The European network DARE advocates for independent Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education as an integral part of Lifelong Learning. We encourage cooperation between formal and non-formal education and youth work. For democratic resilient societies.
Mission and Purpose
The Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe (DARE) Network is a Europe-wide network of primarily NGOs, academic institutions and training providers devoted to promote active democratic citizenship and human rights through formal education, non-formal and informal education, and life-long learning.
Origins and Development
DARE was officially launched on 28 June 2003 in Antwerp. It is a network of European providers of Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education.
Organizational Structure, Membership, and Funding
DARE is registered under Belgian NPO law as a non-profit organisation (vereniging zonder winstoogmerk) and has its legal seat in Belgium. Its members represent organisations of different size and working in different fields of education in the fields democratic citizenship and human rights.
Specializations, Methods and Tools
We are a community of practice representing different approaches to education. DARE is engaged in:
- Exchange of information, contents, methods and staff;
- Common programmes for education and qualification of staff, board members and volunteers in member organisations;
- Advocacy for education for democratic citizenship and human rights at the Council of Europe and European Union;
- Common educational projects, exchange on standards and good practice.
Major Projects and Events
The annual General Assembly is the core of the membership networking. Furthermore, DARE provides trainings and is taking part in European projects. By 2020, DARE is participating in the following projects:
- Project: Unsung Heroes
- Competendo – The Open Source Toolbox for Civic Education
- Project DEMOGAMES
- Project EntreComp 360: Promoting Initiative and Engagement across Sectors
- Project: DIGIT-AL – Digital Transformation in Adult Learning for Active Citizenship
- Project: Focus Group Competencies for Democratic Culture
- Project TEVIP: Transforming European Values into Practice
Analysis and Lessons Learned
Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education are relevant for any social context, for any age group and in any region in Europe. Instead of dividing education and learning into sectors or age groups, we should seek cooperation between non-formal and formal education and also with civil society as the huge non-formal and informal learning and empowerment space for participation.
In times of transformation with a lot of complex social challenges and also threats for democracy inEurope, citizenship education and human rights education should be recognized in their systemic relevance and promoted as a learning field for the development of key competencies - knowledge, skills, attitudes and values.
Critical thinking, active participation, empowerment of indivduals and groups, learning about complex social, economic, ecologic and cultural topics, such as digital transformation, climate change, data-economy, global fairness, social inclusion, and others, require adequate new responses in education and cooperation.
Publications
DARE Publications
A list of our publications can be found here. https://dare-network.eu/publications/
Competendo - The Open Source Toolbox for Civic Education
Competendo is committed to develop better learning spaces for civic competences and empowerment. The toolbox offers and shares experience, methods and inspiration for competency based learning in communities, schools, organizations, and non-formal groups or NGOs under an open CC-license: https://competendo.net
