This project was a cross-sectoral approach on the development of Human Rights Education in the Lisbon area. It saw a coordinated approach between civil society organisations, the formal education system and other stakeholders. It also translated the 2015 edition of Compass into Portuguese language.

The target group were students from the Lisbon School of Education, young people in the Lisbon area, youth workers and Human Rights educators at national level, as well as Human Rights Education stakeholders also at national level.

Dínamo developed a needs analysis on Human Rights Education at national level in Portugal and discovered that there was no longer any reference organization transferring and translating relevant educational materials in Portuguese language. The needs identified were the lack of cooperation among civil society and higher education institutions in the framework of Human Rights Education. Dínamo recognised the need for quality educational materials and the need for investment in a Human Rights culture at national level.

The aims of the project

Overall goal:

• To enlarge the range of stakeholders and promote greater cooperation between academia and civil society organizations in Human Rights Education

Specific aims:

• To translate the 2015 edition of Compass: Manual for Human Rights education with Young People into Portuguese
• To develop youth workers’ and educators’ competences in the field of Human Rights Education
• To promote and contribute to a national debate on Human Rights Education
• To reinforce the informal network of organizations active in Human Rights Education in Portugal
• To empower the Lisbon School of Education as a Human Rights Education stakeholder

There was an initial non-residential training course in Human Rights, organised for students at the Lisbon School of Education by Dínamo. The funding for the series of events and activities came through Cidadania Ativa Programme by EEA Grants. Once funding was secured this initial event was followed up with a seminar in Human Rights Education also at the Lisbon School of Education. This was the launch of the project and created a space for reflection about Human Rights Education in higher education institutions. It was an opportunity to show the possible strength of cooperation between civil society organizations and higher education institutions.

The project consisted of numerous actions, training courses and conferences coordinated and organised by Dínamo. The translation into the Portuguese language of the 2015 edition of ‘Compass: Manual for Human Rights education with Young People’ was one such action. In the lifetime of the project, Dínamo built and maintained relevant partnerships that led to the successful translation of the 2015 edition of Compass. This action involved a network of 10 organizations in the translation and proofreading.

Other activities included; more than 10 Human Rights Education workshops in the Lisbon area, in cooperation with local partners, involving more than 290 young people. A 6-working-day residential national training course for Human Rights Educators, this involved 24 participants from 11 Lisbon districts. The training course programme consisted of 3 main blocks; me as a person, me as an educator, and me as a HRE agent. The training course included time given to the practice of the gained competences.

The project concluded with a national Human Rights Education conference at the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon. The conference gathered together 120 participants from more than 70 Portuguese organizations active in Human Rights Education at local and national level. The programme included the launching of the Portuguese version of Compass as well as presentations about the Human Rights Education Programme of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe. There were also presentations on the national training course for Human Rights Educators developed within the framework of the project, the No Hate Speech Movement campaign of the Council of Europe, and the local Human Rights Education programme ‘SOMOS’ run by Municipality of Lisbon.

Currently Dínamo is involved in the main initiatives in Human Rights Education in Portugal, it is represented on the board of the European network DARE – Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe and is recognized as one of the main Human Rights Education providers in Portugal.

  Innovation and Impact

The uniqueness of the project is in that it is a success story of a small local youth NGO taking a leadership role in Human Rights Education in Portugal.

Dínamo is a local youth NGO, led by young people from communities in Sintra. It is managed by a team of professional youth workers who have developed youth participation and implemented youth policies at the local level. Part of the development of the team of youth workers and young people of Dínamo has been through a number of learning opportunities with the Youth Department of the Council of Europe.

The impact of the project can be seen on 3 levels:

Dínamo as an organisation grew substantially through the evolution of the whole project. Dínamo became recognized as a leading organization in Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education in Portugal. The project also contributed to its enlargement as an organisation with the development of Edições Dínamo (Dínamo Publishing).

The 24 youth workers and educators who took part in the first national training course in Human Rights education since 2013, the project provided a huge learning opportunity. As a direct result of the training course many practices in the supporting organizations were changed and developed. From the impact study, developed six months after the end of the project it was discovered that:

• 2 organizations had joined the No Hate Speech Movement Campaign National Committee
• 10 participants returned to their organisations and conducted training sessions for colleagues and volunteers
• 8 organizations developed Human Rights Education activities with young people
• 3 organizations developed their own Human Rights Education action plan
• 4 participants found a job or changed their job position, mentioning that the participation in the training course was relevant
• 14 participants have been engaged in other Human Rights Education activities as participants

For the Human Rights Education field at national level the project introduced Compass in the Portuguese language. After the first edition, printed in the framework of the project, the Lisbon Municipality contributed to the costs of the second edition. The project contributed to other programmes and practices such as the local Human Rights Education programme for Lisbon Municipality titled ‘SOMOS’.