The second day of the Learning for Global Democracy project workshop in Delhi discussed six case studies of initiatives to enhance public understanding of global affairs. The remaining four case studies will be discussed on Day 3.

The case studies discussed on Day 2 addressed a variety of methods of learning that have been developed at a variety of sites around the world. 

Examples from around the world

The case study looked at the following:

• grassroots learning about global issues by the Dam-Affected People’s Movement in Brazil 
   
• the development among indigenous peoples of alternative ontologies of global politics
   
• how groups in South Africa could learn new modes of citizenship for a more global world
   
• global-local relations in an NGO capacity building programme in Guangzhou Province, China
   
• new media literacies for global democracy in relation to digital communications technologies
   
• possibilities to enhance global democracy through satellite news television in the Arab world
   

On the BGD approach of researcher-practitioner collaboration, lead discussants of the studies came from diverse non-academic circles, including civil society groups in Armenia, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, UK and USA; official agencies in Egypt, Guyana and USA; and business quarters in Canada and Malaysia.

Some of the general issues debated around the six case studies included:

• what is (and is not) learned about global affairs
   
• relationships between knowledge and power in global politics
   
• the roles of official and alternative education systems
   
• the need for new forms of literacy in relation to digital technologies
   
• the importance of democratising learning processes themselves
   

All of these discussions are moving towards the formulation of general findings and recommendations on the question of learning for global democracy. Summaries of the case studies will be posted on the BGD website soon.