Forum on the present and future of citizenship and human rights education in Europe with young peope

A Forum to share, create and advocate

The findings and conclusions of the review of the Charter must be shared and discussed with all stakeholders. Progress on EDC/HRE is more effective when many stakeholders are involved in its conceptualisation, development and implementation; when they coordinate, cooperate and share experience. Moreover, the conclusions and recommendations need to be articulated into renewed priorities and commitments for the upcoming years. The 2022 Forum on EDC/HRE is thus organised to bring together and review these experiences and their implication for the understanding and EDC / HRE practice through youth work, non-formal and formal learning.

This forum is co-organised by the Council of Europe (Education and the Youth sectors) and the Department for Youth Policy and the Universal Civic Service of the Italian government, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Amnesty International (European Office and Italian section), the City of Turin, the National Youth Council of Italy and the European Youth Forum. The activity is organised within the Italian Presidency of the Council of Europe, which made youth policy one of its strategic priorities. It will be held in Turin and will link to local EDC/HRE reality, in which the Centre “Open 011” hosts the Joint Human Rights Education Programme (JHREP), promoted by Amnesty International Italy, the NGO CIFA and the Human Rights Education Youth Network (HREYN).

The forum is organised by a Preparatory Group set up by the Joint Council on Youth. The Group brings together representatives of the Advisory Council on Youth and of the European Steering Committee for Youth, in addition to the partners above-mentioned.

Aims and objectives

The Forum aims at strengthening the quality, recognition, and outreach of education for democratic citizenship and human rights education with young people

Objectives

To review the implementation of the Council of Europe Charter on EDC/HRE;
To identify and address successes and challenges in carrying out EDC/HRE in a (post) pandemic context for human rights education and linking specifically with some of the thematic priorities of Italian Presidency in the Council of Europe:
Gender equality and combating violence against women
Children’s rights and youth policies
Protection of cultural heritage
Artificial intelligence and human rights/democracy/rule of law;
To make proposals for the further development and sustainability of EDC/HRE in the state’s parties to the European Cultural Convention;
To share practices and support exchange and cooperation between different stakeholders from formal and nonformal education fields concerned with EDC/HRE in the thematic priorities;
To enhance the recognition of the role of youth civil society and further develop cross sectoral cooperation for EDC/HRE, including youth work;
To strengthen cross sectoral dialogue and partnerships between different stakeholders in EDC/HRE: educators, trainers, authorities and policy makers, intergovernmental organisations and others;
To contribute to the strategic priorities and programme of the Italian Presidency in the Council of Europe, and to the work on HRE in Italy and particularly in the city of Turin.