The World in Our Cities
A new approach to locally-grounded global competence education in the U.S. and beyond.
Originally called The World in Our Town, The World in Our Cities project has expanded to advance an innovative approach to nurturing global competence among K-12 educators and students as a means to prepare them for life, work, college, and citizenship in a globally interdependent world. This initiative takes the local cultural capital of the city—i.e., its ethnic diversity, cultural life, neighborhood identity, cultural institutions, NGOs, and international presence—as a point of departure. It does so to nurture a form of global competence that opens students’ minds and deepens their engagement with the world while also fostering their local belonging as they explore the world's manifestations in their city.
We have pioneered this approach through two main projects, The World in Portland and The World in D.C., in which we collaborated directly with the City of Portland Public Schools in Maine and the District of Columbia Public Schools.
Developing students as engaged, knowledgeable, and globally competent citizens.
The first three Global Studies Schools selected as District of Columbia Public School (DCPS) sites for PZ-based global education innovation.
Explore the tools that emerged from this project.
Meet the Team
Thank You to Our Funders
This project was made possible thanks to the generous support of the D.C. Public Education Fund, District of Columbia Public Schools, Fanny Mae, and Portland Public Schools.