Education for Democratic Citizenship - German Education Server

Citizenship education and democracy have become a growing concern for stakeholders worldwide. Thematically, the focus is  placed on global competence, use of digital media, and sustainable development - challenges to young people in a globalised world.

The Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung/bpb) centres on promoting awareness for democracy and participation in politics. It takes up topical and historical subjects by issuing publications, by organising seminars, events, study trips, exhibitions and competitions, by providing training  and materials online and for download. Some documents and materials are in [...]

Information by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community on the topic of civic education in Germany.

Volunteering in Germany - facts and policies.

document from: Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend

Results from  a survey of adolescents aged 16 to 25. What do they know and think about democracy?

A report on teaching children and young people about democracy.

document from: Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend

"Live Democracy!" Our democracy needs to be filled with new life every day. It needs people who practise and maintain democratic culture at local level. The aim of the federal programme "Live Democracy!" is to support people in this. With this programme, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth has been supporting civic engagement for a diverse and democratic [...]

document from: Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend

The non-profit Hertie Foundation supports people who are committed to the community, it provides educational opportunities for people in positions of responsibility, and it promotes talent. In its own projects and together with partners, it works primarily in the three areas of good governance, democratic public sphere and social cohesion.

The Education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC) is a website by the Council of Europe offering a set of practices and activities designed to help young people and adults to play an active part in democratic life and exercise their rights and responsibilities in society. EDC encompasses other related concepts, such as peace and intercultural education, dealing with extrremist attitudes and actions.

Young people around the world are increasingly affected by violence, social problems, and a lack of respect for each other and the world around them. Educators in many countries are impacted by greater challenges and pressures. The Living Values Education Program is effective in decreasing violence and bullying, and in creating safe, caring school climates which are conducive to quality learning. Living Values [...]

DARE, Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe, is a Europe-wide network focusing on the twin fields of education for democratic citizenship and human rights education. Founded in 2003, the network has since been engaged in developing projects, resources and other activities offline and online, also to integrate the thematic area into current topical fields of action such as digitisation.

The aim is to give ideas and guidelines for action to support teacher/trainers training in education for democratic citizenship (EDC). It is a result of a collective work coordinated by the Council of Europe.

Democracy in Germany, Europe, and all across the globe is facing major challenges. Trust in institutions and processes is dwindling, and many citizens find their expectations of participation and justice are not being met. This feeling of being underrepresented in political discourse and processes can undermine the legitimacy of democracy, as well as intensify a tendency toward division and populism, [...]

The Foundation focuses on three fields of promotion, the Neurosciences, European Integration and Learning Democracy. The Foundation seeks to sound out new solutions and help towards their practical implementation.

"The following essay gives an overview of the development of civic education at German schools in the 20th century. This is based on the study of German contributions to the international comparative project "Civic Education" within the scheme of the International Association for Evaluation of Educational achievement (IEA), which were published internationally and by the German project group. Essential empirical [...]

"The article assesses the role of civic education in contexts of heightened political polarisation, especially with a focus on right-wing populism. By drawing on the rise of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Germany, we argue that civic education is an indispensible building block in redeeming the famous Böckenförde dictum in modern pluralist democracies [main sentence of the dictum: 'The liberal, [...]