Today and tomorrow, the Global Education Network of the North South Centre of the Council of Europe meets at the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth, (IPDJ). It is the first annual meeting of the Global Education Network under the ILEGEND third cycle.
An important gathering for thirty of its members to assess the previous cycle and to get acquainted with new components focusing on youth and gender equality, and the interregional dimension of the project.  

Members are invited to reflect on the nature of the network itself in a continuous process of improvement to better implement the principles and methodologies of global education. This meeting bridges the previous and next edition of the Global Education Week. The morning of 17 May is dedicated to the approval of a common calendar and the new modalities deployed to facilitate efforts for the recognition and visibility of global education in Europe and beyond.

Beside this programme, a visit to the National Centres of Migrants’ Integration Support (CNAIM) is organised by Plataforma Portuguesa ONGD.

The North-South Centre's Global Education Network supports the implementation of the North-South Centre's Global Education activities. The network encompasses key national level stakeholders, who want to share Global Education strategies and practices.

The network builds its force on its diversity, enabling peer and intercultural learning between formal and non-formal educators, policy makers and Civil Society Organisations.

Each member acts as the North-South Centre’s implementing partners for the realisation of the Global Development Education regional seminars and follow-up meetings, the eLearning and residential training activities and pedagogical resources. They are also responsible to promote, at national level, the Global Education Week.

The GEN Annual Meeting 2023 is part of iLEGEND III: Intercultural Learning Exchange through Global Education, Networking and Dialogue (2022-2026), Joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe: co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe. The overall objective of the project is to increase the active engagement of EU member States, candidates and potential candidate countries’ citizens (in particular young people) in safeguarding sustainable development and confronting global challenges and inequalities at local and global level.

Since the 1970s, the EU has supported educators and civil society actors in introducing development themes in curricula and public awareness. Through its programme for Development Education and Awareness-Raising (DEAR) and other EU-funded Programmes (e.g. Erasmus, Horizon Europe and cohesion funds), the EU continues to support campaigns, advocacy actions and more focused Global Citizenship Education projects like iLEGEND.