Stories of Change - Telling Resilience and Action for a Just World

Project duration: 01.09.2025 – 31.08.2027

“Stories of Change” is a project that shares personal stories of resilience to support global learning. In addition to creating educational materials for facilitators involved in international cooperation and global learning, the project offers spaces for learning and exchange. It aims to empower its target groups, strengthen their resilience and ability to act for a globally just, socio-ecological transformation, and provide fresh impulses for global learning.

Educational materials
Three short films will show people from different backgrounds sharing parts of their story. They speak about the challenges they face, the global crises impacting their lives, their strategies for dealing with it, their successes, and how they have inspired others to take action. An accompanying brochure will provide information on the protagonists, the topics and challenges addressed, and resilience the strategies presented. It will also offer methodological and didactic suggestions for educational work and for using the films. The brochure introduces the overall topic, highlights the power of personal stories and presents storytelling as a method for education.

Events and training courses
Each short film will be accompanied by an online event with participants from the film. These events offer insights into the topics of the films, global crises, and ways to address them. The focus is on resilience on an individual and thematic level. Two storytelling workshops will show participants how (personal) stories can reveal global connections and perspective, and how they can inspire resilient, solidarity-based action. Participants will learn methods of “storytelling for change” and how to apply them in educational settings and global learning. At storytelling meetings, committed individuals, activists and multipliers from the field of global learning and education for sustainable development are invited to share their experiences and personal stories of resilience. A one-day training course will teach participants how to use the short films and insights gained from the project to work on resilience and capacity for action in educational work.

Visiting tour and international conference
In spring 2027, a visiting tour and a three-day conference will take place in Germany on the topic of “Resilience and capacity to act in the face of global crises”. An international group will visit projects in Lower Saxony and Bremen (Germany), that show good examples of commitment to socio-ecological transformation with practical and effective ideas for dealing with crises. Additionally, each visit will include a public event at the respective location. Following the tour, a three-day conference will focus on resilience and capacity to act in the face of global crises. The conference will provide a space for learning and empowerment in which participants engage in global dialogue, learn to change perspectives, exchange ideas, strengthen each other, and gain inspiration for their own actions. The guiding questions include: Why is resilience important, and what forms of resilience relevant for socio-ecological transformation? How can we develop and strengthen resilience? What role does education, especially global learning, play in promoting resilience and capacity for action?