Democracy education in schools is more necessary than ever

According to the European Commission's Flash Eurobarometer 550 (July 2024), 38% of Europeans see ‘respect for democracy, human rights and the rule of law’ as one of the EU's greatest strengths. At the same time, 55% are confident that ‘democracy’ will endure in the EU over the next five years. According to the ‘Democracy Monitor 2024: Young People and Democracy’ (commissioned by the Austrian Parliament), around 90% of young people in Austria consider democracy to be the best form of government, but only 44% think that the domestic political system works well, and trust in political institutions has fallen noticeably. These figures need to be improved. They highlight the importance of democracy education and the need to actively involve young people. Schools can be the central place where democracy is not only taught in theory, but also lived in practice through democratic processes of shaping and decision-making.

On the occasion of International Democracy Day on 15 September, the OeAD, Austria's Agency for Education and Internationalisation, is therefore highlighting the wide range of democracy education programmes available to schools, which are funded by the BMB, BMFWF, BKA, BMWKMS and the European Union. Together with teachers and external experts, pupils learn how participation, dialogue and co-creation work. The offerings range from workshops on preventing extremism, visits to memorial sites, search platforms, teaching materials and Erasmus+ to collaboration with artists and science ambassadors. This enables young people to actively reflect on issues of identity, diversity and social change.

• take HEART! School projects in all artistic disciplines combine democracy education, sustainability and cultural education: www.oead.at/takeheart – funded by the BMB
• Extremism prevention catches on in schools: free workshops on identity, diversity and conflict resolution to strengthen democratic skills: extremismuspraevention.oead.at – funded by the BMB
• Mobility grant for memorial sites: support for visits to the Mauthausen, Gusen, Ebensee and Melk concentration camp memorial sites to raise awareness of the consequences of the Nazi era and the values of democracy: oead.at/gedenkstaettenbesuch-mauthausen – funded by the BMB
• Anti-Semitism – prevention and intervention: Anti-Semitism is a threat to democracy. The OeAD programme ERINNERN:AT provides background information and materials for teachers: www.erinnern.at/themen/themenseite-antisemitismus – funded by the BMB
• Science Ambassadors Initiative: 28 researchers offer thematic workshops on democracy and participation, such as ‘Political System and Communication’ or ‘Democracy and Anti-Democratic Phenomena’: youngscience.oead.at – funded by the BMFWF
• Discover.DNAustria: central BMFWF platform for science and democracy education with 3,000 offerings from 85 partners across Austria: discover.dnaustria.at
• The two EU programmes Erasmus+ and ESK (European Solidarity Corps) focus on ‘participation in democratic life, common values and civic engagement’: international school projects strengthen co-determination and European cooperation. Many examples can be found in the blog erasmusplus.oead.at/de/wirkung/erasmus-blog and at erasmusplus.oead.at/de/erasmus/teilhabe – funded by the European Union and the BMB, BMFWF, BKA and BMWKMS

These initiatives show that democracy education succeeds when schools, culture, science and international exchange work together, encouraging young people to take responsibility for an open society.