Rose Todd Hearne and Philomena Furlong from the Faculty of Education and Lifelong Learning shared information with colleagues about Global spACES and how it can be applied to teaching at SETU
Staff in the Faculty of Education and Lifelong Learning (FoELL) had the opportunity to hear about the participation of Rose Todd Hearne and Philomena Furlong in Global spACEs, a global citizenship education programme for adult and community educators from Ireland and Liberia. This programme is led by Saolta in Ireland and the Development Education Network in Liberia (DEN-L).
Philomena, who along with Rose is a coordinator and facilitator for Community Education and Development in the faculty, outlined SETU’s participation in this project in the context of the development of the Level 8 BA in Community Education and Development, and the values underpinning this, including community empowerment, collective action, social justice, human rights and equality.
“Global spACEs highlights the role played by community education in rebuilding traumatised communities and we wanted to make sure SETU was part of this conversation,” Philomena said.
Rose spoke of her ten-day trip to Liberia in October 2025 as part of the project. In her presentation to staff at FoELL, she showed hand-written letters from Liberian community development workers in grassroots projects, along with photographs from workshops. She also spoke about the role of community education in enabling and empowering societies, specifically in the case of Liberia which has undergone two civil wars in quick succession.
Global spACEs highlights the role played by community education in rebuilding traumatised communities and we wanted to make sure SETU was part of this conversation
Philomena Furlong, Faculty of Education and Lifelong Learning, SETU
Rose then led staff in an interactive session on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (STGs) to highlight their interconnectedness and importance for community development. She ended by encouraging colleagues to reflect on their transformative role as educators.
Philomena concluded the seminar by speaking about SETU’s role in the second and final year of Global spACEs, the integration of the project as a case study into modules delivered as part of the BA Community Education and Development. She also outlined plans for a visit by Liberian students to SETU this coming October.
