Addressing Radicalisation and Extremism through Education - Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education (EDC/HRE)

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On 24-25 September 2015, representatives of ministries of education, education professionals and civils society organisations met in Strasbourg to discuss the role of education in addressing extremism and radicalisation.

The pace and scale of intolerance, radicalisation and violence in Europe today demands an urgent response, and education has an important role to play in this respect – states Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland in his report on the state of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. In the context of the terror attacks of the beginning of 2015, education in general and citizenship and human rights in particular are drawing attention as an effective means of addressing extremism and radicalisation.

For many years, the Council of Europe intergovernmental programme has been supporting cooperation among its member states in this area, which allowed developing a broad range of valuable expertise, tools and materials in the field education and inspired several joint programmes with the European Commission. The present conference discussed some examples of these programmes, and explored how this work can be better supported, upscaled and developed in the years to come, in particular in the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan to combat violent extremism and radicalisation leading to terrorism.

The conference brought together a broad range of actors, with a view to facilitate a multi-perspective and thought provoking debate, and to support the bridging of policy and practice in this area.