey of migrants. Overall, the unique occasion enabled students to recognize and share the empathy each group felt for migrants.

An excellent display of inspiring the audience was creating a narrative of a migrant moving to Argentina. Students detailed the point of view of someone forced to move away from their home country, “For Julian, it was not the same. It was not the same when his friends were in Spain. It was not the same when the laughter, the unique and unforgettable moments, were and would be forever in Spain. And, unfortunately, he could not take them with him in his suitcase.” Although the boy was disappointed to leave his friends, the story continues. Years later in Argentina, that same boy sits with his family in the home he had built. Although migration can cause stress, there may be triumphs in the end. The picture Argentinian students created guided the audience to sympathize for each person and connect with them on a personal level.

Each presentation group detailed different reasons people are forced to migrate. Korean students explained world events such as the civil war and industrialization that forced citizens to move away from their homes. Chinese students were able to hold interviews with friends and family that have moved away from their home country. The main reason included education and finding opportunities to study abroad. The first hand account was inspiring as the audience became more understanding of their travels and the reason people move away. The effort from students allowed audience members to step into the shoes of emigrants and have a full understanding of their challenges and achievements.

The great effort from each group presentation did not go unnoticed. Their choice of words and visuals to inspire their audience members was memorable. The presenter's strategy of connecting with the audience members to convey their message created a successful World Presentation Contest.

#IVECA #interculturalcompetence #21stCenturyEducation #WorldContest #GlobalCitizenshipEducation #virtualschooling #empathy