'A Day in My Life' - An Intercultural Digital Storytelling Project with An-Najah National University, Palestine
In an increasingly divided world, interpersonal connection and understanding can often be a challenge. Storytelling provides an opportunity to help people to learn and understand other’s lived experiences, share authentic glimpses of daily life and build connections – even across the globe.
Cross-cultural understanding
In Semester 1 2025/26, 25 students from the TU675 Higher Certificate Marketing degree at TU Dublin, and journalism students from An-Najah National University, Palestine, engaged in a digital storytelling project to foster cross-cultural awareness.
The collaboration took place under the guidance of Dr Ciarán O’Carroll, Lecturer in Enterprise & Sustainability at TU Dublin and Dalal Radwan, College of Economics and Social Sciences at An An-Najah National University, Palestine and was supported by TU Dublin’s Sustainability Action Lab programme.
This project created an innovative learning experience where TU Dublin students and their collaborators in Palestine shared and developed their digital skills in the context of global citizenship. It directly addressed SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 13: Climate Action SDG 5: Gender Equality, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities , SDG 13: Climate Action, SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, through building connections
The students individually created a short digital artefact (video or image carousel) on the theme "A Day in My Life" to share their life in Ireland and Palestine. As part of the project, students reflected on the difference between each cohort of student’s artefacts. Students also completed an anonymous questionnaire on social media habits, with data shared between universities.
TU Dublin students applied communication theories practically, developing intercultural skills and digital media experience. Students at An-Najah University gained authentic insights into life in Ireland, fostering cross-cultural understanding. This landmark partnership also supports all participating students’ development of global citizenship.
Dr Ciarán O’Carroll, Lecturer in Enterprise & Sustainability said:
“It was fantastic to work with the students and staff at An-Najah National University on this intercultural communication project. This unique, one-of-a-kind collaboration helped students learn about each other’s cultures through storytelling, while also building real connections and friendships.”
SDG Alignment
This initiative strongly aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:
- SDG 5: Gender Equality - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
- SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
- SDG 13: Climate Action- Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
- SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Each Sustainability Action Lab project is underpinned by:
- SDG 17: Partnership for the Goals - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development
- SDG 4: Quality Education - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
GreenComp Alignment
The project also aligns with specific competences from the GreenComp sustainability competency framework including
- Embodying Sustainability Values,
- Embracing Complexity in Sustainability,
- Acting for Sustainability.
|
Competency Area |
Competency |
Descriptor |
|
Embodying sustainability values |
Supporting fairness |
To support equity and justice for current and future generations and learn from previous generations for sustainability. |
|
Embracing complexity in sustainability |
Systems thinking |
To approach a sustainability problem from all sides; to consider time, space and context in order to understand how elements interact within and between systems. |
|
Acting for sustainability |
Futures literacy |
To envision alternative sustainable futures by imagining and developing alternative scenarios and identifying the steps needed to achieve a preferred sustainable future |
This collaboration was supported by the Societal Engagement and Sustainability Education teams and through the Higher Education Authority’s Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement (SATLE) fund.