Our Impact
Learn more about how we are mobilising third level students to stand up for global justice, equality and sustainability.
2025 in numbers
campuses visited by the STAND Festival & exhibition in 2025
Higher education students, staff and recent graduates reached through the Festival exhibition, events & outreach
Participants engaged through Global Issues courses and tailored trainings
Report increase in understanding global justice issues
Participants engaged in ‘Activate’ programmes including STAND News, the Ideas Collective and the STAND Changemakers Academy
new contributors to STAND News in 2025, bringing the total contributors to 52
Participants attended 21 tailored once-off GCE and skills building workshops
Followers and subscribers across online platforms with 74K active engagements across all online channels.
And...
- STAND was shortlisted for the Carmichael Good Governance Awards 2025
- The Ideas Collective was awarded funding from Pobal’s New Solutions Social Innovation Fund to expand to Cork and Galway in addition to Dublin
- We implemented a new all campus approach, which led to numerous collaborations with universities societies and staff
In 2025, a student survey completed by over 1,100 students revealed deep concern among young people about climate justice, racism, global conflict, and economic inequality. At STAND, our mission is to empower third-level students to take action on these critical issues.
We do this by working closely with students, graduates, higher education staff, partners, and campuses—guided by our five strategic objectives: Inspire, Educate, Activate, Integrate, and Sustain.
Inspire
In 2025, we reached more than 88,000 people through our Festival, events, and outreach work, and had over 74,000 engagements across all social and online platforms.
The STAND Global Solidarity Festival — rebranded in 2025 to better reflect its Global Citizenship Education focus — toured 13 campuses across Ireland, reaching an estimated 24,000 students. The new 'What If?: Radical Imagination for Just and Sustainable Futures' exhibition, co-created with students at the African Leadership University in Rwanda, was encountered by over 20,250 people. We also participated in 20 outreach events, reaching over 1,047 students. Our online community grew to 21,586 followers and subscribers, with 74,056 active engagements across all channels.
“The exhibition animates the campus in a meaningful way. It opens our students’ eyes to their similarities with students and activists outside of TU Dublin and Ireland. ”
Educate
We had over 450 participants took part in our ‘Educate’ strand activities including our Global Issues courses, workshops and trainings.
What participants said
“What made the course truly valuable was the way it created a safe and supportive space for discussion. It didn’t just present global issues in theory, it encouraged us to connect them to our personal stories, identities, and emotions. This made the learning more real and transformative.”
"I got to the end of the course and just felt such an overwhelming sense of luck that I could attend something like this. I’m just so deeply lucky to have found myself in these workshops where such valuable knowledge and wisdom is being shared by such brilliant amazing people that I wouldn’t have the opportunity to be around otherwise.”
“The peer-to-peer engagement was crucial because it directly facilitated the most important principles of the course, transforming complex issues from abstract concepts into shared, relevant challenges. It created a space where I could exchange perspectives with others from different backgrounds and with different experiences.”
"I found the content incredibly insightful, and I was pleasantly surprised by how closely many of the topics aligned with my MA studies. This connection made the learning even more meaningful and relevant to my academic journey."
’"It reminded me that even when the world feels heavy, people still have the capacity to care deeply for one another, and that sense of shared humanity is something I will carry forward beyond this course”.
"I found the content incredibly insightful, and I was pleasantly surprised by how closely many of the topics aligned with my MA studies. This connection made the learning even more meaningful and relevant to my academic journey."
“I was deeply inspired by conversation-based sessions. Living in large cities often makes people feel distant and indifferent, but through these discussions, I began to feel a renewed sense of human warmth on campus. It reignited my belief that everyone shares a responsibility to contribute to making the world a better place.”
Testimonials from 2025 Global Issues course participants
“Their delivery is second to none. What really stands out is the way they lead with solidarity, inclusivity, and empowerment. You can feel the intention behind everything they do. Their creativity, attention to detail, and personal touch make the programmes deeply engaging and genuinely impactful.”
"Charlotte and Diana co-facilitated an amazing workshop for the community psychology group at UL. These workshops are so thought provoking, professionally delivered, and bring excellent real life experiences and stories to the fore.
Charlotte is always on hand to help out student talks and the work she puts in to them is very clear. This time it was also great to meet Diana and hear her story. The overall workshop ended on a really positive note by highlighting to students how they can get involved and make a change. 10/10’"
Dr Aoife Whiston, Assistant Professor at the Psychology Department, University of Limerick.
Activate
108 students took informed action through our 'Activate' strand, with 90% reporting that their participation led to meaningful action.
Some numbers from 2025: STAND News supported 52 participants, with 29 new contributors joining in 2025 and 73 published outputs. The Ideas Collective welcomed 30 participants to a new week-long bootcamp format, with 96% reporting increased confidence to take action; 11 projects were accepted onto a 4-month Incubator programme. 24 students from Ireland and the Global South joined the STAND Changemakers Academy. 22 student-led events took place across campuses, drawing 708 participants.
Moreover, the Ideas Collective was awarded funding from Pobal’s New Solutions Social Innovation Fund to expand to Cork and Galway in addition to Dublin in 2026.
What participants said:
"The contents enhanced my ideas to identify societal and environmental need (gaps) within my community and to develop a sustainable project that empower and transform the lives of people to make positive change in this world. "
"The content, structure with breaks and stretching and advice from mentors was the most practical I have experienced, the opportunity to proceed to the incubator is really motivating and brings the projects vision feel in each."
“There wasn’t a moment where I wasn't gaining some new knowledge or experience, it was truly amazing."
"The key skill I’ve developed is understanding how to turn an idea about societal change into a tangible project. Understanding how to get from point A (the concept) to point C (putting it in practice), including design thinking, business structure planning, values and missions, pitching"
2025 Ideas Collective participants
I could write an essay about the impact this programme has had on me! It’s given me confidence, motivation and a sense of belonging in a supportive and knowledgeable community. I feel validated in the impact I want to make and I’ve gained access to tools and resources I wouldn’t have had otherwise.
“One of the things that I thought was really special about this program was how much it encouraged critical thinking. We were constantly questioning the way systems worked, how class, gender, and race amongst other dividers among society were perceived and how we could make change within those areas, all with the goal of a more equitable society.” 2024 Changemakers Academy participant
“The Changemakers Academy, and participating in STAND’s programs at large, has changed my life—it has opened my world to new perspectives, given me tangible tools to develop my academic and professional success, and provided me a space, skills and support to imagine and work towards a better world."
Integrate
In 2025, STAND deepened its strategic partnerships to embed Global Citizenship Education across both formal and non-formal higher education.
Some highlights of our “Integrate” work for 2025 include:
- A successful application to develop a national GCE Digital Badge for higher education staff in partnership with the HEA National Forum for Teaching & Learning (to launch April 2026)
- STAND securing membership on DFHERIS's National FET-HE ESD Advisory Group
- The launch of a new BICS–STAND Global Solidarity Digital Badge reaching student societies across Ireland
- STAND achieving Level 2 integration at 4 HEIs (MU, UCC, UCD and TU Dublin) and Level 1 at 9 more institutions.
- Another collaboration with the African Leadership University (ALU). Together, we co-created the powerful exhibition for the STAND Student Festival.
"I think STAND brings a fresh perspective and provides moments of reflection and opens the campus to global issues (...) The Board of Irish College Societies (BICS) is delighted to have STAND as a partner sponsoring a new Global Solidarity Award.”
“Students as a result of an engagement with STAND have a vocabulary and confidence to navigate activism and allyship, contribute to campaigns and social justice initiatives.”
Sustain
In 2025, STAND strengthened its foundations, from governance and staff development to a refreshed GCE framework and new funding streams.
A key highlight of our Sustain strand in 2025 was being shortlisted for the Carmichael Good Governance Awards.
The team also completed 16 CPD courses and trainings, and launched a new 'Critically-Engaged Global Citizenship Education' framework developed in partnership with Dr Brighid Golden and funded by Research Ireland.
“Being part of STAND means knowing someone’s in your corner,” she says. “Now, I want to pay that forward to support others who are just starting out, who have big, bold ideas and just need someone cheering them on.”
“My advice? Join as many STAND Programmes as you can, you won’t regret it! (...) Recently, I returned to speak with the new cohort of changemakers. I remember after that, there were some who were crying, some walked up to me, some hugged me. It was amazing just being in that community again!”
