How is the Council of Europe’s European Space for Citizenship Education structured? What other European policy frameworks require our attention and what challenges exist for the various fields of work in civic education? How do we want to take up and shape the European processes initiated by the Council of Europe?
These questions were discussed by practitioners from non-formal and formal education, higher education and research, youth work, vocational education and adult education from Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium. They used the framework of the LICEAL project for an intensive exchange and discussion on “current challenges of Education for Democratic Citizenship (in German: politische Bildung) in the context of European policy frameworks”.
While the topic was discussed in April with educational organisations and practitioners in a first PolicyLab, this event was the second (and final) PolicyLab bridging EDC/HRE practice and European policy level.
The expert exchange was organized by the AdB, the Demokrative. Initiative for Civic Education (Switzerland) and Zentrum Polis. Politik lernen in der Schule (Austria) in the context of the work of the DARE – Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe network.
“Frankfurt – What a blast!”
This is the short summary by Christan Pöltl-Dienst from the Vienna Chamber of Labor (Arbeiterkammer Wien) of the conference on June 27, 2025 in the Haus am Dom in Frankfurt am Main.
Civic education and democratic education is so much more than just political education. It must be thought of as a transversal competence – across formal and non-formal educational settings, through all phases of life. Between the poles of civic empowerment and employability, which roughly represent the competing European horizons, stands the question: How do we make people capable of acting in democracy? The Council of Europe’s Reference Framework of Competences for a Democratic Culture provides a common reference system, now also available in German, which does not instruct but empowers – with competences that combine the emotional, ethical, social and critical dimensions of democratic coexistence and learning.
Implementation is complex and requires precision: between a neutral educational mandate and values, between federal responsibility and European orientation, but also between schools, youth work, civil society, etc., areas of tension and negotiation arise – but also areas of innovation. There are many good approaches and practices, but there is a lack of long-term, sustainable funding for political education.
Some insights from the expert exchange:
- Neutrality vs. non-partisanship: The term neutrality was critically reflected upon, particularly in the context of controversial negotiation processes and topics. However, the controversiality requirement and the risk of being overwhelmed (“Überwältigung”) emerged as much more important in the discussion.
- Democracy-related education succeeds when we create relational, emotional and experiential approaches – regardless of the sector.
- Competence orientation must be thought of in a differentiated way: The concept of competence has been the subject of controversial debate, between emancipatory potential and neoliberal narrowness. It seems important to focus on enabling education and shaping agendas, not on adaptation. With the competence profile for civic education professionals, the AdB has created an important instrument that will help to achieve greater clarity about the profession of the various specialist fields in the long term. In this sense, it would be important, for example, to introduce the profile into the discussion on the implementation of the European Youth Work Agenda, as well as to use it as an impetus for the formal education sector. With the Competence Explorer of the LICEAL project, the DARE network has also created a complementary tool that can help professionals to orient themselves in the terminology of different competence frameworks that are important for civic education.
- Democracy-related learning is still underappreciated in the field of vocational education (VET). Although there are some intersections between the competence and learning outcome approaches (the latter of which is strongly promoted by VET policy), the VET field needs to understand that EDC/HRE is not about ‘soft skills’ (i.e. non-measurable and irrelevant in the employment sector). Competences for a Democratic Culture and transversal competences form the hard foundation for vocational success in times and contexts of transformation and reorientation, re-entry and inclusion.
- Transnational cooperation needs transfer points and exchange formats – the discussion about European frameworks must not only be conducted at the education and youth policy level, it must and requires “pressure through dialog and practical discourse”. Projects such as the CoE’s European Space can only succeed if it is possible to turn it into a process involving the various players in political education – and to integrate them. And these projects can only succeed if they establish and seek a link to parallel political framework processes in the various youth and education sectors, such as the European Agenda on Youth Work or the European Commission’s Basic Skills Action Plan.
- Training and support for teachers and educational stakeholders is essential. Advice, further training and joint negotiation are part of the professionalism of democratic education.
Where do we go from here?
There was broad agreement to continue the format in the coming years. The German-speaking organizers involved in the DARE network are already in the planning stage.