Our city is home to a diverse range of international communities and we have worldwide civic, education, community, business and cultural links.
Our Newcastle Our World is a framework for collaboration and support around internationalism. We work in partnership to:
- develop opportunities for international and intercultural connections
- celebrate diversity
- promote inclusion and tolerance
- support skills development and career opportunities for the future workforce
We have undertaken stakeholder consultations since 2019 to understand the ambitions and aspirations of children and young people and partners across Newcastle in relation to internationalism, inclusion, diversity, future education, skills and employment opportunities.
We developed Our Newcastle Our World as a partnership framework to help achieve these ambitions. Wide ranging discussions within the city inform the development of our plans, partnerships and collaborations.
We act as a catalyst, facilitator and broker to help share opportunities, promote engagement and generate impact for Newcastle’s children, young people, adults and diverse communities.
Read on to find out more about our vision and principles, our partnership approach and our priority theme: Newcastle as an international city for our children and young people (0-30) as confident, global citizens.
Click here to read our brochure and case studies: Empowering Newcastle’s Youth for a global future or click on the links below to find out more about our three interconnected workstrands:
Our vision
Our vision is as a multicultural, inclusive city, which embraces people from across the world and values diversity. We seek to generate opportunities and build skills for the future workforce and for our children and young people and diverse communities. We also share our knowledge and expertise and seek to make a positive difference on local and global issues, supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Our principles
Our principles reflect our vision and underpin all our activities. We seek to ensure that people’s voices are heard and that we understand the needs of our city and our role in brokering support and opportunities to meet those needs. Equity, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of our approach. We welcome partnership approaches to add value and generate impact across each of our priority workstrands.
Our partnership approach
We work with local, regional and national partners, groups and organisations, as well as international partners across a wide range of sectors and communities to maximise the impact of activities across our three workstrands and help make a positive difference to the lives of people in the city.
Our priority theme
Children and young people (0-30) were chosen as the priority for support under our three workstrands, as we believe we can generate the most impact for their future education and career choices. Our three interconnected workstrands all contribute to the goal of them becoming confident, global citizens, with access to opportunities.
Our children and young people’s ambitions
Through our stakeholder consultations with children and young people and those who work with them in all settings, we found out their priorities for internationalism, which inform all our activities.
Our activities
We facilitate, broker, develop and inform people in Newcastle about activities across our three interconnected and complementary workstrands: Connecting Internationally, Newcastle City of Languages and Internationalism in the City.
Connecting internationally
We broker international links and connections to increase access to experience, engagement and opportunities, especially for children and young people, including disadvantaged and underrepresented groups.
Newcastle City of Languages
We support language teaching, learning and take up in Newcastle schools and the wider community, to develop the current and future workforce. We also facilitate and promote activities celebrating languages, diverse cultures and our connections to the world.
Internationalism in the City
We support activities to increase intercultural awareness and engagement, promote social cohesion, inclusion and the celebration of cultural diversity in the city. We also share opportunities and support for underrepresented groups.
Benefits of internationalism
We support Newcastle schools with international connections, intercultural awareness and language skills, because these are essential for children and young people to thrive in a globally connected world. Their engagement supports personal development, builds skills and broadens and future education and career opportunities. It opens doors to a wide range of experiences and positions children and young people to be active, informed, and effective contributors to a more interconnected and harmonious world.
