Help Shape the Future of UWC Community Engagement


UWC makes education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. For over fifty years the UWC schools and colleges have provided an education led by this mission. UWC is now embarking on a strategic and coordinated effort to ensure that the UWC community is able to advance that mission and create greater impact together.

A working group of people from across UWC has spent the last few months considering how to create more effective community engagement and now we want your input. As part of this work, we are asking everyone in the UWC community to consider several important questions.

What is our aim?

The aim of the UWC Community Engagement Strategy is to foster a UWC community, encouraging engagement and positive action, in order to increase UWC’s collective impact and advance the UWC mission.

It is based on several core beliefs:

  • A UWC education is the beginning of a lifelong journey based on a commitment to the UWC mission.
  • In particular our alumni, their staff and volunteers and the parents of both alumni and students have the desire, enthusiasm and responsibility to pursue and further the UWC mission.
  • If individuals within the UWC community are connected, engaged and working more collaboratively with each other, it will lead to greater collective impact.

We will find ways to catalyse and incentivise efforts by individuals and groups within the UWC community to advance the UWC mission. We will do so by creating an environment for the UWC community to share projects, experiences, issues and interests. If this happens, UWC will have a much better opportunity to increase our impact and improve our visibility.

What do we mean by the UWC community?

The UWC community is anyone who has come into contact with and been influenced by the UWC mission. This includes alumni, faculty and other staff, UWC’s volunteer body, short course alumni and parents of current students and alumni.

How can I be a part of UWC’s Community Engagement initiative?

We have already consulted with UWC schools and colleges, national committees, alumni groups and individual alumni. We would now like to ask the wider UWC community the following questions, which you can respond to at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/uwccommunityengagementstrategy Answers to these questions will help shape the final strategy.

  1. ‘Living the UWC mission’ is very broad expression which, with your help, we would like to understand further. What does the phrase ‘living the mission’ mean to you? How would you define it?
  2. Using this definition, can you give practical examples of ways in which either you or other individuals or groups who are part of the UWC community have contributed to ‘living the mission’? We know that there is no right answer to this and of course we have plenty of examples, but we need to know what you think.
  3. Are there any other organisations you are aware of that it would be mutually beneficial for the UWC community to work with, in the context of this strategy? Please describe the organisations and suggestions for ways we could work together strategically?
  4. Any other thoughts or suggestions?

How is this initiative related to UWC GO (previously UWC ACP Alumni Community Platform)?

Last year’s UWC ACP survey helped to inform the basis of this work by giving insights into ways alumni want to connect. While UWC supported the initial work of the UWC GO/ ACP initiative, the two initiatives are separate. The Community Engagement Strategy is an overarching global engagement strategy for the whole UWC movement, while UWC GO/ ACP is an independent alumni effort aimed at creating an online platform for alumni.

Jill Longson, Vice Chair, UWC International; Chair, UWC Community Engagement Working Group