5.10.2004

Conference: NECE – Networking European Citizenship Education

European Conference

Europe is becoming larger – geographically, politically, economically and culturally. The challenges are also growing for civic education work that is strongly transnational in structure. The conception of this European Conference required a broad understanding of the formats and contents of a civic education and summarised these together under the concept of a democratic citizenship education.

Europe is becoming larger – geographically, politically, economically and culturally. Given this unique historic chance, there is now more room to manoeuvre for democratic processes of participation and new scope for action in respect of the civic society. The challenges are also growing for civic education work that is strongly transnational in structure. The concepts and the agendas together with the actors in civic education can no longer be considered and be set into a relationship as attachable individually and in a national context. Rather, it will depend more on networking the diversity in cultures and ideas, the intellectual trends of thought and discourse, making them tangible and conveying them for the citizens into the immediate reality of their lives, and making them comprehensible. Only then a European public will come into being that is able to influence the democratic political community of the EU sustainedly "bottom upwards" out of a mature European civic society.

The conception of the European Conference requires a broad understanding of the formats and contents of a civic education and it summarises these together under the concept of a democratic citizenship education. Besides the general and civic education, additionally education on human rights and peace, education for sustainable development, and intercultural learning are subsumed. Over four days, in a variety of podiums, in five working groups and an open space, presentations will take place on themes, agendas and fields of practice, actors and multiplicators, subject-related didactical and country-specific problem fields, existing civil and cultural networks and interactive virtual portals of a European citizenship education in the form of best-practice examples; and these will be compared with each other and a platform will be initiated for to provide networking and stronger cooperation. One of the objective lines of the conference is to discuss a first basic canon of norms and quality standards of a democratic citizenship. With the help of best-practice examples, a current insight into concepts and structures of a democratic citizenship education in Europe will be developed. Furthermore, strategies and methods will be compared which are aimed at conveying and implementing a democratic citizenship education in the educational systems of the European member states. Especially with a view to the "European Year of Citizenship through Education" of the European Council taking place in 2005, endeavours will be made to secure lasting results and to develop longterm partnerships with various organizations.

In the following Workshops examples of good practice have been presented:

I.: Organisations for European Citizenship Education (non-public sector)

Summary (PDF-Version: 104 KB)

II.: Organisations for European Citizenship Education (public sector)

Summary (PDF-Version: 80 KB)

III.: Competences in the Media and Information Society (projects)

Summary (PDF-Version: 76 KB)

IV.: Participatory Engagement for Increasing Voting Rates (projects)

Summary (PDF-Version: 76 KB)

V.: Education for Sustainability and Intercultural Learning (projects)

Summary (PDF-Version: 100 KB)