Work on shaping a European Space for Citizenship Education (ESCE) is accelerating, reaching a critical juncture as the Council of Europe gears up for the 27th session of the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education in Montenegro this December. At the latest in a series of Working Group meetings, experts gathered in Strasbourg for two days to co-create a shared framework, exchanging insights, testing ideas, and moving key proposals closer to finalisation.
A central focus of the meeting was developing a renewed and accessible narrative for Education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC). Members examined revised principles for EDC to articulate a conceptually robust, clearly communicated understanding of citizenship education that responds to contemporary democratic challenges. This emerging narrative aims to help policymakers, educators, and practitioners respond to today’s democratic challenges by strengthening the role of citizenship education in supporting democratic culture and participation across Europe.
Working in parallel groups, participants made progress on two core pillars of ESCE: the codification of EDC principles and the Quality Assurance Framework. Discussions refined a coherent structure to support education systems in strengthening provision, assessing progress, highlighting results, and recognising good practice. Special attention was given to ensuring quality assurance promotes improvement rather than compliance, and to reflecting the contribution of civil society organisations to citizenship education.
Joint discussions also explored the links between the revised EDC principles and the quality areas of the emerging framework, reinforcing the importance of coherence between objectives and implementation tools.
This meeting is part of ongoing preparations for the 26th Conference of Ministers of Education in Montenegro, where the European Space for Citizenship Education is expected to be officially launched as a major pan-European initiative. Further guidance will be provided at the CDEDU plenary in Strasbourg on 18–20 March 2026, as the work continues towards a European space where citizenship education is guided by shared principles, a common narrative, and practical quality frameworks.
