Shaping the Future of Democratic Education: THE CIVICS at the “European Space for Citizenship Education” Conference
From 14 October 2025, education professionals, civil-society actors, and policy-makers gathered in Bečići (Montenegro) for the international conference “Towards a European Space for Citizenship Education”, hosted by the Council of Europe. This event marked a key milestone in defining a shared European framework for citizenship education, and THE CIVICS Innovation Hub was proud to join the conversation, contributing its expertise in informal and non-formal civic education.
The conference focused on two urgent questions: how can we sustain democracy through high-quality citizenship education, and how can education for democratic citizenship be more fully integrated into today’s schools and learning environments?
Opening remarks by Mr Villano Qiriazi (Head of the Education Department, Council of Europe), Ms Anđela Jakšić-Stojanović (Montenegro’s Minister of Education, Science & Innovation), and Mr Peter Felten (Ambassador of Germany to Montenegro) emphasised that democratic practices must be learned, lived, and embedded in relationships — not merely taught from afar. As highlighted during discussions, democracies do not begin in parliaments, but in classrooms, where young citizens first learn to practise dialogue, participation, and collective responsibility.
Themes and insights
Throughout the day, participants explored key building blocks for the emerging European Space for Citizenship Education:
- Codification of principles: Workshops examined how to define and integrate core values of education for democratic citizenship.
- Quality-assurance frameworks: Panels considered how formal, non-formal, and informal education can be held to common standards that foster democratic competence.
- Grassroots-level impact: Teachers, students, and practitioners reflected on how democracy is experienced in everyday classrooms and communities. A recurring theme was the concept of “microdosing democracy” — embedding democratic practices in small, routine teaching moments, as championed by Mirjam Haj Younes (Sweden).
Key takeaways for the field
- Education for democratic citizenship must be an integral part of everyday learning, supported by meaningful relationships between teachers and learners, and between schools and society.
- Democracy is a collective effort, not an individual one, and must be practised as such.
- Building a pan-European framework requires acknowledging that each country has its own level of democracy and citizenship education. Increased networking and regional cooperation among educators are essential to exchange best practices and strengthen impact.
- If we do not teach democracy in classrooms, it risks being taught elsewhere — through social media platforms such as YouTube and TikTok — underscoring the urgency of proactive, structured civic education.
- Flexibility is key: while developing shared European standards, it is crucial to respect local contexts, adapting approaches to diverse learning environments across member states.
- Quality assurance remains vital: as education systems step up as democratic actors, reliable mechanisms are needed to support, evaluate, and learn from successful initiatives.
We extend our gratitude to the Council of Europe and all participants for an engaging, forward-looking conference. THE CIVICS Innovation Hub will continue sharing insights, reflections, and opportunities as the European Space for Citizenship Education moves from co-creation into implementation.
For more on the initiative and materials from the conference, visit the Council of Europe page: “Towards a European Space for Citizenship Education”.
