On 10–11 June, the working group of the European Space for Citizenship Education (ESCE) met in Strasbourg to build the fundamental elements of this new Council of Europe initiative: the principles of education for democratic citizenship and the framework of quality assurance. This meeting marked an important milestone towards the future space for developing quality citizenship education as part of the efforts of the Education Department to renew the civic mission of education across Europe.

The principles of education for democratic citizenship are currently being codified from the Council of Europe acquis, such as the Charter of Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education, the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture and other relevant recommendations and materials. These principles will provide a shared understanding of quality citizenship education and meaningful narratives to policy makers and the education community in Europe.

A new framework of quality assurance will translate the principles of education for democratic citizenship into norms. During the meeting, the working group explored existing models of monitoring of the Council of Europe that inspired the discussion on the future framework. The framework will include areas of measurement and quality indicators for formal and non-formal education that will track the progress made by the member states towards quality citizenship education based on targets.

The European Space for Citizenship Education contributes to the new Democratic Pact for Europe of the Secretary General, where education constitutes one of its pillars to develop a shared understanding of democracy based on democratic values and promote civic engagement through quality citizenship education.