Programs

The Global Citizenship Education (GCE) program equips students of all ages with tools to navigate and succeed within a globalized workforce and overcome the divisions that plague communities with prejudice, hate and violence.

GCE projects provide curriculum development, educational programming, teacher training, and technology for the classroom. These resources empower students and teachers with the necessary competencies to strengthen local communities through global perspectives.

Following the education goals established by the United Nation’s Global Education First campaign, Coexist approaches GCE programming through the creation of innovative projects that foster social cohesion. As students are exposed to diverse cultures, faiths, and traditions, they are also challenged to develop a sense of self that extends beyond their family or neighborhood - forming a new identity as a global citizen.

Coexist’s GCE program actively creates sustainable platforms for cross-cultural and inter-religious exchange. Our Global Citizenship Education projects promote dialogue and reconciliation among diverse groups and encourage social cohesion on an international scale.

The Collaborative Action program incubates projects that enable communities 
in conflict to overcome societal divisions through professional partnerships that create an integrated workforce. Collaborative Action enhances social cohesion by fostering knowledge, positive relationships, and shared action between diverse groups. This process sustains reconciliation among these groups and reduces the prejudice, hate, and conflict that tear societies apart.

Collaborative Action empowers the local community to take independent ownership of sustainable projects that foster job creation, economic security,
and greater cohesion. Coexist works with cooperatives and social enterprises to improve operations, supply chains, and distribution channels. Fair trade premiums fund improvements to the shared community infrastructure and ongoing social cohesion initiatives.

Coexist initiatives provide opportunities for farmers, mill workers, and cooperative members to interact with others from different backgrounds and sustainably promotes dialogue and reconciliation among these groups and social cohesion in areas of conflict. As the individuals involved in product creation interact and forge positive relations through their work, they will dismantle the divides separating their respective communities.

Coexist advances schools in divided communities where children learn side-by-side in integrated classrooms. Schools Across Divides projects focus in areas that are susceptible to instability and unrest due to pronounced cultural, religious, and ethnic fault lines. Learning together at a young age develops knowledge, relationships, and shared action, advancing social cohesion and breaking the cycle of conflict.

The Schools Across Divides program provides children access to schools and improves school facilities, living conditions of students, curriculum, nutritional programs, educational programming, and salaries for qualified instructors and staff. These programs empower the next generation through quality education and strengthen the bonds of their communities.

Coexist’s partner schools will provide an alternative to other institutions, which promote de facto cultural and religious segregation. In Uganda, the Abayudaya Schools enroll Christian, Muslim, and Jewish students in a region that has been rife with religious conflict. In India, Coexist’s purchase of organic cotton funds, in part, educational programs provided by Chetna Organic Cotton to the cooperative members and their families – including programming on arts, music, local cultures, and environmental stewardship, increasing their understanding of different faiths and cultures within their communities.

The Sites of Coexistence program brings people together across divided communities to preserve, protect, and maintain sites of historical, cultural, or religious significance. Coexist focuses on sites that have been either damaged or destroyed during conflict, have fallen into disrepair due to neglect, or provide an opportunity for collaborative maintenance.

Working together to preserve a common heritage furthers the knowledge, relationships, and shared action that increase cohesion and establishes a shared future. The preserved sites become a communal symbol, sustaining diversity and historical legacy in these regions of conflict.

Through the Coexist Sites of Coexistence program, participating groups bridge historical rifts to jointly invest in these sites, creating spaces that are equally owned by all community members and serve not just as artifacts but places for ongoing interaction among all cultures and traditions. Among our Sites of Coexistence projects, we have the Tent at St. Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, Coexist Fountains, and a Coexist Garden.

The Amplifying Voices program strengthens communities by working with local civic leaders, artists, academics, and activists to amplify narratives of coexistence and stories of constructive social action.

Without awareness of other voices of coexistence, individuals of the grassroots majority often assume they are a minority and remain silent. Coexist tackles this pluralistic ignorance and challenges assumptions that can isolate agents of social cohesion.

Through public events, digital engagement, online tools, and media campaigns, the Amplifying Voices program empowers the wider public to engage in constructive civic action and brings coexistence into the mainstream.

Amplifying Voices highlights members of Generation Coexist and empowers others to join, stand up and act out in coexistence. In the past, Coexist has curated events for the Cheltenham Literature Festival and the Greenbelt Festival, sponsored the Jaipur Concerts for Peace and the Insight Film Festival, and founded the Coexist Forum and the Coexist Prize. Coexist collaborates with citizens to spread their stories, establish inclusive communities, and equip the public with the tools needed to come together across the divides of their societies.