Case Study: Empowering Civil Society at the AI Governance Table
How Globethics designed and delivered a course that turned a pilot group of civil society leaders into certified AI ethics advocates
Bringing civil society into AI governance decisions
AI governance decisions are increasingly shaping civil society's work — yet civil society organisations are rarely in the room when those decisions get made, and even more rarely equipped with the technical and advocacy skills to influence them. As lead organisation of UNESCO's Global CSOs and Academic Network subgroup on Citizens and CSOs in AI Governance, Globethics was tasked with closing that gap: not just running a workshop, but building lasting capacity for civil society to engage with AI ethics on its own terms.
Empowering Civil Society Organizations to Lead the Way in Advancing AI Ethics
Designed and facilitated by Globethics for UNESCO in collaboration with the members of the CSO Network, this course equips civil society leaders to engage critically and confidently with AI technologies and their societal implications — across four core domains: AI literacy and technical understanding, ethical and human rights analysis, communication and advocacy, and coalition-building.
A pilot cohort of CSO leaders completed the course, with 12 participants achieving certification.
In partnership with
What leaders say
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"Thank you for the professional, smooth and inclusive way in which you managed this process. We want to thank the team at Globethics that contributed to making this possible. From the technical aspect to the pedagogical expertise, all elements were managed brilliantly... We look forward to seeing how we can build on what was done to make this sustainable in time, and for future opportunities of collaboration."
A model that travels
This pilot shows what's possible when a course is built specifically for civil society's needs — not adapted from a corporate or academic curriculum, but designed from the ground up around literacy, ethics, advocacy, and coalition-building together. UNESCO's own request to scale this for sustainability is the clearest signal of its potential.
If your organisation needs to build AI governance capacity, policy literacy, or advocacy capability among civil society or other stakeholder groups, this is the kind of design challenge our Consulting & Advisory team solves.