Transforming Education Together: Global Collaboration and Network Building

Collaborating with a community of practice and support is crucial for those expanding the impact of their local initiatives. Gloria Figueroa, the General Director at San José de Las Vegas Corporation, in Colombia, identified collaborative action as the foundation of her work, explaining, “Salzburg Global has been so important [for] bringing connections [and] relations, but also [for] improving our project for everything that we have been learning in the whole community.”  For her, this sense of shared transformational space is key to “how we can build together a planetary vision of education.” The growing community, she explained, continues to learn from one another’s experiences, showing how solutions grounded in collaboration and co-creation can expand and inspire globally.

One of the ways Gloria is transforming her local education system is through integrating global perspectives with local realities.

“When you bring the international view to the local system, people feel that you have more support and belief in new projects,” Gloria explained.

She added that the biggest challenge is convincing people to participate in something new. “To invest, even to co-create together, [is] a new idea in education.” In our current period of global and economic uncertainty, it is especially challenging to mobilize resources for new initiatives.

Through connecting their local education initiatives with global perspectives, Fellows are both supported and inspired to continue their work beyond their time in Salzburg.

Salzburg Global supports Fellows in moving from inspiration to implementation - turning bold ideas into concrete action that strengthens education systems around the world. This comes to life through the work of Fellows who bring transformative projects back to their communities.

Olivier emphasized the importance of continuous collaboration inspiring real-world action. A key example is the session on the Case for Transformation, the first in-person meeting for many participants after the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the creation of the Knowledge Exchange Group, an initiative that still meets on a quarterly basis to share information and think about allyship. This, in turn, helped seed Education House, which is having a significant impact on education collaboration. That session also led to a follow-up program focused on Intergenerational Collaboration, and a joint guide on intergenerational power sharing that has been downloaded and referenced by organizations around the world. These efforts were supported by a range of partners, including Big Change, Cambridge, HundrED, Learning Planet Institute, NCEE, Porticus Teach for All, and WISE. Further partnerships between Salzburg Global and Learning Planet, with Knowledge Works, Rethinking Assessment, and NCEE produced foresight workshops, helping participants reimagine the future role of educators.

These workshops and follow-up sessions continue to inspire new initiatives, including many sessions at the annual Learning Planet Festival. As Olivier noted, “every year there is a joint outcome of interest, and it reinforces our will for collaboration. For the 2026 Festival, there was a strong focus on Education for Human Flourishing, a shift in the purpose of education systems that we are jointly supporting with Salzburg Global and partners.”

After learning about the Inner Development Goals at a Salzburg Global session four years ago, Gloria implemented these into the curriculum of her own community in Medellin, Colombia, including in the Medellin Challenge, a project where schools partnered with international institutions to craft innovative sustainability solutions.

The Salzburg Global network has helped Gloria implement numerous projects, including one fostering critical thinking about media and politics in schools. "It's young people getting together to read news and discuss together what is happening. And then after having seminars with just young people, they write down their opinion about what happened in the country, because they have been very skeptical of politicians and we need our young people to believe in politics.”

In continuing the integration of sustainability into the education system, Amanda is working with other Salzburg Global Fellows to explore the possibility of creating a Training of Trainers program for the global biodiversity framework. “This is something that has a myriad of other partners that are also collaborating with the World Wildlife Fund on this.” Her working group, which was formed at the "Nature-Based Education: Time for Action" session, provides input on developing tangible next steps for this project.

At Salzburg Global, our education programs explore how education systems can shape the skills, knowledge, and mindsets of individuals and contribute to the development of more inclusive and sustainable societies. Both in and beyond Salzburg, Fellows are transforming education systems and equipping learners for the century ahead.

The Salzburg Global Center for Education Transformation believes that lasting change to education systems worldwide starts with meaningful dialogue and collaboration. To keep these conversations accessible to a wider network of global leaders, we rely on partners who share our mission of opening up a world of better possibilities. If our approach resonates with your vision for meaningful engagement and collaborative action, we invite you to engage with us to transform education systems.