Skills Exchange Workshops- Global Campus Alumni and Right Livelihood Laureates
Right Livelihood Laureates are experienced and courageous human rights advocates and change-makers from various fields and regions of the world. This series of skills transfer workshops will enable the Global Campus Alumni (GCA) community and members of the Right Livelihood College (RLC) to engage directly with the Laureates and discuss specific skills related to human rights. The GCA brings together more than 4200 Global Campus Alumni under one umbrella: Together for Human Rights. RLC is a network of 9 campuses educating the next generation of change-makers.
Explore the workshops and learn more below.
1- Vladimir Silvyak: Grassroots Advocacy in the Ecological Sphere
Vladimir Silvyak is one of Russia’s most committed and knowledgeable environmentalists. He is the founder of “Ecodefense”, an organisation which started one of the first anti-coal campaign in 2013 and empowered local communities to take climate action and connect to each other. Vladimir is joined by Alma Midžić, independent researcher and alumna of the European Regional MA Programme in Democracy and Human Rights in South East Europe (ERMA).
Vladimir Silvyak discusses the importance of achievable goals, specific targets, and alliances in successful campaigns. He also emphasizes the value of media relations and the need to utilize a variety of resources for effective activism.
Key Insights
Vladimir highlights the importance of setting achievable and measurable goals in campaigns. This ensures a clear direction and helps assess progress effectively.
Building alliances and counting resources are crucial for successful activism. Collaborating with like-minded individuals and organizations amplifies impact and increases available support.
Media relations play a vital role in activism. Building relationships with journalists, preparing good information, and utilizing various media channels can enhance campaign visibility and raise public awareness.
Alma’s experiences with creative actions and media tours showcase the effectiveness of engaging and innovative strategies in environmental campaigns. These approaches can attract attention, inspire public involvement, and generate media coverage.
The discussion raises important considerations about the relevance of environmental campaigns during times of conflict and war. Balancing environmental concerns with the immediate needs and safety of human lives becomes a complex challenge.
Persistence and relationship-building with the media are key. While not all press releases receive immediate reactions, consistent effort and maintaining connections can lead to increased media coverage over time.
Relying solely on social media for campaigning is cautioned against. Utilizing a variety of resources and strategies ensures a broader reach and maximizes the effectiveness of
2- Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera: Campaigning for LGBTQ+ Communities
Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera is a human rights defender, Right Livelihood Laureate, and LGBTQ+ activist from Uganda. Being an open lesbian herself, she organized and led legal campaigns that helped to reduce discrimination towards LGBTQ+. Kasha is joined in this workshop by Dr. Ayo Sogunro, GC Africa alumnus. Kasha and Dr. Sogunro, discuss the importance of activism, challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community, strategies for combating discrimination, and the need for networks, education, fundraising, and resilience in promoting LGBTQ+ rights.
Key Insights
😊 Kasha emphasizes the importance of speaking out against injustices and standing up for what is right.
📺 Strategies used by the LGBT community include creating their own media platforms and engaging in advocacy and empowerment programs.
🌍 The African continent still faces significant challenges regarding LGBT rights, with 31 out of 54 countries outlawing homosexuality.
💪 Activists like Kasha are working tirelessly to promote LGBT rights, collaborate with other social justice movements, and challenge discriminatory laws.
3-Cecosesola: Empowering Communities through Transformative Educational Projects (in Spanish)
Cecosesola defines itself as a hierarchy-free, solidarity-based association of cooperatives for social services in Venezuela. For over 55 years, they have provided cooperative services in health, food, education, and funeral services. As an alumni discussant, they are joined in this workshop by Santiago Plata, specialist in international cooperation, GC Latin America and the Caribbean. The workshop included emphasizing the importance of collaborative construction, daily learning, and knowledge sharing.
Highlights
The participants from Cecosesola emphasised: 
Collaborative construction and daily learning: Building projects together and learning through everyday experiences.
Task rotation: Rotating tasks to encourage learning in various areas.
Communication and skills training: Gaining experience in effective communication and specific skill sets.
Solidarity and community trust: Fostering solidarity and trust within the community, especially during challenging times.
Collective reflection and accountability: Engaging in group reflection and taking responsibility for actions and decisions.
Family involvement: Highlighting the importance of family in the educational process.
Inspiring a fair and supportive world: Motivating others to contribute to creating a fairer and more supportive society.
4- Mozn Hassan: Insights on gender movements in MENA
The workshop “Insights on Gender Movements in the SWANA Region” featured Mozn Hassan, an Egyptian feminist activist and founder of Nazra for Feminist Studies, The Doria Feminist Fund, and The MENA Gender Clinic.
Mozn discussed the situation of gender rights in the SWANA region, the importance of solidarity, giving more voice to local activists, and shared insights from her experience in the field.
Mozn was joined by Nouha Maaninou, Gender & Social Inclusion Expert at Integrated International and GC-ArMA alumna, as the alumni discussant.
Key Insights
Decolonial Approach: The MENA region is often approached as a colonised region. Nazra feminist movement is working towards spreading decolonial knowledge by helping young researchers collect information. However, in Mozn’s opinion, collaboration between local activists and academia representatives could be tighter.
More Female Leaders Needed: There is a lack of female leaders in the public sphere and a need for developing a new approach to achieving gender equality. A lot of change is already happening thanks to the work of local women and activists from different organizations.
Intersectionality and Collaboration: Intersectional and regional approaches are very important for understanding female rights in the region. Understanding what is happening in Egypt is not possible without knowing the situation in Sudan.
More Resources, Less Paperwork: Only 1% of the public sphere is given to feminist organizations. There is an extreme lack of resources, and the international community and donors create more paperwork for local activists instead of focusing on real impact.
Share the Knowledge: Regional movements in the last decade experienced a lot of change. Adding female rights to the Egyptian constitution is an example. Sharing this knowledge with other feminist organizations is an example of solidarity in the region.
Request for More Collaboration with Academia: The MENA region is very unstable and will not be stable soon. To help solve current issues, academia and activists could work more together on action research and focus on possibilities to act now, rather than doing purely academic studies.
Language Support: Language support and translation are really needed to create more intercultural understanding and help hear the voices of local activists who don’t know English.
Release Visa Requirements: Visa issues add struggles and stop intercultural collaboration. Sometimes the only place where activists can meet safely is somewhere in Europe, but not everyone can get a visa there.
Outcome document
We organized some of the lessons learned from these workshops in a booklet, for you to explore and download, through this link.
Many thanks to the Right Livelihood, to the Laureates, and to all the alumni who took part. We hope you will be able to benefit from the insights shared in these workshops, and we invite you to remain up to date with our activities through our communications channels. Follow us On LinkedIn, and subscribe to our Email list.