The first meeting of the new Working Group on the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (RFCDC) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) took place in a hybrid format on 21 November 2023 in Strasbourg.

The RFCDC, as a set of materials, can be used within education systems to equip young people with the competences that are needed to take action to defend and promote human rights, democracy and the rule of law, to act as active citizens, to participate effectively in a culture of democracy, and to live peacefully together with others in culturally diverse societies. It can be applied to a range of societal contexts and challenges.

Contemporary societies within Europe face many challenges.  One that needs to be urgently addressed is the triple planetary crisis of pollution, climate change, and loss of biodiversity, as underlined at the 4th Summit of the Council of Europe of 16-17 May 2023. Education, and in particular the RFCDC, is a tool that can be used to promote sustainable development.

Against this background, the Council of Europe Education Department initiated a project to develop guidance on how the RFCDC can interrelate with ESD, and a Working Group* was established to contribute to this work.

During the meeting, participants exchanged views on the scope of the future guidance on RFCDC and ESD. The Group also had a fruitful and lively discussion on how competences for democratic culture can be related to ESD.

*The Working Group is composed of education experts from 19 member States and observer organisations to the Steering Committee for Education: Cyprus, Iceland, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Romania, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Türkiye, Ukraine, the European Students’ Union, the Federation for European Education, the Lifelong Learning Platform, and the Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions.