Editorial | Country Profiles: Citizenship Education Around the World | bpb.de

Being a work in progress, the trilingual platform "Country Profiles: Citizenship Education around the world” was inspired by stakeholder discussions on Citizenship Education (CE) in the context of four international networks. The ambition of the project team was to provide brief overviews of Citizenship Education on an international scale that will be further developed and extended step by step.

Currently the platform provides country profiles of Citizenship Education in European countries, countries of the EU’s Eastern Partnership and countries in the Arab region and in Eastern and Southern Africa. The country profiles give insights into history, framework, definitions and recent challenges of CE in the respective countries. Due to academic discussions in some countries as well as availability and accessibility of data and literature the character of the profiles vary from country to country. A valuable touch is added by the personal assessment of each author, passionate about Citizenship Education in their own way, be they an academic, a practitioner or an activist. While a basic structure applies to all papers, a great deal of flexibility has been given to allow for different methodologies and approaches to be accommodated. However, it allows comparison between the different subsections of the profiles. The entire content is available in English, a selection of texts is also available in Arabic and Russian.

The current selection of country profiles does not claim to be exhaustive but can rather be seen as a starting point. The aim was to show the diversity of approaches and experiences. In the future, it is planned to cover at least all countries from the international networks: the platform will be complemented with country profiles from the Arab region together with NACE - Networking Arab Citizenship Education and the Eastern Partnership countries of the European Union in cooperation with EENCE - Eastern European Network for Citizenship Education as well as with countries in Eastern and Southern Africa with CENESA - Citizenship Education Network.

The goal of the platform is to:

• Contribute to international exchange, debates and research on Citizenship Education, its frameworks and approaches;

• Provide information about the history and trends in Citizenship Education in different parts of the world, focusing on the specific environment in which Citizenship Education evolves;

• Enable comparison and draft recommendations, based on analysis.

The project team understands "Citizenship Education" as a relatively wide concept that allows the integration of different interpretations in countries, mirrored in the platform. The Council of Europe’s definition of Education for Democratic Citizenship is a common point of reference . The variety of definitions, references and terminologies can be found in each of the country profiles and are further explained. The different understandings of the same concepts are both a challenge and a gain. They give a glimpse into the different circumstances, be they societal or political, that framed Citizenship Education in the respective country. For example, in the Egyptian context formal education is understood as educational activities provided by all public bodies, in Germany it describes only activities provided by the state educational system (school, university, vocational training); any other activities are understood as non-formal, even though they are part of the work of public institutions, such as the bpb (Federal Agency of Civic Education).

The publication is a work in progress which will be updated and extended by further country profiles step by step.

The Project’s Background

In the year 2020, the project „Country Profiles: Citizenship Education around the world” was the continuation of a former project that was published in 2016. "The Making of Citizens in Europe and North Africa" emerged as a platform within the framework of NECE’s Focus Group "Exchange between Europe and North Africa", established at the NECE Conference 2012 in Cordoba. The growing need to share practices and experiences across the Mediterranean became evident, especially after 2011.

Thanks to the financial support of the German Federal Foreign Office and the Bosch Foundation the activities in the framework of NECE (Networking European Citizenship) were made accessible to participants from North Africa. The 2012 annual NECE Conference in Cordoba provided the framework to discuss in a timely manner the recent developments in North Africa after the uprisings and the need to reinvent Europe after the financial and economic crisis. Within the conference, a NECE Focus Group named "Exchange between Europe and North Africa" was founded in order to support the establishment of a sustainable and long-term platform for exchange, transfer of knowledge and co-operation between stakeholders of CE from both sides of the Mediterranean. In the next step the exchange was extended with regard to the Eastern Neighbourhood countries of the EU as well as to Stakeholders of CE from Eastern and Southern Africa. Inspired by this exchange three new networks of Citizenship Education were established in the respective regions that cooperated to provide the extended version of country profiles for CE internationally.

Networks

1.1. NECE

The NECE – Networking European Citizenship Education has been initiated and is managed by the Federal Agency for Civic Education (Interner Link: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung/ bpb)in cooperation with partners from France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium, Poland and the Czech Republic. NECE is a transnational community of stakeholders and practitioners (formal, non-formal and informal education) of Citizenship Education (CE) from across Europe. It works with corresponding networks in the Mediterranean, Eastern Europe and Africa. It provides a forum for debate and an opportunity to exchange knowledge on an equal footing. Independent of the political situation and as the non-partisan institution, NECE identifies political, societal and cultural trends to build common strategies for Citizenship Education and advocates the prioritization of Citizenship Education at national, European and international level.
Externer Link: www.nece.eu

1.2. EENCE

Eastern European Network for Citizenship Education - EENCE is a network of organizations and experts aiming to promote exchange and development of knowledge, skills and values on Citizenship Education in Eastern Europe.

The network was established in 2015 as a focus group within NECE with the vision to promote the exchange of non-formal Civic Education experience between states and non-governmental professionals from the Eastern Partnership countries and Russia, as well as to support networking.
Externer Link: www.eence.eu

1.3. NACE

Networking Arab Civic Education - NACE is a platform that connects the diverse initiatives in the field of Civic Education in the Arab region. It creates a network between individuals and institutions to help develop and strengthen their work, thus contributing to the overall development of CE in the region. NACE provides the space to exchange knowledge and tools in order to advocate Civic Education. The values promoted by NACE encourage the participation of citizens and institutions, as well as their responsibility to care for their society. This builds on the benefits and synergies of diversity and transparency, providing for open and accountable cooperation.
Externer Link: www.nacecommunity.org

1.4. CENESA

Civic Education Network for Eastern & Southern Africa – CENESA’s mission is to provide a regional Civic Education platform for mutual support, knowledge sharing, capacity building, advocacy and regional cooperation to individuals, civil society, private sector, state and other stakeholders.
Externer Link: www.cenesa.org

Imprint

Parts of the publication were supported by the German Federal Foreign Office

Publisher: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung/bpb, Adenauerallee 86, 53113 Bonn, Germany © 2019 – 2022

Contact:

Petra Grüne, E-Mail Link: petra.gruene@bpb.de
Svetlana Alenitskaya, E-Mail Link: svetlana.alenitskaya@bpb.de

This publication does not represent an expression of opinion by the Federal Agency for Civic Education. The authors are responsible for the content of their contributions.