Fairtrade and Global Citizenship Education Webinar

January 19th, 2023 (4:30 PM- 6:00 PM)

A helpful brief on Fairtrade and its surrounding themes ahead of Fairtrade fortnight. The webinar provides a Fairtrade Fortnight planning document, with examples on digging deeper into Fairtrade, cross curricular links, raising awareness, and taking action.

Webinar Resources

Video Recording

The recording provides:

• Background information on the reasons why Fairtrade exists and suggestions on how to explore root causes and actions using the 6-steps approach
• Input from PROUDLY MADE IN AFRICA (PMIA) – Reimagining our relationship with Africa
• Input from MOYEE COFFEE – Fairchain: Disrupting the ‘Big Coffee’ industries by maintaining a fair share of profit in the country of origin

Recording is available on Youtube, here.

Presentations

Please find the presentation in different formats:

• Genially interactive presentation link
• Google slides (interactive elements from Genially presentation have been turned into slides as well)
• Slides in PDF

Further Learning & Resources Mentioned

1. VISUALISATION OF WEALTH

A visualisation of Jeff Bezos Wealth: This webpage graph helps demonstrate multinational companies that have the ability to maintain their wealth, while also looking after people and planetary wellbeing. They don’t, because they don’t have to! 

2. TROCAIRE BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS MANUAL

Manual with 21 Action points to help advocate for fair trade practices and a human rights approach to business ad governance

Activities

1. RACE TO THE BOTTOM ACTIVITY

Financial justice Ireland:  Not Business as Usual resource (pdf), ‘Race to the bottom’ activity (p.23): Game to highlight the unequal exchange between the Global North and Global South. Human rights, inequality, environmental impact. 

2. SDG ACTIVITY

Look at the SDGʼs, as well as the targets within each Goal.

Put learners into working groups or pairs, distribute the 17 goals accordingly, and ask students to determine whether their SDG is connected to Fair trade, and ask to explain why.

• Global Goal website
• Teacher reference article: Fairtrade and the SDGs –Encourages students to critically think about Fair trade, and helps show that it connects to human rights issues in a multi-faceted way.

Podcasts

Jason Hickel website podcasts link

Example podcasts:

• Inequality is Killing us all. Are we going to stop it? Under the Skin, with Russell Brand 
• How GDP Fetishism Drives Climate Crisis and Inequality, Citations Needed podcast

Explanations about the systemic issues behind unequal trading practices. Colonialism, decolonization and the Global North’s ‘hidden transfer of value’ from the Global South. Growth for the sake of growth, without people and planetary wellbeing included.

TED Talk

TED Talk: A healthy economy should be designed to thrive, not grow. (Kate Raworth, Economist, Expert in Donut Economics). Talk on the necessity to include people and planetary wellbeing as part of governance. 

YouTube video

Fairtrade and 100% Slavery free (Tony’s Chocolonely): Contrast and compare: learners can investigate a certified Fairtrade brand, V another brand. Also, is all Fairtrade chocolate also slavery free? 

Articles

To be used alongside WWGS Digging Deeper model, p14 and 15. PDF link here.

Digging deeper into Fairtrade

• Six ways Fairtrade strengthens Human Rights
• Fairtrade Foundation Flaws in Fairtrade Certification
• Fair World Project Article The Guardian – ‘Ethical Labels not fit for purposeʼ
• Faulty Fair Trade: The hidden realities of fair trade chocolate
• The sweet spot: is ethical and affordable chocolate possible?

Digging Deeper into EU Due Diligence Act

• Business and human rights resource centre: Articles on Fairtrade, and EU Due Diligence Act 
• European coalition for corporate justice: How Berlin and Paris sold-out the EU corporate due diligence law 
• Trócaire: Explained : why do the new EU rules on corporate accountability need to be fixed?
• Multinational coffee companies continue buying from suppliers linked to farms with slave labour

School Talks

1. COMHLÁMH: Trade justice group: recent campaigns, why it’s important to act, and root cause of why these campaigns are needed to ensure systemic change, eg. CETA
   Julia@comhlamh.org 
2. ETHICAL ORIGIN: Social Enterprise in Colombia working with cocoa and coffee farmers, as well as projects putting women at forefront of production processes. Helping to relieve farmers from conflicted affected areas and work involving criminal gangs, through assisting with trade supply chains, and advocating for a fairchain approach to coffee and cocoa production and distribution. Marina Murphy and Alejandro Valderrama +353873539856 hello@ethicalorigin.ie 
3. PROUDLY MADE IN AFRICA (PMIA): Reimagining our relationship with Africa: Changing the narrative from aid and charity to responsible trade, innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. david@proudlymadeinafrica.org
4. MOYEE COFFEE: Fairchain: Disrupting the ‘Big Coffee’ industries by maintaining a fair share of profit in the country of origin; why this is important, its potential to change ‘conventional’ trade, and why current unfair trading practices need to be highlighted. Killian@proudlymadeinafrica.org

Actions- Campaigns you can get involved now

1. EU Due Diligence Act -New rules on corporate accountability: Join Trócaire’s campaign to write to your MEP! 
2. CETA (EU-Canada:Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement): How to engage with your TD , Join Cómhlamh Trade Justice group (over 18’s) to be kept in the loop on petitions, protests, and rade activism (tha all learners can join in on) 
3. Peoples Vaccine Ireland: Vaccines for all: Call for an agreement on a waiver of intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and diagnostics (TRIPS waiver). Petition further information here.

EXTRA RESOURCES LISTS

• Thanks to Ann Marie from Coláiste Bhríde Carnew for putting together some links to subjects for Fairtrade Fortnight here.
• For even more resources check this excel sheet here.