Developing Integrative Negotiation Competency – pursuing objectives at an intersection of Citizenship Education and Education for Sustainable Development

Development of negotiation and conflict transformation competencies is a key component and objective of Global Citizenship Education (UNESCO, 2014). Grounded in established principles, concepts, and methods of human rights education, peace education and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Gobal Citizenship Education (GCE) aims to be transformative in imparting knowledge, skills, values, and mindsets that learners need in order to contribute to a more inclusive, just and peaceful world (UNESCO, 2015). Integrative negotiation skillset and mindset empowers individuals to reconcile diverse interests more effectively while strengthening relationships and transforming conflict into collaboration. For citizens who strive for sustainability of democracies, well-being of communities, and sustainable development at large, having strong negotiation skills could be instrumental in pursuing agreements for local action and global impact. Failures to reach sustainable agreements on micro, meso, and macro levels impede progress towards the attainment of sustainable development goals. Integrative negotiation fosters inclusion and consensus building, and could expedite change and innovation towards more sustainable systems and lifestyles. Introducing learning and development of integrative negotiation and conflict transformation competencies in teacher education could have a cascading effect – yielding a positive impact through future generations of learners. In the context of Citizenship Education and ESD, cultivation of negotiation competency has received limited attention from both educators and researchers. Identification of strategies for scaling up teaching and learning of negotiation seems essential, given the role the competency could play in achieving sustainable development goals and in addressing local and global issues facing democracies. This exploratory study examines learning take-aways and reflections of students and future teachers as they work on acquiring a foundation of the competency. References: UNESCO. (2014). Global citizenship education: Preparing learners for the challenges of the twenty-first century. UNESCO. UNESCO. (2015). Global Citizenship Education: TOPICS AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES. UNESCO. UNESCO. (2017). Education for sustainable development goals: Learning objectives. UNESCO