Global Citizenship Education (GCED) in The Digital Era: The Unexpected Tool for Peacebuilding. How 21st Century Fluencies Can Shape Sustainable Global Peace?

Abstract If education is unanimously recognized as a powerful and impactful tool for social advancement, its use in global affairs as a major component has not yet been fully acknowledged. The current world state, with multiplying challenges amidst a global crisis - caused by the fallouts of an unmanageable pandemic - exposed the limits of multilateralism, undermining international cohesion already struggling over geopolitical rivalries and bursting territorial conflicts. Growing gaps between citizens and governing bodies are threatening the very essence of democracy, the quintessence of people representation, the act of being a citizen. If such struggles arise even within states’ borders, needless to say, building a global citizenship feeling of belonging may prove difficult, requiring exceptional efforts and a strong driver, such as education, leaning on an innovative approach. Peacebuilding through education to global citizenship is one of the pillars of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. In this regard this work is directly relevant to the Sustainable Development Goal 4.7 (Education for sustainable development and global citizenship, and the promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence), an indicator building a basis for decision-making and institutional frameworks, reflecting on citizen political involvement on a local/global level, leaning on the tryptic pattern of foundation/adaptation/integration. GCED could be one of the strongest peace advancement tools to think globally and act locally, by integrating emotional intelligence, creating a common shared value, tackling climate change and gender equity, as women are often in the frontline of rising challenges. This work will investigate and analyze the paradigms of GCED in peacebuilding using a cross-national analysis within the framework of digital humanities and peace studies research fields. KEYWORDS: peace, education, peacebuilding, digital citizenship, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, global security, 21st century skills, peacetech, innovation, empowerment