Denmark seeks to make itself seem less desirable to migrants. Because of this they have a strict immigration policy. They also strive to create incentives for migrants already in Denmark to work. These goals are achieved through polocies. Lowering social benefits for migrants, enforcing strict language requirements to enter Denmark, continuous improvement of danish skills to help migrant workers join the danish workforce, and shorter deadlines for asylum seekers to stay in the country. This is caused by their center-right government of 2015-2016 which implemented a total of 47 policies regarding migrants.

What I took away most from our speaker was that he suggested that we all go out of our comfort zone in life because it can lead to many wonderful experiences. I think an assumption I had about refugees was that they were miserable because they had to leave their home country. I think this opened my eyes because although of course he did not want to leave Afghanistan and was sad to have to leave, he talked all about the many wonderful experiences he has had in other countries and how he has enjoyed getting to learn about all of those different cultures. I have always wanted to travel the world and in college that desire has only grown. However, I have always felt discouraged because of the money and time you need to do so, as well as the fact it takes a lot of mental and physical energy to travel. Hearing from him really inspired me to do it even though it is hard and to really get out of my comfort zone like he said. Thinking back over my life I think that the best and most memorable things I have done have been when I stepped out of my comfort zone. I think that sometimes life forces us to do things we are uncomfortable with, and even though they are really hard, there are still silver linings.

 I also found it so interesting to learn about how different “asylum seekers” are treated in the US vs. Refugees that are not asylum seekers.  I never knew how much more difficult it is to start a life here if you are not under the asylum seeker label, I guess I assumed all refugees were offered the same resources. It was interesting to learn this is not the case.

Sources:

“Could the Current Strict Danish Migration Policy Serve as an Example for the EU, or Does It Undermine a Common EU Migration Approach?” European Futures, 19 Jan. 2022, www.europeanfutures.ed.ac.uk/could-the-current-strict-danish-migration-policy-serve-as-an-example-for-the-eu-or-does-it-undermine-a-common-eu-migration-approach/#:~:text=Denmark%2C%20a%20relatively%20homogeneous%20country,already%20in%20Denmark%20to%20work.

Food is a basis of survival. It is necessary to be able to live our lives and yet so many do not know what or when their next meal will be. I am very fortunate to be able to say I grew up not having to worry about if I was going to be able to eat my next meal. I am very grateful for that. I know a lot of people in the US and especially in other countries in the world cannot say the same. Having come to college I have learned more about food production and consumption in a few different classes. I have learned that we have more than enough food (calories) in the world, the issue is maldistribution and the actually quality of the calories being eaten. Many places also waste a lot of food. For example at the university of Oregon people constantly waste food. We get served standardized big [portions that most people don’t eat all of. And there is not even a compost to put the waste in, it goes directly in the trash which is the worst way to dispose of food waste. I know that my food waste for any once meal does not directly impact other peoples food insecurity across other countries. But the maldistribution of food leaves snout 1 billion people starved and 1 billion people stuffed. Meaning over 1 billion people suffer from food insecurity while 1 billion others suffer from obesity or too many calories that they intake from food.

Specifically in Denmark as of 2018 according to the article Food insecurity in Denmark-socio-demographic determinants and associations with eating- and health-related variables, the “prevalence of low and very low food security was 6.0% and 2.4%, respectively.” There is not a lot of food insecurity in Denmark compared to many other countries.

Lund TB, Holm L, Tetens I, Smed S, Nielsen AL. Food insecurity in Denmark-socio-demographic determinants and associations with eating- and health-related variables. Eur J Public Health. 2018 Apr 1;28(2):283-288. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckx121. PMID: 29020375.

We decided to do a research project on civic education as it was something we were all interested in. Our project will examine how civic education is taught in Scandinavia. We each decided to focus on a specific country within the area and compare and contrast our findings. We were all fascinated by the happiness levels present in Denmark and other parts of Scandinavia. We also all have some heritage residing from there and thought it would be interesting to learn more about their ways of life. We will unpack the styles of government and types of schooling, and then we will discuss how this contributes to the success of active citizenship. We want to understand how their residents are so happy and if their mental health correlates with education and citizenship.

I am going to look specifically at Denmark. My great grandparents are from Denmark and Norway and growing up I often did research projects on one of the two countries. They have always seemed like wonderful places to live, and I wanted to further research aspects of the culture to try to understand why. I have not researched their civic education system before this project so I am enjoying learning about it.

Some of our preliminary findings are that Scandinavia is one of the regions of the world that uses a lot of their resources to benefit their schools. This academic journal covers the overarching ideals of civic engagement with classrooms. “In Denmark, Norway, and Sweden the aim is not only to train the students’ skills and enhance their knowledge of democracy, but also to create a context in which the students gain experience of self-dependence in social, political, and democratic processes.” This study focuses on democratization of the primary school, students’ political self confidence and self-belief and how students can engage not only in politics at the national level but also the local levels in their schools.

This academic journal analyzes the impacts of the schooling environment and civic education in Scandinavia. The journal is based on historical and secondary analysis of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS). With the help from this academic journal, we can explore the research and look into Scandinavia as a whole instead of by each country. This may give us a more holistic view of the research question and our understanding of civic education in Scandinavia.

I have also learned that Denmark Civic and Citizenship Education (CCE) is based on a whole school approach. This means it entails a combination of cross-curriculum, curricular, and non-curricular elements. The way school principals implement CCE depends on what they value most of the specific components. By tradition Denmark employs relatively progressive education and emphasizes personal and cultural maturation in the process of human development and this concept is at the center of the CCE system there. This article is helpful because it gives a nice overview on the Danish CCE and its values it promotes. I know it is reliable because it is a chapter from a published book Influences of the IEA Civic and Citizenship Education Studies.

Both authors have taken part in many credible studies and are educated in psychology and civic education and were a part of the IEA. The “IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement) is an international cooperative of national research institutions, governmental research agencies, scholars, and analysts working to research, understand, and improve education worldwide.” I am excited to continue researching and learning more.

Sources:

 Bruun, Jens. (2021). Civic and Citizenship Education in Denmark 1999–2019: Discourses of Progressive and Productive Education. 10.1007/978-3-030-71102-3_5.

Democratic Experience and the Democratic Challenge: A Historical and Comparative Citizenship Education Study of Scandinavian Schools. B Lieberkind, Jonas.

For our research project, we are researching how civic education is set up in Scandinavian countries. This includes Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Civics is the study and understanding of governments, from their processes to their building blocks. It is also the study of how citizens should engage with their government to ensure they are being heard and respected.

 

This topic is close to make heart because for much of my senior year of high school, I did a senior thesis researching civic education in Oregon. I took a look at specific requirements that the state had to teach in schools, I looked at the curriculum of these standards and I spoke to many teachers and officials in the Oregon Department of Education to understand why civic education was not on the forefront of graduation standards. As a country that prides itself on democratic processes and free public education, one would think it’s important for schools to teach civics and how one should be engaged with our government. I found that there is only one requirement, in high school, for civics and it’s 0.5 a credit. This is not sufficient if you are trying to teach students and individuals to think critically and have the knowledge they need to succeed in this democracy. If civics were more widely taught then you might find that individuals actually have a voice and are empowered to fight for change in their communities and within society. Voting rights are a huge issue currently in the US, and even though there are systemic reasons why many are discriminated against and kept from voting, there is also a large portion of individuals, especially young adults, who do not wish to vote because they truly believe that their vote doesn’t matter. If they were to be taught civic education, I am sure they would have a different outlook on their privilege to vote. Voting is vital to a democracy, and if people have the option to vote, and don’t, then you’ll start to lose the reality of a democracy altogether. To put it simply, civic education empowers students and young adults to be active members of their community and shows them that they have the option to create the changes they want to see.

For this research project, I, along with Sierra Hawes and Meredith Triplett have decided to focus our attention on Scandinavia. As one of the seemly unproblematic regions of the world, we wanted to see how citizens are empowered to take charge in their democracies. We started by analyzing the forms of government of each country and then looking into how the systems of education are set up in each country. This counts as our preliminary research. We will then look further into the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study and the curriculum in each country to see the impacts of this education on students in this region. Finally, we continue to look further into how that education has impacted current adults and the communities and local governments of these countries, as well as the happiness index of these countries. This research will help us look to successful models of civic education in another part of the world to understand how other countries could possibly increase the civic awareness of their citizens. 

Food consumption and security is a huge issue across the globe. Many countries have too much food, and many have too little. In all there are 1 billion people who are malnourished and underfed, and 1 billion who are overfed, as I have learned in my Intro to Global Issues class. There are multiple reasons for this, like access to trade, and access to calories versus nutrients. I personally have been incredibly lucky to have warm meals every day for the extent of my life, I have never experienced hunger or the sense of being malnourished. I have the privilege of options, I can choose what types of food I get to consume, and when to consume them.

 

I think this has played a significant role in my life, my access to food is very important and promenade and I know that for my community back home it was much more of a struggle. As someone who attended public school in Portland, I had access to free breakfasts and lunches through the free and reduced lunches. I would always pack my lunch, even from age 5 because my parents didn’t believe the food offered at the schools was nourishing enough. I think this says a lot about the food security in the US. While there is access, it is access to calories more than true nourishing food that will help citizens grow and live healthy lives. I know in the US, it’s a huge issue that healthy food Is so expensive, I know there are many ingredients my household cannot afford and while we still eat quite healthy, many families cannot. I am grateful for the access to food that the US has but there are still barriers for so many people to gain the ingredients they need to live a healthy lifestyle.

 

An important aspect of food consumption in the US is the reality of food waste. Food waste is a huge problem, and because we have an increased amount of food, that also means we waste quite a lot of it. I grew up with the notation that if it’s on your plate, you eat it. While that’s not always healthy, because it can cause overeating, my parents were very aware of food waste and didn’t want to contribute a great deal of waste to the already growing problem. I know that my school didn’t have healthy ways to compost or recycle, everything went into the trash to be sent to the landfill. For a minute in middle school, a group of students advocated for composting in our dining hall but found that students wouldn’t take the time to compost and instead put all of their waste into the trash like they had always done. After that moment in middle school, I didn’t notice any other attempts to instate composting in public schools, and they continued to create food waste sent directly to the trash. Back at home, it was vital we compost and my parents made sure we compost our waste because we had a garden. So we took matters into our own hands to create a sustainable way to take care of our own waste.

 

In Scandinavia, the region of the world where I am doing a research project on education, their food consumption and food security are very healthy. As a Western region, each country is pretty well off in terms of access to food. According to multiple sources, Finland, Sweden, and Austria are among the most food-sustainable countries in the world. Some multiple methods and laws control food security in these countries, like an incentive to donate food instead of waste it, this includes grocery stores and individuals. On top of this, they also rank in the highest region of the world that prioritizes sustainable agricultural systems. Overall, this region of the world is quite advanced in its food consumption and waste which is quite inspiring.

 

Links Used: https://www.bing.com/search?q=food+secrity+in+scandinavia&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&lq=0&pq=food+secrity+in+scandinavia&sc=11-27&sk=&cvid=F1166BF5F85A4728AEA0919A35609624&ghsh=0&ghacc=0&ghpl= 

This past Wednesday the Global Engagement ARC had a guest speaker from Afghanistan. He talked to us about his immigration process from Afghanistan since the Taliban regained power in his country. There were many topics he covered that were immensely interesting. He shared many of his experiences and lent an eye to the ways that immigrants try to find a safe and warm home away from their home country.

 

Our speaker spoke for a while about how it was important for him to get out of his comfort zone, he didn’t have the option not to leave so he was forced out of his comfort zone. It was cool how he talked about moving around the world from multiple different countries, you don’t know where you’re going to land, or where the most resources will be available to you. For our guest speaker, it was here in Eugene, but it took him a while to get here in Eugene. He spoke on the fact that he spent months in Brazil, and some time in North Carolina, all before getting to Eugene. I also appreciated his short stories about the Pan-American highway. As someone who had commuted up from Brazil to the U.S., it was fascinating to hear a little bit about his travels. I think a lot of people don’t understand the length at which immigrants have traveled, and that most migrants don’t come to the U.S. at first.

 

It was heartbreaking to hear that he still has family in Afghanistan who have to deal with the Taliban and political turmoil. He shared about his sister who is unable to continue her education because of the laws that have been put in place. This goes to show how close to heart these policies and laws are for people we interact with on a day-to-day basis. 

 

Overall, this guest speaker was incredibly inspiring and I really enjoyed the little snippets of his life story he shared.