CIVIC EDUCATION
CONFERENCE 2013/2016
From Alexandria to Tunis Retrospective CEC 2013
I. The idea
“The uprisings in the Arab world have provided a new, unprecedented space and an opportunity to rethink the role of civic educa;on in the region.” (Gabriele Becker, Mona Shahin, 2013) “The rela;onship between NGOs and the state could be characterized by tension, skep;cism, and lack of accountability. The state played a major role in crea;ng distrust in NGOs and civil society organiza;ons.” (Abdul Monem al-­‐Mashat, 2013) II. The aim
To offer a plaOorm for the transfer of knowledge between European researchers and professionals of civic educa;on and civil society representa;ves from Egypt and Tunisia.
II. The conference
8-­‐10/12/2013 Bibliotheca Alexandria 1. The organizers
2. The partners
3. The funder
4. The participants
More than 200
participants
from over 15
countries
attended the
conference and
discussed
issues such as
consensus
building,
neutrality,
tolerance and
inclusion.
5. The program
-  Speakers on Key
Notes
-  Panel Discussions
-  Market Space
-  Workshops on
Stakeholders, Neutrality,
Challenges, Contents
-  Cultural Program
III. The Follow-up
1. 57 Recommendations
-  Results of the workshops
-  Voting
-  From February 25 until March 10, 2014 the participants
identified the most important recommendations
Stakeholders •  Reaching out to community and opinion leaders, members of the local government, and religious figures to promote civic educaEon. •  Networking by creaEng a Google drive document so that all conference parEcipants may share contacts and be able to share iniEaEves with interested people. •  Form research groups among conference parEcipants to produce materials (manuals, etc.) for civic educaEon in Egypt. Media •  Set a code of ethics for media personnel to promote civic educaEon principles and freedom of expression. Government •  Develop an educaEonal program for officials in local government, state media, and other key state insEtuEon (universiEes, schools, etc.). Neutrality •  Training trainers/teachers on ciEzenship educaEon principles through a non-­‐formal educaEon. Challenges •  Enhancing communicaEon between NGOs working on civic educaEon. •  Working on enhancing the image of civil society through advocacy campaigns. Content •  Civic educaEon should include human rights, following the principles of indivisibility as it is a necessary foundaEon for poliEcal educaEon. •  Civic educaEon should be based on tolerance, respect, interdependence/solidarity, self-­‐
responsibility, acceptance of diversity, accountability, and non-­‐violence. These principles are the normaEve core of civic educaEon. 2. Follow Up projects @ Goethe-Institut Cairo
1. Train-­‐the-­‐Trainer Program on Civic Educa;on and Coexistence Training in 4 modules in 2014 Follow Up Coaching in 2015 2. Train-­‐the-­‐Trainer Program on Human Rights Educa;on Training in 2 modules in 2014 Follow Up Coaching in 2015 3. Train-­‐the-­‐Trainer Program on Challenges of modern Socie;es Training in 3 modules in 2015 4. Alumni Events 2015 Second Civic Education Conference 2016
I.  The idea: •  A follow Up Conference •  For poli;cal reasons: In Tunis, 1st half of the year 2016 •  To invite actors of the civil socie;es in the transforma;on countries and guest speakers from Europe for input •  Presenta;ons about projects and ini;a;ves in Egypt and Tunisia II. The aim •  To offer a chance to exchange informa;on about the realisa;on of the recommenda;ons •  To plan new steps for the strenghtening of the civil socie;es in the transforming countries •  To offer a chance for networking •  This conference will draw a]en;on to the civil socie;es of the transforming countries and open up new ways of support for NGOs, civil ini;a;ves and projects III. The content EvaluaEon CEC 2013: •  ParEcipants praised the conference for offering a chance of networking •  ParEcipants complimented on the choice of guest speakers (especially Prof. Dr. Rucht) and the fact that the speakers came from different backgrounds •  The market place was praised as succesful way to get to know different NGOs and iniEaEves •  Some criEzed that the program contained too many lectures and panel discussions. •  Some parEcipants menEoned that they wanted to have more chances to acEvely parEcipate in the discussions •  The wish to have more pracEcal input on how to implement the concept of civic educaEon (less academic, more pracEcal) was expressed To be considered: •  More space for interac;on between the par;cipants (more ;me for working groups, less presenta;ons and panel discussions, market place) •  Presenta;on of examples of best prac;ces within the region: How to implement the concept of civic educa;on in the current situa;ons of these countries in transi;on •  Your ideas? Thank you!