The Council of Europe, represented by Director for Democracy Matjaž Gruden at the Global Education Meeting (GEM) 2024 in Fortaleza, underlined at a ministerial panel the Council's commitment to transformative education as a key driver for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) on quality education.
Mr Gruden emphasised the Council of Europe's focus on democratic culture through education, highlighting the need for political attention, resources and strong support for teachers. At the heart of his message was the Council's vision of schools as active spaces of democratic culture, where pupils not only learn about democracy, but actively practice its values. He presented the ‘Learning First 2030’ strategy and the launch of the new European Citizenship Area, which aims to foster a culture of democracy, celebrate diversity and promote fundamental values alongside the digital transformation.
In line with this vision, Mr Gruden announced that the European Year of Digital Citizenship Education 2025, an initiative to prepare students for the digital age by promoting digital literacy and responsible digital citizenship, will pay particular attention to the digital well-being of students.
The Council of Europe's Education Department and the CDEDU played an important role in drafting the Fortaleza Declaration, which was adopted at the end of the meeting. This declaration reaffirms the global commitment to inclusive, equitable and quality education, reinforcing the principles of MDG 4. The priorities of the declaration benefited from broad European input, with consultations led by the Council's Education Department, France, Latvia, Portugal and Romania. A regional online consultation on 5 and 6 September underlined Europe's unwavering commitment to lifelong learning, democratic governance and research-based education policies.
By aligning its Education Strategy 2024-2027 with the global agenda, the Council of Europe is considerably strengthening its contribution to MDG 4. The next plenary session of the CDEDU in March 2025 will further explore how the principles of the Fortaleza Declaration will shape the work of the Council and regional education strategies.
