Earth Charter International secretariat and Youth Action for Change organize a free online short course on “Youth Leadership, Sustainability and Ethics”. The course takes place in August 12 – September 9. This course is part of YAC’s series of educational online courses.

With a mission of “Education in Action”, YAC is the world’s leading and pioneering provider of free, online, action-focused educational courses and opportunities in a vast array of subjects providing young people in developing nations with the knowledge and tools they need to make change happen, supporting and empowering them to realize their vision of a fairer, safer and more equitable world.

Earth Charter International secretariat is happy to get an opportunity to conduct a short course with YAC!

Course Dates and times:

• Session 1, August 12th, 3pm-5pm GMT,
  Earth Charter, Sustainable Development and Youth Leadership
• Session 2, August 26th, 3pm-5pm GMT,
  Learning from Successful Projects
• Session 3, September 9th, 3pm-5pm GMT,
  Planning for Sustainable Action Projects inspired by the Earth Charter

Course Description:
The problems of today’s world are more complex than ever. They are highly interconnected and interdependent. We face climate change, vast exploitation of natural resources, population growth, growing gap between rich and poor, and social inequity, among many others. To be able to respond to these challenges future leaders need a new and innovative interdisciplinary approach.

The short course aims to support the participants to realize their role as leaders for more sustainable future and to help them to learn what the common, global values are. The aim is that after the course the participants are aware of the principles for sustainability and they will comprehend how those can be used as a tool on individual and organizational level. The course drives for positive change in participants’ everyday lives and creates a sense of global responsibility.

The ultimate aim is to further develop the capabilities necessary to conduct Earth Charter inspired action projects in the participants’ own communities and link the participants with the wider youth community working for more sustainable future.

The course is delivered using a number of online technologies that are available for use by the general public and for free.

About Youth Action for Change:
Youth Action for Change (YAC) is an innovative international youth run organization which equips young people with knowledge and skills that enable them to directly get involved in improving their communities. YAC implements its work through two key streams, free online action focused courses and through instigating targeted grass roots youth empowerment projects.  YAC reaches thousands of youths in over 130 countries worldwide.

About The Earth Charter:
The Earth Charter is a declaration of fundamental ethical principles for building a just, sustainable and peaceful global society in the 21st century. It seeks to inspire in all people a new sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the well-being of the whole human family, the greater community of life, and future generations. It is a vision of hope and a call to action.

The Earth Charter International Secretariat guides and liaises with efforts to bring the Earth Charter to the fields of education, youth, business and religion, manages communications with the larger Earth Charter network, and promotes the use of the Earth Charter as an international soft law document.

How to apply:
Register your interest in participating in this online course by reading the YAC student guide and filling in the online application form by July 28th 2010.

Successful participants will be notified by August 2nd.