Learning democracy” “

Thinking and acting “with” the young: collaborating with national school systems; raising awareness: just some of the aims of the European Year of Citizenship through Education proclaimed by the Council of Europe in 2005. In an interview with SIR, the English TERRY DAVIS , General Secretary of the Council of Europe since September 2004, looks back on the year. “Democracy is learned and experienced everyday”. This was one of the slogans with which you launched the European Year of Citizenship through Education in 2005. Are you satisfied with the results achieved? “Education in democratic citizenship and human values is closely correlated with the fundamental values of the Council of Europe. So, 2005 dedicated to citizenship through education had a special significance for us. We are delighted to be able to declare that the Year can be considered a success. 40 member states out of 46 actively participated, far exceeding our hopes. The States promoted their own activities in pursuit of the objectives of the Year. In practice, what does that mean? National committees were formed by bringing together a huge range of players to foster education in democratic citizenship. Information on the activities of the Council of Europe was provided; activities were organized to heighten awareness of the question; educational aids for professionals – such as teachers – involved in the sector were translated into the official languages and diffused in Europe. The events promoted during the year were very varied, comprising inaugural conferences, training courses, workshops, seminars for teachers and round tables. The NGOs were active and cooperated with governments, local authorities and schools”. The declared objectives also included the launch of a campaign for the diffusion of programmes for education in citizenship. Do you think the Year was successful in this area? What results have still to be achieved? “The special year was not intended to be aimed primarily at the public at large. On the contrary, right from the start it was decided that it should be mainly targeted at professionals in the educational sector and that the main objective would be to foster the practice of democratic citizenship. Our partners were asked to reply, by January 2006, to a questionnaire on the results of the activities carried out: the replies will now be analysed and an assessment summarising our findings will be prepared. Lastly, a final conference is planned to be held at Sinaia, in Romania, on 27-28 April. Though they’ll have to await the results of the questionnaire, our national coordinators have already indicated that the first result of the work carried out is a greater involvement of the political players. Of course, greater financial resources would have permitted a further impulse in this field. The coordinators also underlined how difficult it is to obtain the attention of the media in this question”. At the start of 2005 you encouraged reflection on the need to invest in education in democratic citizenship, at a time when the young are deserting polling booths and political life. How did the youth you contacted reply? Did teachers and schools cooperate? “A great number of activities were conducted for and with the young. I would like to cite, for example, those proposed in Estonia, Ukraine, Finland and Norway. In the United Kingdom a substantial number of events were aimed at the young: last March EURU was held in London, a meeting in which teenagers, designated by those in their own age group, discussed Europe and citizenship. During EURU various youth activities were held, including the creation of graffiti, sessions of electronic balloting, various performances (rap music, plays, songs and dances), a video competition and interventions by famous guest speakers. Our hope is that these activities may continue in 2006, in particular through the Campaign against racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance, due to begin in June this year. As regards the participation of teachers and schools, it was on the whole good: skilled teachers are the key to the effective learning of democracy”. What are the lasting results of this Year of Citizenship through Education? “It’s clear that the Year had a strong impact and reinforced the commitment of member states. Now we must continue along this path, focusing on a long-term effort as regards the theme of democracy and human rights. We ascertain a considerable interest in the exchange of experiences between countries and regions in this area, and the Council of Europe is favourably placed to foster this process. The Council of Europe has already decided to pursue the project of education in democratic citizenship at least until 2009”. ———————————————————————————————————– Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 1447 N.ro relativo : 7 Data pubblicazione : 01/02/2006