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The kids are alright: UN Sustainable Development Goals in schools

We all want our kids to be well-rounded, empathetic and open-minded. Find out how utilising the UN's Sustainable Development Goals is just one way Stockholm-based Futuraskolan International is creating good global citizens.

Published: 16 November 2022 10:12 CET
Updated: 16 February 2023 17:09 CET
The kids are alright: UN Sustainable Development Goals in schools

“I want our students to walk away with an understanding that we have an internal responsibility to do something good,” says Kosma Smiechowski, Head of the Global Citizenship Program (GCP) at Futuraskolan International.

The school, located in greater Stockholm, develops an international mindset among its students via its Global Citizenship Program (GCP), which aims to broaden the horizons of students by exposing them to diverse experiences and community service projects.

The importance of generosity, empathy and altruism are instilled in the children via the program’s projects – through everything from making cards and visiting elderly care homes to fostering international relationships with children in the Philippines, where they helped with school supplies and meals.

“Engaging students in the process of giving to others, without reward or recognition, is the focus of the program,” says the school’s CEO, Tom Callahan. 

Futuraskolan International is a network of six pre-schools and seven international schools. It provides education for around 3,000 children up to the age of 16. It teaches in both English and Swedish and has core values based on progressiveness, energy and respect.

The school organisation has a strong international focus and encourages its students to actively contribute to the wider world. Indeed, its vision is to be a “stepping stone for future world citizens”.

“Everything that the GCP does is tied into the Sustainable Development Goals,” says Kosma, who holds a Master of Environmental Management and  brings his passion for sustainability to his role as Head of GCP.

Community service at the core

The GCP was set up in 2016 with the initial aim to broaden the horizons of students by exposing them to diverse experiences and community service projects.

Restrictions during the pandemic meant a scaling back of global projects but presented an opportunity to focus on the local instead. During this time there was more attention given to local organisations and the local community, like collecting donations for people experiencing hardship in Sweden.

Discover the innovative teaching approach of bilingual school network Futuraskolan International

Futuraskolan International students on a recent trip to Italy as part of GCP together with the EU’s Erasmus+ program; Head of GCP, Kosma Smiechowski.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals

Futuraskolan International’s GCP has a yearly plan that outlines a theme for each month, each of which is linked to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Examples of these monthly themes include world languages in September, food waste in November, and healthy earth, healthy person in April. When it comes to the kind of projects that can evolve from these, the only limit is the imagination, says Kosma. 

The UN’s SDGs are a set of 17 objectives that aim to create a common path and language toward a sustainable global future. The goals include items like clean water and sanitation, quality education and reduced inequalities and have been adopted by the likes of councils, companies and schools.

One recent Futuraskolan project saw 50 grade four students spend six months producing a play themed around the SDGs. It was eventually staged for parents at the sporting complex Satelliten in Stockholm. The students did everything from writing the script to making the props to acting. 

Also as part of GCP, in April and October this year, groups of students travelled abroad to Greenland and Italy for cultural and environmental enrichment projects through the Erasmus+ program (an EU-based student exchange program). During the recent Italy trip, for example, Futuraskolan International Bergtorp students spent the week with other students from Greenland, Italy and France. They learned about sustainable food and visited important cultural sites, like Pompeii, where they discussed how to preserve cultural heritage in a world of climate change. 

On school ground, the GCP is leading food waste education, investigating how to improve the school’s operational sustainability, and while some campuses are already involved in active Erasmus+ projects, the school is working towards gaining Erasmus+ accreditation school-wide. 

Kosma believes the clearer a picture children have of sustainability and of the world, the better off they will be. 

“With the opportunities that we build for our students, we are trying to give them a much broader perspective of the world and in particular, a big focus of that is the Sustainable Development Goals,” he says. “We see that sustainability is going to be, in some way shape or form, the future of our kids’ lives.”

Futuraskolan International is a progressive school network dedicated to educating children to be open-minded, thoughtful and successful. Find out about enrollment here

“A stepping stone for future world citizens”: Futuraskolan International students undertake cultural and environmental enrichment programs abroad.

Empowering student leaders

While community service projects are at the heart of the GCP, along with the clear direction provided by the SDGs, another important aspect of GCP is student leadership. Students’ imaginations and sense of autonomy and responsibility are engaged as much as possible. They are encouraged to suggest projects and take control of them. 

In grade eight, for example, one of the study units is entrepreneurship. “We get students to think about how they would address one of the sustainable development goals through an entrepreneurial idea and really try to nurture that,” explains Kosma. 

Futuraskolan International schools also have student GCP councils that meet to ideate plans – from project strategies to organisation to donate to. The central idea being to encourage students to have a say in the GCP. 

“We want students to experience what other parts of the world are really like. And to give them the opportunity to give back or help. But it’s also about getting students involved in the decision-making process of how to do that.”

Ultimately, the GCP is about instilling empathy and a sense of responsibility – in the future of our world, in sustainability and in encouraging good leadership. 

“We have ambitious ideas to continue to build on,” concludes Kosma. “We want to impart on the students that we bear a responsibility to reach out and help others.”

Futuraskolan International is nurturing the development of global citizens through local, national and international community service and exchanges. The result? More globally aware and enriched students, who will go on to contribute positively to the world around them, with empathy, respect and responsibility. 

Learn about the school program that can help your child become a good world citizen here. Want to see more of what Futuraskolan Learners and Educators are doing through the GCP? Follow their Instagram account: @futuraskolan_gcp. Or for more on what Futuraskolan International schools and preschools do, visit their main Instagram account: @futuraskolan_media 

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READER INSIGHTS

How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who’ve been there, done that

The Swedish job market poses unique challenges for newcomers. The Local's readers share their best tips for cracking the career code.

Published: 10 April 2024 11:32 CEST
Updated: 13 April 2024 15:50 CEST
How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who've been there, done that

Network, network, network!

A statistic that often gets tossed around is that seven out of ten jobs in Sweden are obtained through personal connections, and there’s no doubt that a good network is crucial to your job hunt, making the labour market extra challenging for newcomers to the country.

In fact, networking was the main tip mentioned by The Local’s readers.

“The job market is quite hot in Sweden, and talent is in short supply. People hiring do not have a lot of time to find the right talent, and tips from friends, colleagues and former colleagues are the way to first, find out organisations are hiring, and secondly, get your CV on the short list,” said Kyle, a Canadian reader who works in innovation management in Gothenburg.

“If you are going for a major employer like Volvo, network gets you in the door, as HR does not have much to do with hiring… the hiring managers do all of it and have no time, due to the insane number of consensus meetings. If you are looking for smaller organisations, they have even less time to find people, and networking is their primary way to find talent,” he added.

NETWORKING IN SWEDEN:

Some of the networking tips readers mentioned were going to job fairs, getting an internship to help you establish connections in your preferred field, joining clubs (this could be anything from your local gardening association to meetups for coders, but focus on clubs that may be popular among people working in your chosen field), and drawing on your organic network of friends, neighbours and others.

Don’t neglect the groundwork

The saying “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” is getting worn out (and people may look at you funny if you turn up to interviews in a Batman suit), but there’s truth to the notion of making sure you know what you want – and preparing for it.

In other words, don’t wait for a job ad to appear before you start to customise your CV and figure out what skill set you need. Create your CV now so that you’re ready to tweak it to your dream job – you could even have a general look at job ads in your field to see what requirements are needed. And don’t forget to spruce up your LinkedIn profile so that it fits with your career goals.

“I believe that several factors contribute to successfully landing a desirable job in Sweden. It’s essential to prepare to meet the requirements beyond just having a university degree. Many individuals realise these requirements only after completing their studies when they start searching for a job, which can be too late,” said Adnan Aslam from Pakistan, who works as a food inspector.

“I recommend identifying the job advertisements for positions you aspire to hold in the future and then preparing for those requirements during your studies. For me, acquiring a basic level of proficiency in the Swedish language and obtaining a Swedish driving licence were crucial. I pursued these goals during my studies and was able to secure a desirable job before graduating,” he added.

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Felipe Cabral even has a GPT assistant trained on his own CVs and old cover letters, and said the set-up only takes ten minutes if you already have your documents. “With that in place, you can give instructions like: Read this job description and create a tailored version of my CV and letter for it. (…) Remember to always review and ask it not to create data aside from your documents.”

Be flexible and ready to adapt

Moving to a new place inevitably means having to learn not just the practicalities such as how to write a CV or which websites to use to look for job openings, but also learning how to navigate a new culture with all its unspoken expectations.

Swedish workplaces are generally less hierarchical than many other countries, but that doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want whenever you want without anyone raising an eyebrow. Swedes are usually direct, but be careful of being too abrasive or boastful: raising your voice, even during a spirited argument, or banging your own drum to show off your skills may not go down well.

“Talk, deliberate, complain like a Swede and you’ll come across like you know what the job entails, so your trustworthiness increases,” said an Indian data analyst who preferred to remain anonymous.

“Office politics are just as strong in Sweden as anywhere else. The flat hierarchy is deceiving as social hierarchy is enforced quite a bit in that lack of formal hierarchy. Take your time in learning these dynamics wherever you work before revealing your talent and capabilities. Expect those internal politics to happen, and they won’t hurt so much when they do,” said Kyle, the Canadian reader in Gothenburg.

This article about Swedish office politics may be useful.

Stay true to yourself

Adapting to your surroundings is one thing. Completely changing who you are is another.

For one thing, your happiness is as important as your career progression, and for another, your foreignness need not be an impediment: it’s also a skill that sets you apart from the rest. It means you have unique experience, and also, in the right setting, provides an opportunity to sometimes violate those social rules we mentioned above, because people assume you will, anyway.

“Trust is key. Build trust in your network, work with integrity. It’s OK to violate jantelagen if you are maintaining integrity. Sometimes your outsider and more honest/open opinion will burn bridges, especially those that may feel threatened by talent. But it will build trust with other colleagues who see it as brave and more trustworthy to work with,” said Kyle from Canada.

Hunker down for the long haul

We don’t want to scare you, because there are plenty of examples of people who quickly find their dream job in Sweden and settle into their new workplace, enjoying perks such as long summer holidays, generous parental leave and the famous work-life balance.

But if you do find it tougher than you expected: know that you’re not alone.

Several readers who responded to the survey said they were still trying to find a job in Sweden.

“I found jobs all over Europe but not here. They say they have a lack of experienced senior engineers but the don’t seem to be doing much to solve this,” said a Brazilian in Gothenburg.

A reader from Bangladesh said she was “at a loss” as to how to make a career change from her current AI role in Stockholm, despite many years of experience as an IT project manager.

“Over the past 18 months, I’ve submitted over 600 applications to various organisations. Unfortunately, despite being overqualified for some positions, I’ve faced rejections at every turn, from both large and small companies. The job market here, especially for foreign-born women, feels overwhelmingly challenging,” she said, adding that the struggle had impacted her mental health.

The Local has on several occasions reported on foreign residents’ struggle to get a foot on the Swedish job ladder, with many facing hurdles such as employers’ unfamiliarity with international degrees, discrimination, or a lack of network that can provide paths into a company.

So during the job hunt, don’t forget to care for yourself. Share your concerns with fellow job-seekers, ask for help and join networking groups – this is good not just for creating new contacts, but also in terms of your social well-being and meeting people who are in a similar situation.

And finally, as one British reader in Stockholm advised, keep looking: “Be open-minded with the opportunities that present themselves. It isn’t an easy market to enter and doesn’t feel inclusive.” But he added, “don’t give up”.

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