Active Citizenship Development

Active Citizenship is indispensable for the survival of democracy. However, there was a lack of suitable learning material on Active citizenship, and the subject-matter is not either on the curricula of education institutions. We would make it possible for young people to acquire competencies in active citizenship and thus stimulate democracy. At the end of the Erasmus+ project, the education content and app are the free disposal for the target group of young people, for job creating authorities, trade unions, enterprises and NGOs.

This project promoted the EU Youth Strategy 2019-27 about engaging, connecting and empowering young to: • take the challenge to create an innovative, comprehensive and balanced content about active citizenship • deliver an education programme that was accessible to all and available in its capacity as a self-study material on an app. With this education programme we would: • stimulate young people’s engagement in democracy • show young people how they can make a difference • improve young people’s further education possibilities and employability. Our new, informal, interdisciplinary education: "Active Citizenship" is targeted at young people, including young people with fewer opportunities. It integrates disciplines, such as: Psychology (Personal and social development, empathy, resilience), Sociology (entrepreneurship, integration, social dynamics and issues), Journalism (critical thinking (being aware of echo chambers, not buying fake news, sound judgment, retrieving adequate information), Environmental studies (advocacy for protection of the earth, fighting climate change, finding jobs in the growing green sector), Social science and Politology (understanding the nature of power and influence).

The pillar activities are: DEVELOPMENT OF CONTENT (Project goal No 1), six modules: (0) Introduction, Personal project, (2) Self-efficacy, (3) Theory on Active Citizenship, (4) Global Citizenship, (5) Advocacy and Campaigning, (6) Social entrepreneurship CREATING AN APP (project goal No 2) as a learner-centred platform for self-study. To reach as many young people as possible, the app-medium was chosen. All young people have mobile phones, and it is flexible for them to learn from an app. We knew that self-study can be lonely, and developed a learning method where young participants can work together virtually. The app can be downloaded from Appstore and Google Play. INCLUSION OF YOUNG PARTICIPANTS AS TEST-STUDENTS AND CO-CREATORS: Each partner recruited young people from stakeholders in their countries and involved them in creating the allocated module. In 3 LTTAs, all partners and their young participants met to evaluate and further develop the content. DISSEMINATION. The process of content development has deliberately not been open to the public, the partners and the young participants worked like in a laboratory. However, we have informed stakeholders in the partner countries that an new education programme / course was underway, and when the course was ready in December 2023, all partners have started to present the course. The first meetings took the form of Multiplier Events in all partner countries.

We have an app with an education programme which is free to download and accessible to young people. We have filled a gap and provided learning material about active citizenship. In the application, we promised to reach <2000 young people within 3 years after the end of the project. We are convinced that we’ll reach many more. We have secured that the app is being maintained after the project, and our stakeholders are curious and want their young people and internal educators to try it The course is not only available in the app-format: All 6 modules are published in a handbook in the partner languages French, Danish, English, German and Greek. The material in in word-format and can be used in class-room education. Teachers and others can adapt the material and copy from it. The participants who finalise the course will get a certificate which will be useful in their further education and job search.