IVECA Launches the 2025 Global Youth Mentorship Program

On Monday, November 3, 2025, IVECA welcomed youth mentors to  the 2025 Global Youth Mentorship Program (iGYMP) through an engaging online orientation. The orientation session connected U.S. university student mentors from diverse backgrounds to begin an inspiring seven-week journey centered on “Inclusive STEAM Solutions for Global Impact.”

The session was filled with energy as mentors met the IVECA team and were introduced to IVECA’s vision of nurturing interculturally competent global citizens who work together for peace and sustainable development. They learned how their participation would open doors for meaningful collaboration with high school students from South Korea and India. The session guided mentors through the program’s flow and expectations. From friendly exchanges of self-introductions and perspectives to project presentations,  the mentors will serve as role models, providing constructive feedback to inspire and motivate students and fostering a shared celebration of learning and cultural understanding.

Under the STEAM umbrella, they will explore creative ways to address global challenges connected to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6, 7, 9, 11, and 17. The focus is not just on solving problems, but on doing so through imagination, empathy, and collaboration, where science meets art, and technology meets compassion. Over the coming weeks, mentors and students will collaborate to design inclusive STEAM projects that reflect both creativity and compassion. Their ideas, shaped through teamwork and dialogue, may even reach the United Nations stage, where young voices continue to inspire solutions for global challenges.

The session highlighted that the mentors’ role goes far beyond guiding; it is about inspiring, connecting, and learning together. Dr. Eunhee Jung shared that global citizenship begins with a sense of belonging to an interconnected global community. This awareness nurtures empathy toward others by recognizing our shared challenges while also valuing each person’s unique perspective and contribution. Through iGYMP, mentors and students are invited to see the world not as separate nations, but as one diverse community working toward a better tomorrow. Each exchange between mentors and mentees will become an opportunity to listen, to understand, and to co-create ideas that can make a real difference in local communities, building our global future.  

Reflecting the shared excitement of things to come, one mentor aptly expressed their anticipation saying, “I’m excited to begin this journey with you all, experiencing other cultures and broadening my perspective. I’m very excited to learn from you all and the students, too.” The 2025 Global Youth Mentorship Program sets in motion another memorable chapter in IVECA’s mission, reminding us that when young minds and open hearts meet across cultures, learning becomes transformation, and every step taken together becomes a step toward a more peaceful and sustainable world.

#IVECA #GlobalCitizenship #InterculturalLearning #VirtualExchange #SDGs #iGYMP #YouthEmpowerment #CulturalExchange #GCED #Mentorship

Learning to Lead Sustainably: Global Classrooms in Action

Across continents and cultures, students in IVECA’s international classrooms are diving into this semester’s projects with one shared purpose: to imagine a better future for their communities and the world. From sustainable cities and thriving oceans to inclusive societies and creative environmental solutions, each class is exploring how small actions can inspire global impact.

Through every project, students are discovering how local realities connect to shared global challenges. In Cameroon, China, Mexico, Korea, and Singapore, high school students are stepping into the role of city planners, envisioning greener, more livable communities. Others in the United States and Korea are critically investigating the delicate relationship between oceans and life on Earth, learning how every drop of water connects ecosystems and people across the planet. Meanwhile, Mexican and Korean students are exploring global partnerships for sustainability, reflecting on how cooperation between nations and between young people fuels real change.

Middle school students have also joined this mission in creative ways. Students from Korea and Singapore are becoming eco-travel ambassadors, highlighting the beauty of natural landscapes and the importance of responsible tourism. In Colombia and Korea, learners are turning green ideas into action, designing local projects that link environmental challenges to culture, art, and daily life. Young participants from India and the U.S. are crafting Youth Manifestos for Change, advocating for more inclusive, sustainable cities led by their generation.

Even elementary students are contributing to this global conversation. Through storytelling, classes in Colombia and the U.S. are following the journey of water, blending science and imagination to understand how this essential resource connects people everywhere. One teacher shared, “I believe these topics will give knowledge and inspire students on how to create a sustainable future in our city.”

Such reflections highlight what makes these activities meaningful. Each project, whether through research or creativity, invites students to see themselves as active participants in shaping a better world. Guided by empathy, curiosity, and cooperation, they are not only learning about sustainability, they are practicing it through dialogue and creativity.

These explorations capture the essence of IVECA’s mission: empowering learners to think critically, act compassionately, and collaborate across borders to build a sustainable future. Whether designing new cities, protecting oceans, or reimagining societies, students are discovering that change begins with awareness and grows through connection.

#IVECA #GlobalCitizenship #SustainabilityEducation #YouthForChange #ConnectingClassrooms #SDGsInAction

Eighty Years of Hope: How Education Keeps the UN Vision Alive

Eighty years ago, the world made a promise to rise from conflict and create a future built on peace, dignity, and cooperation. Today, as we celebrate the United Nations’ 80th anniversary, that promise continues to guide us. United Nations Day reminds us not only of the institution’s founding, but of a continuing human endeavor: to understand one another and to work together across borders and beliefs. For IVECA, this vision is more than history; it’s a living mission. Through intercultural education, global collaboration, and mutual respect, IVECA helps students turn the ideals of the UN into a daily reality. Every virtual exchange, every shared story, and every act of listening becomes a step toward the world the UN envisioned in 1945, a world united not by uniformity, but by shared humanity.

This week also marks Global Media and Information Literacy Week, a fitting companion to United Nations Day. Just as nations must cooperate to preserve peace, individuals must learn to navigate the digital world with wisdom and care. In an era overflowing with information, knowing how to think critically, question sources, and listen across cultures has become essential to global citizenship. 

​​Through its programs, IVECA empowers students to develop these crucial skills, recognizing bias, valuing truth, and using media ethically as a tool for understanding rather than division. When people learn to exchange information with empathy and respect, the screens that once separated them begin to transform into bridges that unite them.

Simultaneously with Global Media and Information Literacy Week, Disarmament Week begins on October 24, deepening the call for peace. If media literacy teaches us to disarm ignorance, disarmament itself reminds us to disarm fear. True peace requires more than the absence of weapons; it depends on the presence of trust. Within IVECA’s intercultural classrooms, students practice this kind of disarmament every day by listening before judging, questioning with respect, and reaching across differences. Through education, they learn to “disarm the mind,” transforming misunderstanding into mutual respect. Peace begins in thought before it is realized in the world, and IVECA helps plant that seed in every learner.

From this spirit of peace and trust flows another observance, World Development Information Day, also held on October 24. On the same day the world honors the founding of the United Nations, it also reaffirms that development must be guided by knowledge and cooperation. Information, when shared responsibly, fuels progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals and uplifts communities everywhere. In this same spirit, IVECA helps students connect their local realities to global challenges, engaging with topics such as clean water, quality education, and climate action. Through these projects, students discover that the heart of development is not only about improving conditions, it is about expanding understanding, empathy, and collective purpose.

Together, these observances remind us that education is the foundation on which peace and progress stand. United Nations Day calls us to unity, Global Media and Information Literacy Week teaches us discernment, Disarmament Week inspires trust, and World Development Information Day reminds us to act with knowledge. IVECA carries all these ideals forward, transforming them into lived experiences that connect young minds and hearts worldwide.

As this meaningful week unfolds, let us also make a vow to stay awake. Awake to misinformation that divides, awake to voices that deceive, awake to the power we each hold to speak truth and build peace. In staying awake, we protect not only the integrity of information but the integrity of humanity itself.

#IVECA #YouthEmpowerment #CulturalExchange #GCED #UNDay #GlobalCitizenship #PeaceThroughEducation #MediaLiteracy #SDGs #InterculturalLearning #EducationForPeace #DisarmamentWeek #WorldDevelopmentInformationDay