UNESCO Global Skills Academy Supports the Launch of the Meaningful Open Opportunities for Discovery

Meaningful Open Opportunities for Discovery (MOOD) is a United Nations certified learning experience combining climate action, purpose discovery and collective action.
Launched with support of the UNESCO Global Skills Academy (GSA), a MOOD online workshop brought together a diverse group of over 100 participants for two hours of reflection, dialogue, and collective exploration as part of the Learning Planet Festival on 27 January 2026.

The event positioned climate education as a powerful entry point for developing future-oriented competencies, including critical thinking, leadership, collaboration, creativity, digital and civic engagement. These transversal skills lie at the core of the Global Skills Academy’s mission to support learners, educators, and institutions in navigating complex global challenges.

Climate education today faces a clear challenge: while awareness is growing, translating concern into meaningful, everyday action remains difficult. The Meaningful Open Opportunities for Discovery (MOOD) workshop addressed this gap by reframing the conversation around simple but powerful questions that encourage agency and creativity:

• How might we reduce our everyday carbon footprint without sacrificing quality of life?
• How might we make climate-friendly choices easier and more accessible for everyone?
• How might we help people feel empowered to take climate action in their local communities?

These questions reflect the MOOD’s pedagogy and its strong convergence with the Global Skills Academy’s learner-centred and action-oriented approach. Rather than focusing on fear or abstract targets, participants were invited to explore realistic solutions grounded in daily life, local contexts, and personal motivation. By combining climate science, social and emotional learning, and purpose discovery, MOOD creates space for participants to move from awareness toward action in a way that feels achievable and inclusive.

This approach resonates with the Global Skills Academy’s emphasis on co-designing education and training solutions alongside youth, ensuring that skills development remains relevant, inclusive, and grounded in real-world contexts.