Erasmus+: Empower Democracy: Building Competencies for Active Citizenship in Europe

Project duration: 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2028

EU funding: EUR 400,000

Project coordinators:
Leonie Lehmann
Dr. Coline Baechler

E-Mail: erasmusplus@abendakademie-mannheim.de

“Empower Democracy: Building Competencies for Active Citizenship in Europe” is an international project aimed at strengthening the democratic participation of young adults. To this end, innovative course materials are developed and course instructors are qualified through a Summer School.

•    Mannheimer Abendakademie und Volkshochschule GmbH, Germany (Lead)
•    ASOCIAŢIA EURO ADULT EDUCATION, Romania
•    DVV International – German Adult Education Association, Germany
•    Direcţia Educaţie Tineret şi Sport, Chișinău, Moldova
•    Die Wiener Volkshochschulen GmbH, Austria
 

The project “Empower Democracy” strengthens the democratic competencies of young adults in the expanding European Union. Three core aspects are crucial: understanding democratic competencies, practice-oriented educational offers, and qualified course instructors. All of these present challenges that the participating organizations are already addressing. The aim is to develop sustainable solutions to improve the quality of work in the field of democratic competencies in the long term.
To establish a shared understanding of democratic competencies, the consortium develops a competency framework based on existing outcomes. Building on this, practice-oriented educational offers for young adults are created. A particular challenge lies in the availability of qualified course instructors, who are difficult to recruit. Therefore, they are specifically trained through a Summer School and subsequently test the educational offers in a pilot phase.
In the short term, educational modules, a Summer School, qualified course instructors, and materials are developed. After the end of the project, the modules will be integrated into the partners’ curricula, and the trained instructors will remain active. In the medium term, additional organizations will implement the offers and train course instructors. The Summer School will serve as a model for further educational topics. In the long term, young people will be sustainably empowered for democratic participation, and their perspectives will be integrated into our actions.
 

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.