In 2017, over a series of meetings, a task group of 13 IDEA members drafted the Code content in the form of principles and indicators. The group also had initial discussions on how the Code could be implemented by IDEA members, and what support and learning mechanisms for Code members might look like.

In 2018, the draft Code was piloted by a group of 6 IDEA members, each piloting a number of the principles. Among other things, the participants found the Code supported their reflective practice, helped them to more effectively promote Development Education within their organisations and improve their own personal DE practice overall, bringing them back to all the values and ethos underpinning DE. They were very clear that the Code is 'a journey', and that each organisation that signs up will be on that journey with other 'critical friends'. The result was an updated draft of the Code principles and indicators.

In 2019, IDEA convened an advisory group to develop structures to roll-out the Code to the Development Education sector. They thought through the steps of the Code journey for Code members, what self-assessment and Code compliance could look like, and what learning, support and networking opportunities could be offered to Code members.

The Code we have developed is a result of all of this work, alongside a series of supporting documents.

Development Education (DE) is an educational process which enables people to understand the world around them and to act to transform it. It works to tackle the root causes of injustice and inequality, globally and locally, to create a more just and sustainable future for everyone.

Quality Development Education is more important than ever, in Ireland and globally. As Development Education practitioners, we must be responsive to a turbulent and changing global environment. This requires us to continuously challenge our own thinking, re-examine our focus, and to critically evaluate whether what we are doing makes a difference. Reflecting on our own practice and challenging our approach are central to quality Development Education. In line with this, IDEA (the Irish Development Education Association) together with our members, has developed the ‘Code of Good Practice for Development Education’. This is part of our work in strengthening good practice in Development Education. This Code builds on work carried out over a number of years by IDEA working groups and partners in the production of Good Practice Guidelines for key areas of Development Education activity.

The Code is written by IDEA members, and represents a collective agreement to both strengthen and articulate quality Development Education across all of our work. IDEA’s membership is diverse and dynamic, practicing Development Education in a wide range of contexts, and through various approaches. The Code is an expression of what IDEA members have in common: a commitment to protecting the integrity of Development Education through our own good practice. Progress towards the Code’s Principles is tracked through Practice Indicators, designed collectively by IDEA members to fulfil this commitment.

Globally, as well as in Ireland, Development Education is critical to the realisation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A clear pathway is set out through SDG target 4.7: “By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.” Development Education has an essential role to play in shaping sustainable development. IDEA sees this Code of Good Practice as a key tool for the promotion of quality Development Education as a right for all learners in Ireland.

IDEA has partnered with LAPAS, the Latvian Platform for Development Cooperation which unites 35 NGOs across Latvia working for global sustainable development and global citizenship education (GCE), on an Erasmus+ project titled ‘Global Citizenship Education (GCE) Code of Good Practice & Community of Practice: Ireland & Latvia’. LAPAS and IDEA will work together to enhance the quality of GCE on local, national and European levels. The project will run to the end of 2025 as a small-scale partnership funded from the Erasmus+ programme via Léargas. 

The IDEA Code of Good Practice for DE and the strong Community of Practice for GCE in Ireland that has developed around the Code is the first of its kind in Ireland and a trailblazer internationally. This project will support the first piloting of the Code in an international context. A new IDEA task group for the project made up of Code members will share their experience and reflections on the Code with a group of organisations working in GCE in Latvia. IDEA staff and the task group will support the Latvian organisations to adopt the Code for their national context and then to pilot the Code in their organisations. 

Members from the Code communities in Ireland and Latvia will learn from one another and exchange good practices on GCE. This collaboration will take place over a number of in-person and online events. In March, an IDEA delegation of staff and project task group members will provide training and share learning at an early meeting of the Latvian organisations hosted by LAPAS in Riga to support the development of the Code there. A delegation of LAPAS staff and members will then attend the IDEA Code Network meeting in Dublin in June to share their experience of the project so far and to provide an international perspective to conversations on the Code. Lastly, in Autumn, there will be an online bilateral meeting between LAPAS and IDEA members to reflect on the Code together. This will be an opportunity to share our good practices and challenges and to compare the different national contexts for our work. 

The project will also be an opportunity for Code members in Ireland to reflect on the Irish Code and how it can be best used and enhanced, building on learning from our peers in Latvia. The project task group will develop and pilot a new support for or approach to using the Code in Ireland to strengthen it, e.g. a tool, resource, workshop, or adapted (simpler) version of the Irish Code for use by the Code community in Ireland. As always with the Code, ownership remains with the IDEA members, and we want this new Code support to be developed based on the needs and interests of the members. As such, the exact form that this will take is still very open and will be decided in agreement between IDEA Code members and IDEA staff. 

Finally, the project will take the first steps in establishing a pan-European Community of Practice for GCE. Staff and members from both IDEA and LAPAS will attend two European events on GCE to share their reflections and experiences on the project and to promote the Code of Good Practice among practitioners beyond the partner countries.