Gatekeepers for young people’s global knowledge and engagement
Story by Nina Storgaard Albertsen, Global awareness, engagement and partnerships at Dreamtown
Building on our experience with youth engagement, we’ve identified an exciting opportunity: To reach even more young people across Denmark by engaging the gatekeepers — those who guide and support them in shaping their perspectives and possibilities.Through the project Gatekeepers for Global Engagement, we collaborate with key groups — from journalism students to teacher trainees and high school teachers — to “dress them to impress” when it comes to inspiring young people’s global understanding, awareness, and confidence.
Below is a glimpse into some of our ongoing gatekeeper projects.
Students from Køge Handelsskole on tour in Copengagen with our Metropolis project
High School Teachers and Young People’s Global Confidence
High school teachers have a unique opportunity to shape how young people see the world — and their place in it. Through our Metropolis project, we’ve worked with more than 300 VUC students and 15 teachers from KVUC to develop and test materials that make global issues tangible and empowering.
Conversations with teachers and students gave us deep insight into their needs, hopes, and learning environments. We challenge teachers to reflect on their own assumptions — and to encourage students to do the same. By framing global stories through hope and action, teachers help young people see complexity not as chaos but as a call to engage.
Through tailored workshops and teaching resources, teachers gain new knowledge and renewed confidence. They leave inspired — ready to turn that energy into learning, moving from knowing to caring to doing. Together with their students, they show that global solidarity begins with understanding — and grows through action.
Teacher Training Students: Shaping a Global Future
Denmark’s teachers hold a vital democratic role: preparing the next generation to be informed, engaged, and compassionate citizens. That’s why teacher-training students are a key target group for us.
Not every coming teacher has yet explored sustainability — and that’s part of the journey. Through interactive learning formats, including city walks linking local experiences with global challenges, we challenge them to connect everyday teaching to the UN’s Global Goals and global solidarity.
Many teachers ask for hands-on tools and hopeful ways to teach global issues — ones that motivate rather than overwhelm. Explaining a complex world without draining students’ optimism is no easy task. That’s why we involve teacher-training students directly in global engagement, equipping them to teach with confidence, creativity, and purpose — inspired by the powerful stories, dreams, and achievements of our partners.
Journalism Students as Gatekeepers to the Danish Public
We’re rethinking how international news is covered — and who gets to be heard. Journalists act as gatekeepers of public understanding when they choose which stories to tell and how to frame them. As part of the Journalistic Innovation course at Roskilde University (RUC), students explore the lack of diversity and representation in global reporting.
This work matters because many of our partners don’t recognize themselves in the stories the West communicates about them. New research from Africa No Filter estimates that Africa’s “high-risk” image — shaped by stereotypes and negative narratives — costs the continent up to 4.2 billion dollars a year in higher interest payments. These distorted portrayals sustain inequality and narrow global understanding.
Around 70 RUC students took on this challenge, alongside one identified by DR (the Danish Broadcasting Corporation). From that, 17 students formed five groups — each developing unique methods to bring more young African voices into Danish media. The goal is to challenge narratives, framing, and representation in the mainstream media and ensure that stories from the world are told with more nuance — and more voices at the table by the coming journalists as gatekeepers for our global awareness.
Presentation about media coverage and framing of the world for journalism students at Roskilde University, autumn 2025.
Lej en Lærling flyer from the collaboration with Mercantec.
Rent an Apprentice – Engaging Young People to Engage a Community
At Mercantec, a vocational school in Denmark, we work closely with teachers, instructors, and apprentices to take global engagement to the next level. Together, we designed and ran a mini Operation Day’s Work-inspired project — anchoring engagement among teachers and apprentices while activating and engaging companies in Mercantec’s network.
On the “Rent an Apprentice” day in September, 21 apprentices represented Dreamtown and our partner Youth Dream Centre in Sierra Leone. They worked, earned, and donated their wages to support YDC’s education initiatives for young women — using their skills, energy, and networks to raise awareness and solidarity. It was a powerful reminder that global change can start in your own workshop — and ripple across continents.
The teachers, mentors, journalists and community leaders who open doors and share knowledge - they are all part of an engagement ecosystem with a lot of potential. When these gatekeepers are included, supported and inspired, they help young people see that their voices - and the voices of their fellow youth worldwide - matter, and their ideas belong in global conversations. Step by step, this is how we build a world where young people don’t just learn about change, but also end up making it happen. If you are curious about our engagement work or have a good idea for new gatekeepers to get on board - don’t hesitate to reach out to us!