Life Long Learning

Strasbourg, 20 June 2000 DGIV/EDU/CIT (2000) 21

COUNCIL FOR CULTURAL CO-OPERATION (CDCC)

PROJECT ON   “EDUCATION FOR DEMOCRATIC

CITIZENSHIP”

Education for Democratic

Citizenship:

A Lifelong Learning Perspective

César Bîrzéa

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All correspondence concerning   this report or the reproduction or translation of all or part of the document should be addressed to the Directorate General IV Council of Europe F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex.

In 1997, the Education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC) project was set up with the aim to find out which values and skills individuals require in order to become participating citizens, how they can acquire these skills and how they can learn to pass them on to others.

A Project Group composed of education ministries representatives, specialists, international institutions and NGOs active in the field of education for democratic citizenship was set up at the beginning of the project. The project activities grounded in theory as well as in practical everyday life, have been divided between three sub-groups. They worked on

A – concepts / definitions :
Aims: to work out a framework of concepts for education for democratic citizenship together with the appropriate terminology and to identify the basic skills required for democratic practices in European societies.

B – pilot projects / sites od citizenship:
Aims: to identify, learn from, compare, appraise and encourage the development of citizenship sites (innovative and empowering initiatives in which citizens participate actively in society, especially at the local level). Partnerships between the different actors involved in education for citizenship (e.g. schools, parents, the media, businesses, local authorities, adult education establishments) are... [continues]

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