Virtual International Week, 15 – 18 March 2021

WE ARE Global Citizens

Ayuphita Tiara Silalahi

  The first virtual International Week by Fontys Academy of Creative Industries (ACI) was held on 15 – 18 March 2021, where faculty members from all around the world came together to collaborate as coaches and speakers. Focusing in the area of Sustainable Development Goals, WE ARE tried to address global challenges including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. Hundreds of participating students were divided into groups to develop a creative problem-solving assignment; and as coaches, we provided support by asking critical questions, guidance in design process, and encourage students to think BIGGER.

Intercultural Intelligence session by Drs. Guido de Wilde

Identity, Culture, and Global Village session by Tatum Adiningrum and Ayuphita Tiara Silalahi 

  • As coaches, we were expected to guide the students in the concept design process. Collaborating in a Cluster with 3-5 other coaches, both coaches must facilitate a space for feedback, dialogue and reflection for each group. In a nutshell, the goal of the participants were:
  • To reflect on the personal role as a global citizen;
  • To understand the SDGs and make a connection between global challenge and local action;
  • To work in an international multidisciplinary team;
  • To interact with their diverse groups and both use and give feedback.

  We encourage students to focus in to the local scale when designing a concept; on a small and specific community that is easily approachable by the group members (either in the Netherlands or abroad). At the end of the week, we were excited to see so many out of the box thinking derived from the students, such as creating a children book about racial equality, encouraging English usage in college town to attract more International students and make them feel welcome, and providing local cooking events for all International students who are studying in Fontys. There were many other interesting ideas designed by the students with global citizen mindset. And to think they came up with such design concept in four days, without able to meet their group members in-person other than online, we believe they did a great job. And we were so proud to be a part of the team.