European Puzzle: from local and national towards European Citizenship
Over the past two years, UCD Adult Education Centre has acted as Co-ordinator of a European Grundtvig Learning Partnership Project entitled European Puzzle: From local and national towards European Citizenship. The project involved five organisations from across Europe:
- UCD Adult Education Centre, Dublin
- County Donegal Vocational Education Committee Adult Education Service
- Centre for Citizenship Education, Warsaw, Poland
- Munich Academy of Adult Education, Munich, Germany
- Department of Adult Education and Personnel Management, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
This project drew on the experiences of a range of adult education practitioners in a variety of education settings, both formal and non-formal, to consider what it means to be a European citizen and to discuss educating for active citizenship. Tutors and representatives from each organisation attended two workshops to showcase active citizenship education practices and to debate matters of identity, participation, integration and remembrance.
Following our discussions and workshops, Introductory Guidelines on European Active Citizenship for Adult Educators , were developed and are available here. These guidelines provide both a theoretical and practical overview of European Active Citizenship. The theory section highlights the contemporary debates on citizenship and active citizenship, and outlines the evolution of European Citizenship and the particular challenges this supra-national form of citizenship represents. The practice section provides sample class plans for adult educators who wish to discuss citizenship matters with their students. These session plans are based on participative methodologies and can be adapted to suit different audiences. There are also suggestions for facilitating discussions on the four themes, which emerged as key concerns in our work, identity, participation, integration and remembrance. The guidelines conclude with a number of case studies showcasing the work of participants on this project.Guidelines
For further information about this project, please contact Rhonda Wynne, Project Co-ordinator, at 01-7167123 or email rhonda.wynne@ucd.ie
Group Photo
Prague, May 2008