Projekti 25/26
Young European Citizenship and the European Union
We will enhance the feeling of being a European citizen in both students and educational staff. The main objective is for this feeling to grow and that all people involved in the project will feel like more of European citizens at the end of the project then at the start. We want to highlight both similarities and differences between the participating countries - socially, culturally and historically. Whilst studying these aspects we will clarify the common European values found in both countries We will increase the participants knowledge about the institutions of the European Union. Except the fact that increased knowledge is an important goal in itself we also want to increase the knowledge to be able to promote a higher electoral participation in both pupils, educational staff and secondary target groups. We will enhance the students digital competences through development of their knowledge of digital tools both for teaching and social contexts. We will be using digital tools for communication both between students and teachers before and during mobilities. We will be using digital tools to spread awareness about the project both to students and teachers at each school and we will also use social media to reach people outside of the educational system. We will increase the teachers competence both through exchange of general teaching techniques in each country, and through the use of and development of digital educational tools.
Beyond Borders: democracy in the digital age
Last year was an unprecedented year of elections. Did it also make the world more democratic? Like in the past decade, again in 2024, there were more autocratic states than democracies around the world and the number of non-democratic and non-free states seems to increase. In Europe, there are also countries undermining democratic principles. Is there a pattern within these countries leading to democratic backlash? Why are democracies in decline and what can we do to safeguard democracy? These are the main questions students will research in this project. The project will be structured around four pillars: "What does it mean to be a European citizen?"; "The Concept of Democracy"; "From Democracy to Dictatorship"; and "Democracy in the Digital Age". Approximately 150 students from 50 different EPAS schools and from EU neighbouring countries will collaborate in international teams to research these topics and share their expectations, ideas, emotions, experiences with their teammates. They exchange views and share the outcome of their research in Twinspace and in joint online meetings with experts/stakeholders and with junior ambassadors in their respective European Parliament Ambassador School/European Club school. The project starts in October 2025 and will be concluded in April 2026.