Back The Strength of Choice: Adrani hosts "Living Library" to promote empathy and human rights

The Strength of Choice: Adrani hosts

The primary school "Dragan Marinković" in Adrani, Kraljevo, recently hosted its fifth annual "Living Library" event, a powerful educational manifestation organised under the joint European Union and Council of Europe action "Quality Education for All." Under the evocative title "The Strength of Choice" (Snaga izbora), the event transformed traditional learning into a deeply personal exchange of human experiences. The "Living Library" functions exactly like a real library - except the "books" are people with unique life stories, and the "reading" is a face-to-face conversation.

This year’s programme featured four profound "living books," representing vulnerable social groups whose stories challenged stereotypes and promoted the core values of the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (RFCDC):

  • The story of a person’s life following a heart transplant.
  • "Where Fear Ends, I Begin": A courageous testimonial from a survivor of domestic violence.
  • "The Choice That Brings Peace": The spiritual and life journey of a nun.
  • "Home in My Heart": A narrative about the journey from Syria and finding a new home in Serbia.

By engaging directly with these narratives, students and members of the local community practiced critical thinking and empathy, moving beyond prejudice to understand the complexities of human dignity and resilience.

The event was facilitated by the school's dedicated team of educators, who have integrated the "Living Library" as a staple of their democratic school culture. This methodology allows students to develop competences for democratic culture not through theory, but through the emotional and ethical engagement required to hear and respect the others.

The action “Quality education for all” is part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.

Adrani 15 May 2026
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The action “Quality education for all – Serbia” proposes a series of complementary measures at policy, grass roots and regional levels to further improve the quality of education in Serbia by fostering a culture of democracy and inclusion and combatting all forms of discrimination in the formal education system, in line with the Council of Europe standards and tools and developed in consultation with key stakeholders and final beneficiaries.

This action is implemented within the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye" running from 2023 until 2026.


What is the goal and objective of the action?

  • to enhance the quality of education by fostering a democratic culture in the formal education system and addressing discrimination by applying European standards
  • to support policy makers to further improve and align practices and policies with EU acquis, European Union and the Council of Europe standards
  • to ensure that a democratic culture is promoted as a key element for a quality education by raising awareness in society


Who benefits from the action?

  • the Ministry of Education, the Institute for Improvement of Education, the Institute for Education Quality and Evaluation and other education institutions
  • primary and secondary schools in Serbia including teachers and school management, students, parents and their communities
  • society of Serbia that will enjoy the benefits of an education system enriched by a democratic culture


How does the action work?

  • through both grassroots and policy-level interventions
  • with education policy-making and targeted capacity building, awareness-raising, tailor-made school and higher education projects and joint school activities, working group meetings, conferences and peer exchanges
  • it builds on the results of co-operation under previous two phases of the programme: action “Fostering a democratic school culture” (2016-2019) and action “Quality education for all” (2019-2022)


What do we expect to achieve?

  • education policy makers include Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture into the education system to the benefit of all people
  • teachers, school management, education professionals, other school staff, students, parents and local communities benefit from reduced instances of discrimination, violence and increased mutual understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence in а culturally diverse society
  • awareness of the importance of a democratic culture as a key element of quality education for all is raised and strengthened


What is the budget of the action?

The total budget of the action is 1,000,000 EUR.

The budget allocated to the overall Horizontal Facility programme amounts to ca. 41 Million EUR (85% funded by the European Union, 15% by the Council of Europe).


How to get more information?


About Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye

The “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” is a joint initiative of the European Union and the Council of Europe that enables the Western Balkans Beneficiaries and Türkiye to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with the European standards, which is also a priority for the EU enlargement process.