The International Study Circle project is a new education initiative of the International Federation of Workers’ Education Associations (IFWEA), and its European regional body, Euro-WEA.

International Study Circles are aimed at facilitating a global education programme on issues concerning globalisation. Experiences of globalisation world-wide has pointed to the need for organisations and communities to develop an understanding of local problems within their international context. This understanding can most effectively emerge if working people in different countries are able to share ideas and information, leading to common strategies and activities.

The potential to conduct global education has been strengthened enormously by new information and communication technologies. The international study circle project explores how to make use of the technology in such a way that participants in different countries are able to engage in meaningful international discussion. We hope that the technology will facilitate a truly global education process whereby local experiences of the effects of globalisation can be communicated and discussed by participants in different countries.

An international study circle consists of bringing together groups of participants based in several countries who work according to a common curriculum, set of materials and education method. Each study circle has a facilitator. Between meetings, each group has access to the materials on the Internet including the results of discussions and work completed in previous sessions by other countries. In this way, we hope to stimulate discussion and debate between the groups.

This web site is the outcome of the first pilot programme of the project which was run from September to November 1997. A thorough evaluation of the pilot was undertaken in January 1998. The main focus of the pilot programme was on transnational corporations, aimed at rank-and-file trade union and community activists. The course was run on a weekly basis in two hour sessions for a period of eight weeks. IFWEA affiliates from twelve countries participated including Peru, France, Barbados, South Africa, Estonia, Sweden, England, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Kenya, and Spain.

This site has been designed for educational use by trade unions and other organisations. It includes our education materials on TNCs, and the discussions which took place between the participating countries. The site also gives users a sense of the process which we followed from our planning seminar in Seville, to the implementation of the ISC, culminating in our evaluation seminar in Stockholm.

The project is co-ordinated by Alana Dave based in Manchester. The technical development and management of the project is undertaken by Jouko Raatikainen and Jouko Muuri from IFWEA’s affiliate TSL in Finland.