Among the United Nations’ most enduring concepts is global citizenship, where our identities transcend, yet honour, geographical and national borders. It acknowledges that our social, political, environmental and economic actions unfold within an intricately interconnected world. In this spirit, narrowing nationalism must give way to cherishing cultural roots while fostering solidarity amid diversity, to build a better future for all.
This profound idea finds vibrant expression at the Tagore-Ikeda International Centre for Global Citizenship, a beacon that I find deeply inspiring. Daisaku Ikeda, whose annual peace proposals to the United Nations steadfastly championed visionary persistence over pessimism, stands tall among global thinkers. It is this spirit we seek to embody at the Tagore Institute of Peace Studies (Tips).
The vision became beautifully tangible in 2025 at the recent Global Citizenship Convention held in Jena, Germany. Young change-makers, Melton Fellows from around the world, gathered to build bridges across cultures, empower communities and co-create sustainable solutions aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Their interactions, centred on connection, empowerment and transformation, renewed hope that global citizenship is deeply rooted through collaboration, intercultural learning and local action with global impact.
At Tips, we channel this inspiring momentum, exploring how reducing inequality, safeguarding cultural and linguistic diversity, and embracing the rights and responsibilities of global citizenship are core to peacebuilding today.
The Many Flavours of Citizenship
Global citizenship is far from a vague or ‘wishy-washy’ concept. It is a practical, living philosophy and a toolkit for thinking, acting and resolving tangled problems. From cosmic concerns such as disarmament and human rights to delightfully relatable dilemmas like ‘how not to sabotage a well-cooked meal with an overdose of chillies’, it encompasses them all. To continue on the culinary track, I truly believe that harmony is the world’s most underused spice, and that creating harmony amidst diversity is arguably the ultimate twenty-first-century party trick.
From Tagore’s Vision to Today’s Puzzles
Embracing cultural uniqueness is more urgent than ever. Without solidarity, we become the world’s most dysfunctional group chat, doomed to endless arguments and no future. Long before hashtags existed, Tagore championed unity in diversity, urging us to turn difference from a source of conflict into a wellspring of richness. Rabindranath Tagore was the original global citizen, forging scholarly and cultural ties between India, China and Japan, skilfully untangling intercultural knots that remain relevant today.
What, then, makes a global citizen? Daisaku Ikeda highlights three essential qualities. First, wisdom to perceive the interconnectedness of all life, even the one between your neighbour’s cat and your overenthusiastic basil plant. Second, courage to respect and learn from differences, whether cultural, culinary or cricket-related. Third, compassion to empathise with those suffering far away and perhaps even lend your collection of old textbooks.
Philosophers such as Tagore, Einstein and Ikeda left the world a little wiser and a touch kinder. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen reminds us that eradicating poverty is integral to global citizenship. It is time for academics, business minds and irrepressible optimists to collaborate, making global citizenship more than theory: a lived reality filled with compassion, purposeful action and undaunted hope.