Tag Archives: Citizenship education

Citizenship education recognises the importance of active citizenship and learning about democratic values, as well as decision-making processes at the various political levels. In the past years, as a result of various European policy papers, citizenship education has been included in the national curricula in formal and non-formal education in many European countries. It has become a priority in European education policies (see Paris Declaration, ET2020 Priorities).

NECE CAMPUS 2021 – A creative, networking and digital space for citizenship education – call for projects

From the network - 4th May 2021

For the second time in a row, NECE (Networking European Citizenship Education), the European platform of citizenship educators, will launch the NECE CAMPUS 2021 to provide a platform for discussion, interaction and networking for stakeholders of citizenship education in Europe and beyond.

Set against a backdrop of continued disruption induced by the pandemic and the stark inequalities that have been subsequently exposed, and to a great extent exacerbated by the onset of the Covid crisis – the NECE campus will attempt to identify and discover needs for change through providing a creative digital space for educators, experts in citizenship education and civil society actors.

Never let a good crisis go to waste! The crisis offers the opportunity to learn and to identify needs for change. This is the purpose of the NECE CAMPUS 2021.

In the NECE CAMPUS 2021, visions, values and practices for an educational and civic engagement in a world in transformation will be presented and discussed. Ideas presented and generated at the CAMPUS will also be transferred to the NECE conference 2021, 28-29 October in Brussels.

Projects and initiatives can be presented on the NECE CAMPUS 2021 in the following formats: word café, online seminar, lecture, discussion, open space, training or Pecha Kucha. Ideas for artistic interventions and performances and the use of music, films etc. are equally welcome.

Please submit your proposal or project as soon as possible by using the online tool.

Deadline for submission: 16 May 2021

The selection of projects will be concluded by 25 May 2021.

 

SOLIDAR – Citizenship and Lifelong Learning Monitor

Civil dialogue From the network - 26th March 2020

The Citizens and Learning Monitor has been a milestone in lifelong learning for the last years. With the 2019 version almost out, let’s have a look at the previous version.

Lately, the world has witnessed the harsh impact of populist politics. In the European Union, this rise in nationalism and populism has translated into an old member state leaving the Union for good, and “illiberal” countries rising up against civil society which could bring a major overhaul in the European Parliament for the May 2019 elections. Struggling with how to deal with extremist parties and their leaders, the EU has nonetheless attempted to cautiously restrain possible conflicts by peaceful means and promotion of participation of its citizens to bring people together despite far-right challenges ahead of the next European Parliament elections in May 2019.

To counter and prepare citizens to reinforce and strengthen core European democratic values, the Union has pledged to promote citizenship through education after ministers convened in Paris on March 2015 to set up common objectives. Having derived the 2017 report based on three thematic issues directly taken from the declaration’s objectives, this year the monitor aims to go further into understanding the processes and methods for the promotion and delivery of citizenship education in Europe by non-formal education providers.

This Monitor is a contribution to further examine the relationship between citizenship and lifelong learning experiences and policy outcomes in and outside of the classroom in various European countries. Mapping the different approaches that SOLIDAR Foundation members have taken in promoting EU values in relation to citizenship education and lifelong learning for greater democratic participation of citizens, the outcomes will be disseminated towards European and national policy-makers and offers an array of best practices to collect, use and transfer among networks. The SOLIDAR Education and Lifelong Learning Forum will further work on the topic and develop a long term sustainable advocacy strategy for CSOs towards national and EU-wide authorities to influence the debate and revision of national curricula and education systems.

Meeting of Ministers of Education: Citizenship education in the digital era

Digital learning Events Global Citizenship Education News - 27th November 2019

The Lifelong Learning Platform attended the high-level Meeting of Ministers of Education of the States Parties to the European Cultural Convention, organised under the French Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The meeting took place to address the theme “Citizenship education in the digital era”, at the Maison de la Chimie in Paris.

LLLP was represented by its President Luis Costa, who addressed the Ministers and highlighted the importance of a lifelong learning approach to both citizenship education and the manner in which we address the digital world. The meeting came indeed at a timely moment, as European agendas for education are exploring both digital innovation and a renewed approach to citizenship education. 

Ministers appreciated the great work that LLLP carries out in the field of media literacy, digital learning, and the advocacy that it does vis-à-vis policy-makers. A permanent reflexion in Europe (and beyond) is topical nowadays, and LLLP is leading the way among civil society organisations with a working group on digital learning and a position paper that remains a pillar in the future discussions. The Lifelong Learning Platform endorsed the idea of an observatory for digital citizenship education, as – in the words of our President Luis Costa – helps the “promotion of democracy through education”. 

The meeting also decided to approve the proposal for an “Observatory for history teaching in Europe, HOPE (History Observatory for Peace in Europe)”. History teaching plays a key role in promoting European democratic values.

European societies know the difference between democratic systems and authoritarian regimes. They have all lived both and Europe should recognise with adequate policy instruments that education and lifelong learning remain vital for the preservation of our democracies.

Path to Dignity – The power of human rights education

From the network - 29th April 2019

“Human rights education can make a real difference in people’s lives – whether a woman in Turkey, a police officer in Australia or a child in India, as we see in this film,” says UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay in her introduction to a 28-minute movie entitled A Path to Dignity: The Power of Human Rights Education.

Path to Dignity – in English | Français | Español | عربى | 中文 | 日本語 | русский

The movie presents three case studies illustrating the impact of human rights education among school children in India, law enforcement agencies in Australia and women victims of violence in Turkey.

From Tamil Nadu, in Southern India, Maria Soosai Selvaraj, National Programme Coordinator for the Institute of Human Rights Education says that “each child can make a change through practising human rights values.” In addition to learning about the Indian Constitution, the children develop an understanding of the rights of the child, and the principles of non-discrimination and equality, and how these apply to their daily lives.

In Victoria state, Australia, a human rights project monitors all aspects of policing and educates Victoria Police employees on human rights. “Human rights training forms part of our foundation training programme now,” explains Charlie Allen, an inspector. “Recruits marching into the academy or going into the academy for their training phase do initial education in human rights.”

In Turkey, the human rights education programme for women consists of weekly workshops. Women learn about their human rights and the laws that protect these rights. Mujcan Guneri, a human rights trainer, says that “the women they reached through this training programme, who have come to realize their value as individuals, have all taken steps forward. They begin to see the next step. They engage more with people and take better advantage of the opportunities offered by the State.” “Some go back to school. Some return to work life,” she adds.

The movie has been jointly produced HREA, Soka Gakkai International (SGI), and the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR).

The film is available in English and is subtitled in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Japanese, Russian and Spanish.

This article was first published on the website of HREA.

Save the date for LLLP Annual Conference 2019

Active citizenship Annual conferences News - 18th February 2019

The Lifelong Learning Platform is happy to announce the dates of its next Annual Conference for 19-20 June 2019 in Brussels, Belgium. The debates will turn around the exciting and topical theme of “Learning Democracy, Values and Participation”.

2019 will be a crucial year for Europe, as the political landscape is compelled to change in the May elections: through this topic the LLLPlatform will seek to bring back the discussions around citizenship education, active citizenship, and the values that inform our democracies. Following the many inputs of the Lifelong Learning Interest Group of the European Parliament, the thrust of its membership, and the European momentum, the Lifelong Learning Platform hopes to build an arena where to debate the importance of civic participation in the political life at all levels – local, regional, national, European, and even international – and the role that a lifelong learning approach to citizenship has to play.

The conference will be organised around three subtopics:

  1. Learning democracy
  2. Global citizenship education
  3. Promoting values

Stay tuned on our website and our social media to learn more about the venu and the programme!