Is there a cure to the current distrust in institutions and lack of interest in politics? The session “Renewing the civic mission of education” held at the World Forum for Democracy on 6 November 2025 highlighted the need to use education as an effective way to revive and regenerate democracies.
“We need to rebuild trust in democracy through education initiatives such as the Council of Europe’s European Space for Citizenship Education combined with grassroot projects,” highlighted Ms Sarah Keating, Head of the Formal and Non-formal Education Division, Council of Europe Education Department. Ms Keating presented the European Space for Citizenship Education, a newly launched project of the Council of Europe that aims to develop a framework to enhance the quality of education for democratic citizenship across Europe and, in so doing, to renew the civic mission of education. Education is an effective tool and through this, it is possible to bring about a change at the grassroot level (in and outside schools) and have a positive impact on societies in general.
“Democracy is not at risk. I believe that societies are the ones in danger. Democracies are the tools to regenerate societies,” explained Rolf Gollob, Professor Emeritus, Zurich University of Teacher Education; Chair of the Council of Europe Education Policy Advisors Network (EPAN) and Member of the Swiss UNESCO-Commission. Mr Gollob explained the positive impact of implementing the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture and its “butterfly model” which includes the key skills, values, attitudes, knowledge and critical understanding necessary for every single citizen in thrive in an inclusive and democratic society. “This butterfly should be used everywhere in every moment,” he further added.
“Citizenship is a muscle that needs to be exercised,” emphasised Raphaël Culliford, Chief Executive Officer of the French NGO Parlons Démocratie. Mr Culliford in his intervention explained the importance of activities with young people to ensure that they practice democracy. “We need to create spaces where kids can think about and act based on these values,” he further underlined.
The current task of reviving democracy has to be carried out in a context where AI is increasingly playing a key role in our lives and also in education. When a prompt is submitted and we receive an answer from an AI app such as ChatGPT, most people focus on the answer that is given but “what is important is what is not there,” pointed out Mr Ron Salaj, Researcher at the University of Turin. “AI is not neutral and technology is not neutral. AI is not an unbiased authority,” he further underscored. That is why the Council of Europe is developing a Draft Recommendation on AI literacy to be approved by the Committee of Ministers incorporating three dimensions: technological (how AI works and develops), practical (using AI effectively), and human (the impact of AI on humans, their human rights, democracy and the rule of law).
The session sponsored by the City of Strasbourg and taking place in the context of the European Year of Digital Citizenship Education 2025 was moderated by Mr Andreu Jordi Tomàs, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative of Andorra to the Council of Europe. Ambassador Jordi Tomàs introduced the panellists and the three initiatives: “Social Media and AI” from USA, “Community Legal Pathways for Democratic Resilience (CLPDR)” from Afghanistan and “The new faces of Brazilian Democracy: shaping qualified leaders for a renewed politics” from Brazil. Participants had the opportunity to provide inputs and feedback to the initiatives and ask questions to the panellists.
The World Forum for Democracy contributes to the objectives of the Council of Europe’s New Democratic Pact for Europe that aims to bring forward a new common response to the current challenges that European democracies face.
The recording of the session is available on the webpage of the session.
For more information:
European Space of Citizenship Education
Council of Europe’s work on AI and Education
European Year of Digital Citizenship Education 2025
