Globally connected, locally engaged
About the programme
Active Citizens is a social leadership training programme that promotes intercultural dialogue and community-led social development.
The programme brings together people with different beliefs and perspectives to learn from and share with each other. It empowers participants with the skills and knowledge needed to affect social change in their communities.
“for every person who loves to change, for every person who loves his country, I confidently say [that] through [the] Active Citizens programme you will be empowered to create the change you want in your community”
Ayman Touk, Zweitini Public Garden 2013 Social Action Project, Saida – Lebanon.
Since the launch of Active Citizens in 2009, the programme has been delivered in 55 countries worldwide with 693 partner organisations. Through these partners, the programme has trained over 6000 facilitators and more than 200,000 Active Citizens who have designed and implemented 7854 social action projects.
How does Active Citizens work?
- A key national issue is identified through a needs assessment. In Lebanon, for example, there has been a strong focus on peace building and community cohesion, in addition to women empowerment and citizenship education.
- Partnerships are formed with “delivery partners”. These include civil society organisations, universities and schools who have a strong influence on cultural relations at community level and whose staff are powerful advocates for social justice. The delivery partners are responsible for the organisation and implementation of the local delivery.
- Delivery partners identify facilitators who are then trained by master trainers to develop the skills they need to deliver the Active Citizens training in their communities.
- The facilitators deliver workshops which give participants the tools they need to implement a social action project and tackle a social issue in their community.
Learn more about the programme and be inspired by the achievements of other Active Citizens.
Active Citizens in Lebanon
The programme has been running since 2010 and has trained over 5000 participants in different areas of the country including Saida, Tyre, Nabatieh, Beqaa, Hermel, Akkar, Chouf, Tripoli and Beirut.
Over the years the delivery model has varied from working with civil society organisations to the integration of the programme into schools, while the Active Citizens methodology has also been used to support and deliver other British Council projects: