URL: http://www.bpb.de/veranstaltungen/netzwerke/nece/66270/closing-the-empowerment-gap-through-citizenship-education

Closing the empowerment gap through citizenship education: How to address educationally disadvantaged groups

The NECE conference 2011 focused on the complex changes regarding civic participation and its effects on socially disadvantaged groups. All over Europe, citizens tend to refrain from traditional political participation, which is reflected by decreasing turnout rates in elections and a growing disenchantment with politics. One criticism is that – increasingly influenced by private or narrow-topic interest groups – governments and political institutions all over Europe (and in other western democracies as well) are losing legitimacy. Populist sentiments and a general sense of powerlessness are rife as trust in democracy ebbs. 'Post-democratic´ tendencies – as described by Colin Crouch – seem to dominate formal institutions of democracy. At the same time new ways of getting involved in politics and society by using social media and digital technologies are gaining importance. This development could be considered a positive one, interpreted as proof that democracy is still alive and kicking. Critics claim, though, that these tendencies can lead to a further weakening of democratic institutions. As regards citizenship education it has to be admitted that these new forms of political participation are to a large extent determined by access to education, and by income and skills. Engagement with the wider public may become dependent on small 'single issue' groups, spin doctors and advertising professionals. A rising number of socially disadvantaged groups and individuals may become excluded from participation in civil society and political processes and suffer from a conspicuous 'empowerment gap´.

Experts and activists in the fields of citizenship and cultural education, youth and social workers, NGO representatives met in Warsaw to focus on a central question: How can citizenship education become a suitable tool for closing the empowerment gap?

Conference contributions included theoretical and practical approaches from Europe, both in school and in out-of-school or informal learning environments. The conference format was both participatory and interactive.

• Programme (PDF version: 1.794 KB)
• List of Participants (PDF version: 118 KB)
• Biographies (PDF version: 612 KB)

Thursday, 17 November 2011

• Discovering the neighbourhood: Searching for clues of the past in Warsaw by using the geocaching method –
  A summary (PDF version 313 KB)

Opening Event

• Thomas Krüger, President, Federal Agency for Civic Education (Germany), Opening Address
  (PDF version: 449 KB)
• "Teaching Civic Education in a World of Radical Inequality, Digital Technology and Global Interdependence", Benjamin Barber, Political Theorist (USA), Key Lecture (PDF-Version: 264 KB)

Opening Panel

Benjamin Barber, Political Theorist (USA) & Barbara Malak-Minkiewicz, IEA (the Netherlands) & Andy Williamson, Expert & Consultant in Digital and New Media Strategies (UK)

Friday, 18 November 2011

Panel: Access to (Citizenship) Education and its Impact for Political and Civic Participation

• Erik Flügge, Sinus Sociovision (Germany)
  (PDF version: 594 KB)
• David Kerr, Citizenship Foundation (UK),
  Abstract (PDF version: 324 KB)
  PPP (PDF version: 10.684 KB)

Parallel Workshop Sessions

• Workshop 1: Learning Environment – School and Quality Assurance
• Workshop 2: Learning Environment – School
• Workshop 3: Learning Environment – Community and Urban District Work
• Workshop 4: Learning Environment – Media and Social Networks (Web 2.0)
• Workshop 5: Learning Environment – Non-formal Citizenship Education I
• Workshop 6: Learning Environment – Non-formal Citizenship Education II
• Workshop 7: Learning Environment – Vocational Training
• Workshop 8: Learning Method – a playful Access to Citizenship Education (Outdoor, 2.30 – 6.00 pm)

Saturday, 19 November 2011

Parallel Networking Panels

• Networking Panel I: Advocacy Strategies
• Networking Panel II: From Lifelong Learning to Education for Europe
• Networking Panel III: Lost mission? The educational role of civil society organisations in Central and Eastern Europe
• Networking Panel IV: EU Funding - the "Europe for Citizens" Programme

Key Lecture

• Jean-Marc Ferry, University of Nantes (France): "Understanding the European Union in a cosmopolitan sense. What is civic participation?" (PDF version: 928 KB)

Date

17 November - 19 November 2011

Conference Venue

»Fabryka Trzciny Art Centre, Warsaw (Poland)«

Hosts

Federal Agency for Civic Education/ bpb (Germany)
»Centre for Citizenship Education (Poland)«
»The Federal Ministry for Education, the Arts and Culture (Austria)«
»ProDemos (the Netherlands)«

In co-operation with

»The Institute of Public Affairs (Poland)«
»DARE Network – Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe«
»Civic Education Centre (Czech Republic)«

and the fellowship programme "Shaping Europe - Civic Education in Action" for young Europeans – a co-operation between the bpb and the Robert Bosch Stiftung

Supported by

»Robert Bosch Stiftung (Germany)«
»ERSTE Foundation (Austria)«

Contact

»lab concepts GmbH (Germany)«
on behalf of Federal Agency for Civic Education/bpb
Phone +49 (0) 228 2498-110
nece-warsaw@lab-concepts.de

Contact/bpb

Federal Agency for Civic Education
Petra Grüne
Adenauerallee 86
53113 Bonn
Phone +49 (0)228 99515-289
gruene@bpb.bund.de

• back to NECE