Educating in citizenship

A democracy that “is built from below”, with “the participation and commitment” of citizens: that was the message sent out to the 500 participants who enrolled in the Summer University for democracy held by the Council of Europe at Strasbourg from 10 to 14 July. They listened with close attention to the inaugural address given by the general secretary of the institution, the Englishman TERRY DAVIS . It was altogether a busy week at the Palais de l’Europe, where the participants in the “schools of politics” also promoted by the COE in several countries of Eastern Europe were also gathered. DEMOCRACY ON TRIAL. The programme of the Summer University included reports by politicians and exponents of the world of culture, followed by seminars, exchanges of experiences and study trips to some local institutions. The introductory lecture was given by SERGUEI STANISHEV , Bulgarian prime minister. The main issues discussed included: “The new challenges for democracy and human rights in Europe today”; “European projects: present and future of common action”; and “guiding public action and good governance”. A final Declaration was drafted during the various sessions, summing up the various issues discussed: the relations between citizens and institutions, social and political formation among the young, the “European project”, and practices for good governance. In his speech, Terry Davis urged the participants to dedicate themselves to the question of equal opportunities, maintaining that “women are seriously under-represented in political offices”. According to MAUD DE BOER-BUQUICCHIO , from Holland, assistant secretary of the COE, “the institutions must react to change and adapt” to the new challenges “posed by globalization, cultural diversification”, and new developments at the demographic and economic levels. At the end of the week, a ceremony was held with the participation of the Mayor of Strasbourg, Fabienne Keller, and the Nobel Peace Prize winner, John Hume. SCHOOLS IN EASTERN EUROPE. The COE Summer University in Strasbourg also provided an opportunity for an exchange of experiences between the schools of political studies promoted by the Council of Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The first such school was created in Moscow in 1992, with the aim of “forming the new generation of political, economic, social and cultural leaders” of the democracy that would be born from the ashes of the Soviet Union. The curriculum of the school includes a series of seminars and annual conferences on such themes as European integration, democracy, human rights, the rule of law and globalization. At the present time, COE schools are active in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Moldavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Croatia. Courses in another three countries: Albania, Azerbaijan and Bosnia-Herzegovina, were begun in 2004. INVESTMENT FOR THE FUTURE. The idea on which this project is based is explained by Council of Europe staff as follows: “Education in citizenship is an investment for the continent’s democratic future. In a period when the young are deserting polling booths and public and political life, the question of education in democratic citizenship needs urgently to be posed anew”. Meetings, debates and courses promoted by these schools are aimed at “supporting European values” and “promoting the emergence of a new generation of public leaders”. The schools offer young cadres and leaders of every level (lawyers, journalists, economists, social researchers) “complementary training in pluralist democracy, human rights and the rule of law”. In general, the schools are organized in cycles of seminars (often of the duration of one week) and culminate in the summer university held in Strasbourg. One of the boasts of the COE is the fact that “former participants in the courses run by the schools already include ministers, secretaries of state, local administrators and diplomats”. FROM MOSCOW TO PRISTINA. The “School of Political Studies in Moscow”, directed by LENA NEMIROVSKAYA , is the best consolidated of these schools promoted by the Council of Europe. In almost fifteen years of activity, “it has accepted roughly 6,000 participants from various regions of the Russian Federation and neighbouring countries such as Armenia, Belarus, the Baltic States, Georgia and Ukraine”. “Its teaching methods favour mental opening rather than the imposition of pre-established solutions”. The Council of Europe provides “a technical support” and the Moscow model “has served as an example to establish the network of political schools in South-East Europe”. The school in Pristina, in Kosovo, established in 2003, intends, in addition, to play “an important role in the reconciliation of the various communities of the region”, still marked by conflicts and divisions.