Global Citizenship and Development (advanced bachelor) | UCLL

Studies on sustainable development and international cooperation

Summary

The Advanced Bachelor 'Global Citizenship and Development' is a unique 1-year bachelor programme in Europe of 60 ECTS credits.

As a preparation, you will enroll in an intensive interdisciplinary start programme for two months. You will be assigned a placement in a project abroad and an academic counsellor (coach) with whom you cooperate intensively during the following six month internship.

Goals

During this integrated experience the programme aims you to:

•    develop intercultural competences
•    learn to understand local phenomena from a broad macro-social and political perspective
•    gain insight into the functioning of a project and civil society
•    think about how you can take an active role as a citizen in a globalized world
•    regularly reflect on your own growth process

Structure of the programme

During this specialised programme we offer a combination of theory, practice and research and an intensive supervised course before, during and after returning from the internship abroad.

Preparation

The preliminary course of 8 weeks is a combination of modules with introductory and conceptual frameworks on the following topics: 

  • sustainable development and globalisation
  • intercultural communication
  • project management
  • local country context from a socio-economic and political point of view
  • language (French, English or Dutch)
International internship

This programme aims to encourage young people to become critical and committed world citizens. We do this by offering an established quality experience of 6 months in one of the following regions:

  • India
  • Sri Lanka
  • Uganda 
  • Portugal 
  • Belgium
Living, housing and working

In November you will then leave for a period of 6 months to a project in Asia, Africa or Europe. During this practice-oriented work placement you'll assess the knowledge and conceptual framework you've acquired against the reality of the local community where your reside.

Concerning the organisation of the work placement you will engage in a commitment as a volunteer. However, it is the entire concept of living, housing and working there that plays a pivotal role in our program. 

Self-reflection and coaching

Therefore our efforts will target an intensive personal coaching process. Herein you'll have the space and time to critically question and acquire your own reference frame and the offered conceptual frameworks; realise the importance, influence and interconnection of it.

After returning to Belgium, the programme is oriented towards a guidance for 8 weeks in order to absorb and assimilate the impressions from the experiences during the internship. 

Countries for international internships

Global citizenship India
Internships in organizations in India

Profiles

  • social workers, psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, journalists, communication specialists, political sciences, journalists or students with an interest or background in human rights: in projects in Goa on labour rights, emancipation of dalits, people and children living with hiv and homosexuals
  • educators, teachers, youth workers, healthcare professionals and people with an interest or experience in education: in projects in Goa on guidance of children with disabilities, elderly care or to help organize workshops on health prevention and social empowerment
  • students with an interest in alternative tourism: in a project on sustainable tourism in Goa
  • engineers, economists, tourism or heritage students, historians and students with an interest in ecology, rural and urban development: in projects in Kerala on waste processing in slums, recovery after natural disasters, heritage, micro-credits and social economy
Global citizenship Sri Lanka
Internships in development work projects in Sri Lanka

Profiles

  • lawyers, anthropologists, journalists, political scientists or other profiles who are interested in human and women rights and the political situation of Sri Lanka: in a human rights organisation, a women organisation or a feminist movement  
  • teachers, social workers, educationalists, psychologists, occupational therapists, (social) nurses and physiotherapists: in specialised schools for children with impairments and educational centers for teachers who work with 'disabled' children, a family replacement home for youngsters, in (Tamil) schools at tea plantations or at homes for children and women with severe impairments
  • students with a degree in tourism, biology, sustainable development, political or social sciences or with an interest in ecology and tourism: in South-Sri Lanka in organizations for ecotourism and nature conservation
Global citizenship Uganda
Internships in projects in Uganda
  • ecotourism in Lake Bunyonyi, southern Uganda: eco-cultural activities, excursions to the mountain lakes and gorillas, local tribe (Batwa Pygmies) and in central Uganda: projects in entrepreneurship and on recycling, biodiversity
  • psycho-social and legal support in Lira, Northern Uganda: trauma processing (post war), psychosocial support to communities, prisoners and children
  • support to local farming families or enterprises in West-Uganda: agricultural projects research, support and training of local farmers, feeding programs, political collaboration
  • arts and culture in Kampala: cultural education, establishment of local festivals, arts education
  • health and wellness in Fort Portal: education work on topics such as hiv, malnutrition, STD's and working with persons with disabilities, food projects with refugees
Global citizenship Leuven
Internships in projects in Belgium 
  • PAG-ASA aspires to a society in which the exploitation and trafficking of human beings no longer exists. 
  • Wisper leuven believes in the social power of art education and in the artistic power of a diverse society. Wisper is convinced that culture gives meaning to a human life in many ways and forms one of the foundations of a strong society.
  • Pangaea is the intercultural meeting centre of KU Leuven. It helps international students to find a home away from home and to integrate in Belgian society. 
  • Rikolto Belgium (Leuven) is an international NGO that works for a sustainable income for farmers and nutritious, affordable food for everyone. 
  • Globe aroma is an artistic work and meeting place that offers space, time, support and a network to artists, makers and art lovers with a newcomer background in Belgium (asylum seekers, refugees, people without legal papers,...). 
Internships in projects in Portugal
  • a project on integration and empowerment of refugees and migrants in Lisbon
  • a multi-sector cooperative that offers consumer goods in an economically, ecologically, and socially responsible way, creating a community and a support network in Lisbon
  •  an online delivery service of plant-based meal kits and groceries in Porto

Application approved? Fill in the candidate form! (last step)

Candidate form

After you've received a 'GO' from the UCLLs Admissions department, you're ready for this second step. With the aid of the candidate form we will be able to make the best match possible between you and a specific country + organization.

 

Country of origin
What motivates you to participate in this training?
What foreign experiences do you have? Did you already live in another country, did you do an internship abroad?
What topics are you interested in?
Questions 1 2 3 4 no interest
1
2
3
4
1 = main interest, you choose yourself how many countries you indicate

Campus Sociale School Heverlee will be your 'home base'.

Calendar
  • September until October: classes start half September in Leuven for 2 months.
  • From November to May: you will live and work with one of our partner organisations depending on your preferences and competences. 
  • In May and June: the year is concluded with (4) exams and a presentation of your final assessment in Leuven or online. 
Are you interested?

Our team takes pride in the intensive guidance of its students. We strive for finding a match between you as a candidate, your background and interests on the one hand and our partners and their fields of activity in the global South on the other hand.

Frequently asked questions

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Global Citizenship and Development (advanced bachelor), something for you?

Our vision: core values

Respect: thinking and acting based on equality

Throughout the post Bachelor programme respect is considered to be an ethical attitude.

We perceive respect as the willingness to allow, show understanding of and (learn to) appreciate differences. This attitude is based on being susceptible for new information, being focused on others, considering everybody equal and recognising one's own contribution.

Solidarity: impressed by interdependence

The past, present and future of the North and South are intrinsically interwoven. In order to gain an insight into this continuous influence and interaction you need to dare to be vulnerable, (self-)critical and receptive in an experience where interaction and exchange are pivotal.

From this interrelation viewpoint the post Bachelor addresses the issue of social inequality and injustice in today's globalised world.

Reciprocity: striving for a sustainable cooperation

From the social and economic standpoint it is of fundamental significance for the post Bachelor to engage in a sustainable relationship with the South. This can be realised by a transparent and authentic dialogue with each other.

Reciprocity is a two-way process: learning together, cooperating and solving problems mutually, it is a give and take.

Engagement: transcending the individual and introspective

The post Bachelor Global Citizenship and Development stimulates students to also take up their social responsibilities outside the formal frame of the programme and participate in sustainable commitments.

This requires a transfer, application and integration of their acquired insights into their way of thinking, perceiving, living and working (together) with people from other cultures.

Our ambitions

The Advanced Bachelor degree Global Citizenship and Development aspires to train young people to become critical and committed citizens who:

  • have an open, reflective and critical eye of the world as a whole and are able to recognise and address the issue of structural problems of social inequality and injustice;
  • to contribute throughout their lives to a sustainable and just society;
  • day after day, in terms of professional as well as personal responsibility, act in a sustainable and humane way;
  • to function well and to be broadly employable in a multicultural, globalised, fast-changing society;
  • to take full advantage of their professional skills in institutions, organisations and companies where the need for these additional competences is rising.  

Quality

University College UCLL is known for the quality of its programmes. It is thus clear that we put a great deal of effort into both quality improvement and quality control. The following principles are key in this respect:

  • An appreciative culture of quality assurance throughout the organisation
  • Systematic and structural quality improvement
  • Stimulation of a critical attitude amongst students, personnel, alumni and professionals​
  • Continuous input of an independent external critical view

​Continuous quality control and improvement

A few years ago, the NVAO (De Nederlands-Vlaamse Accreditatieorganisatie - Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders) virtually abolished the external review committees. Henceforth, each institution decided for itself how quality was controlled. Thus, UCLL devised its own, new system with, amongst other elements, dialogue committees with educational and professional experts. They also systematically asked external experts to examine specific themes, like the interconnecting of education, research and services.