FOWLS Online course: A New Learning Journey for the Future of Work (29 October 2026, Global)
A New Learning Journey for the Future of Work
Launching the FOWLS Online Course: Dignity and Care in a World in Transition: Strengthening Global Solidarity for Decent Work
How can churches, faith-inspired organizations, and social actors respond to the profound transformations reshaping the world of work? How can local experiences be connected to global challenges? And how can dialogue become a pathway toward collective action?
These questions have accompanied the Future of Work – Labour after Laudato Si’ (FOWLS) Project since its inception. Through regional consultations, international dialogue, research tracks, webinars, and more recently the Symposium Cycle, partners from different sectors and regions have reflected together on the future of work, human dignity, and the common good. Drawing upon these experiences, FOWLS is pleased to announce the launch of its first online training programme.
Sponsored by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the course represents a collective effort by FOWLS partners to translate years of dialogue, reflection, research, and lived experiences into a practical learning journey.
More than a training course, it is an invitation to engage in a process of reflection, discernment, and action at a time when labour realities across the world are being transformed by technological developments, environmental transitions, demographic change, migration, and growing inequalities.
A Learning Journey rooted in experience
The programme is grounded in two key pillars that have shaped the FOWLS process from the beginning:
- The insights and experiences gathered through years of engagement with labour-related challenges across different regions.
- The methodology of Communal Social Discernment (CSD), which combines dialogue, ethical reflection, lived experiences, and collective action.
Participants will be invited to explore how local realities connect with global trends, identify challenges affecting workers and communities, learn from concrete initiatives already in place, and develop pathways for future collaboration.
The course is aligned with the spirit of the Synod process and the legacy of the Jubilee 2025, fostering broader participation and engagement among partners of Bishops’ Conferences, Catholic-inspired organizations, educational institutions, social movements, and other actors committed to promoting decent work and integral human development.
What will participants explore?
Throughout the training, participants will examine:
- Structural and emerging challenges shaping the world of work.
- The experiences of workers and communities navigating these changes.
- Innovative and solidarity-based responses that uphold human dignity and the common good.
- Opportunities for collaboration across sectors, disciplines, and regions.
The course aims to provide participants with a meaningful experience of Communal Social Discernment, enabling them to:
- Identify key labour challenges in their contexts.
- Reflect on existing experiences and promising solutions.
- Develop opportunities for future collaboration and engagement.
- Strengthen connections between local realities and global conversations on work, justice, and care.
Six modules, One common purpose
The curriculum consists of six interconnected modules that gradually move participants from reflection to action:
Module 1: Key challenges in the world of work from local and global perspectives
Participants begin by identifying and analysing labour-related challenges affecting their communities while connecting them to broader global trends.
Module 2: Core values for the world of work: Catholic Social Teaching and other faith traditions
The course explores key principles of Catholic Social Teaching while creating space for dialogue with other faith traditions and introducing the Communal Social Discernment methodology.
Module 3: Local and global challenges
Building on previous discussions, participants examine how local realities intersect with major global issues and the FOWLS Roadmap.
Module 4: From challenges to solutions
Participants identify and share concrete practices and initiatives that respond to labour-related challenges.
Module 5: Getting ready for a changing context: AI and other driving forces through a CSD approach
The module explores technological change, artificial intelligence, climate transitions, migration, and other forces shaping the future of work.
Module 6: Future collaboration and advocacy strategies
The journey concludes with the development of collaborative pathways, advocacy priorities, and opportunities for ongoing engagement within the FOWLS community.
A multilingual and collaborative experience
The training combines self-study, guided reflection, and interactive online conversations. It will be offered in English, French, and Spanish, ensuring broad accessibility and participation across regions.
Over a four-week period, participants will engage in four live virtual sessions together with individual learning activities and reflection exercises. Those who successfully complete the programme will receive a certificate jointly issued by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and ICMC.
Looking Ahead
The launch of this course marks an important milestone for FOWLS. It is the first training programme created collectively by members and partners of the network, bringing together experiences from different countries, sectors, and faith traditions.
As the world of work continues to evolve, the need for spaces of dialogue, discernment, formation, and collaboration becomes ever more urgent. Through this new initiative, FOWLS hopes to contribute to the emergence of a global community committed to promoting dignity, care, solidarity, and decent work for all.
Registrations open here!
English: Registration for the FOWLS capacity buiding programme
French: Inscription au programme de renforcement de capacités FOWLS
We look forward to welcoming participants from around the world to this shared learning journey!