About us - what we do

We live in an interdependent world and meeting the global challenges we face, such as international poverty or climate change, will require people in the UK to think more globally. Think Global works to educate and engage the UK public about global issues. We do this through a range of projects, through influencing policy, engaging in research and through working with our membership network.

Our vision is for all citizens to understand the global challenges we face and develop the capabilities to create a more just and sustainable world. We do not seek to provide people with ‘the right answers' as global issues are complex - we believe people need to come to their own conclusions on these important issues.

We have particular expertise in working to connect young people to global issues. Our Global Dimension Website is the leading teaching resource website on global agendas and reaches more than 1.5 million school children each year. Our youthwork through the Global Youth Action project engaged more than 3,000 young people and helped them connect to global issues.

Our Global Learning Charter brings together an alliance of over 230 organisations who have made a commitment to educate the public about global agendas.

To find out more about our work please look at this overview of our work for 2010.

We are members of the Common Cause working group and Democracy Matters. Our work is primarily at a national level and is heavily influenced by the experience of our member organisations, who share our commitment to public engagement and education, and work directly with schools, teachers, youth workers and communities.

Think Global's strategy 2010-2013 sets out Think Global's vision, priorities and approach for this period.

Think Global in numbers

8 in 10 employers say knowledge and awareness of the wider world is important when recruiting new employees. That’s more than the number of employers say the following are important: degree subject and classification (74%), A-level results (68%), or A-level subjects (63%).
50% - is how much more likely you are to see the point of taking action on environmental concerns, getting involved in positive activity or supporting overseas aid efforts - if you have learned about global issues - according to our research with Ipsos MORI.
86% of the public believe that young people should learn about global issues in schools according to our research with Ipsos MORI.
1.5 million children are reached by Think Global's teacher's website, Global Dimension,the UK's premier global resource site for teachers which receives over 100,000 unique visits a year.
100,000 teachers use Think Global's Wallplanner to help them prepare lessons.
3,000 young people have been engaged by Think Global's GYA (Global Youth Action) project and inspired to take action on global issues that concern them.
£4.06 million in funding to 173 projects across the country has been managed by Think Global since 2000.
230 organisations have backed our Global Learning Charter and committed to promoting education for a just and sustainable world. Signatories include NGOs, schools, local authorities, unions and universities.
200 is the number of Think Global members working towards educating for a more just and sustainable world and supporting Think Global to spread the word.

Independent review

PriceWaterhouseCoopers independently evaluated Think Global's work in 2009, noting that of all of the UK development education programmes funded by DFID, DEA's offered ‘the best value for money, with low resource input and high to medium impact.'

Think Global is the working name for the Development Education Association which is a registered charity, (no. 291696) and a company limited by guarantee (no. 1737830).

We have adopted the identity ‘Think Global' in 2011, and were previously known as DEA.