Presentation for EDC/HRE coordinators – 11 February 2016
INTRODUCTION
The World Forum for Democracy is an annual gathering of leaders, opinion-makers, civil society activists, representatives of business, academia, media and professional groups to debate key challenges for democracies worldwide. The insights gathered during the World Forum meetings inform the work of the Council of Europe and its partners in the field of democracy and democratic governance. The Forum is organized since 2012 by the Council of Europe in partnership with the French government, the Alsace Region and the city of Strasbourg.
Themes of previous Forum have revolved around democracy in the digital age, the role of youth in democracy or and finding the right balance between freedom and control in democratic societies.
The World Forum for Democracy 2016 will take place on 7-9 November in Strasbourg and it will deal with education for democracy.
OBJECTIVES
The World Forum for Democracy offers a platform for decision-makers and activists to debate, in a result-oriented and practice-based framework, the challenges education faces in relation to its democratic responsibility, and identify changes which can bring better results at both grassroots and systemic levels.
The World Forum “Educating for Democracy” will not deal with all challenges related to education. These challenges are debated in a vast range of fora. It will focus specifically on the issue of how education can become better at nurturing citizens as active members of society who engage in public space – and how grassroots innovation can be enhanced to promote change in education practice on a greater scale. The Forum will discuss not only what Education can do for Democracy but also what Democracy can do for Education.
The World forum for Democracy 2016 will
· analyse where we stand today in terms of education systems’ impact on democracy;
· identify innovative, experimental initiatives, practice, and suggestions for reform (both in provision and system design) which make education (both formal and non-formal) more democracy-centred, and critically assess their potential to trigger change that will help education play a key role in developing the kind of societies we want;
· point at other factors and actors, outside the education community, which can drive and encourage that change;
· contribute to the emergence of ideas and action which help meet the Sustainable development goals related to education for democracy and human rights.
In order to do this, the Forum will address the following key questions:
1. Is education failing democracy and is democracy failing education?
Is education – by design or by neglect – failing to build the key qualities for democratic citizenship? What changes at the level of school organisation and functioning, the roles and responsibilities of different education actors are required to trigger a positive shift in educating for democracy and make schools and universities places where learners experience and practice democracy, including new forms of democracy in the digital age? How to analyse and recognise new, alternative forms of learning and practicing democracy in educational institutions? What changes in the curricular, pedagogical methods and school/university management are required in order for educational establishments to become sites of citizenship where critical thinking and participation in decision-making is not only taught but also practiced? How can we stimulate bolder experimentation in education for democracy and the mainstreaming of successful experiments? How can we design education systems which stimulate creativity and critical thinking? How can democratic governments under electoral pressure better give priority to medium or long term educational goals and that do not have an immediate economic impact? How can public authorities as well as societies support the kind of education we would need to get the kindn of societies we want, based on democratic and humanistic values?
2. Can education deal with growing inequalities?
How can education help build more equitable and democratic societies? What kind of democratic resources can be mobilised to help fund and improve access to quality education, giving access to learning to all pupils and students, particularly those in vulnerable or disadvantaged groups, while developing each pupil’s and student’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential, as outlined in the Council of Europe recommendation on “Governance and Quality education”? Is the growth of private education leading to a deeper social divide or is it providing a vital alternative and dynamism where public education fails? How can education help develop a culture of democracy? What innovative initiatives need to be undertaken to strengthen the powerful role of education? How can we shift from standardised schools to more personalised learning for all in order to adequately nurture the talents and respond to the aspirations of each learner? How can formal and non-formal education be combined in a more effective way? How can we foster lifelong learning, by making use of emerging technologies, to support intergenerational dialogue?
3. Is education able to foster pluralism?
How can education help bridge cultural (ethnic, religious, linguistic) etc. divides in society and contribute to building a pluralistic identity? What changes are needed in curricula and educational methodologies, teacher training, openness of schools and universities to the local community, the diversity of teachers and learners, the relationships between formal and informal education, or the design of education systems? How can education professionals become actors of education for diversity and pluralism, for peace and global awareness? How can education contribute to a broader societal debate about changing national identities, and the recognition of individuals to hold multiple, changing identities in an increasingly interdependent world?
The discussion on the three topics will follow the structure of: situation analysis -“Where do we stand today?; response mechanisms – “What are the tools (institutional and non-institutional) at our disposal?”; next steps - “What are the perspectives and visions?”
PARTICIPANTS
The Forum will involve representatives of public authorities, political parties, decision-makers and opinion-makers from the education sector, civil society, media, academia, youth representatives, business, activists, social innovators and entrepreneurs.
The Forum official programme is expected to involve up to 2000 participants. Many more will participate online and in satellite events organised across the world.
FORMAT
The Forum will consist of plenary sessions for high-level addresses; keynote introductions and joint debate/summing up, as well as a series of smaller working sessions (labs) to address specific issues through the critical analysis of realised initiatives or novel ideas.
An open call will be issued to identify successful initiatives and novel, untested ideas, corresponding to the Forum themes. The initiatives and ideas will be presented and critically assessed by multidisciplinary panels and participants in the labs.
A Hackathon will bring together practitioners and policy-makers to define indicators for evaluating educational institutions’ performance in educating for democracy.
The key conclusions and lessons learnt from the labs will be discussed in a summing up session in order to prepare the Forum overall conclusions.
The forum will also include open space (unconference) format to enable spontaneous discussions, fresh ideas and new alliances to emerge. Creative sessions could be organised to produce concepts or prototypes on specific issues.
We would be delighted about contributions from the Ministries of Education of the Council of Europe member states. You might wish to consider submitting a lab proposal, sponsoring a lab, or suggesting speakers. There are many ways to become involved. We rely very much on your expertise and experience and I would be happy about any advice. Thank you very much for your attention.