DEMOCRAT Project (Education for Democracy)

An EU research project on how education can nurture responsible democratic citizens

What is DEMOCRAT?

DEMOCRAT – Education for Democracy was a Horizon Europe research and innovation project dedicated to strengthening liberal democracy in the EU through redesigned, context-sensitive Education for Responsible Democratic Citizenship (EfD). At its core was a simple but urgent conviction: "Democracy is the only political model which must be learned" — and that learning must be intentional, structured, and inclusive.

The project advanced through three interlocking strands: developing flexible EfD curricula grounded in Responsible Democratic Competences (RDCs); piloting these frameworks through open, local, innovative learning initiatives; and producing a comprehensive toolbox of resources supporting transformative EfD practices across the EU and beyond. It also examined how socioeconomic and educational disparities influence political participation, and evaluated how well pedagogical approaches develop democratic competences and European identity.

Taking a multidisciplinary and participatory approach, the project spanned compulsory schooling (ages 8–12 and 12–16), teacher training, and informal education — engaging over 120 schools, 600 pupils, 180 educators, and 60 NGOs across six countries through national and transnational living labs.

Consortium
10 partners across 8 European countries
Funding
Horizon Europe Research & Innovation Actions
Grant Agreement No. 101095106
Focus
Education for Responsible Democratic Citizenship (EfD)

Project Partners

The Challenge: Why Democratic Education?

DEMOCRAT responded to four interconnected crises threatening EU societies: the Anthropocene crisis (climate change and biodiversity loss), rapid digitalisation, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the geopolitical upheaval triggered by the war in Ukraine. These external pressures were compounded by internal fault lines — political polarisation, the rise of right-wing extremism, growing mistrust in science, and the spread of conspiratorial thinking — all of which erode the foundations of liberal democracy.

Education for Responsible Democratic Citizenship was DEMOCRAT’s core response. Aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goal 4.7 — which calls on education to promote "sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity" — the project built the evidence and practical frameworks needed to redesign how democracy is taught and practised across Europe.

The work went beyond curriculum reform: it required establishing shared conceptual frameworks on democracy and participation, analysing inequality in political engagement, and co-creating pedagogical tools through national living labs — from competence framework development to learner-centred curriculum design and practical pilot implementation — in a sustained, evidence-based effort to place democratic education at the heart of European schooling.

Project Timeline

Project Activities

Research and Conceptual Frameworks

DEMOCRAT began by establishing the shared intellectual foundations that all subsequent work depended on. The consortium developed a common understanding of democracy, participation, and responsible citizenship through comparative analysis of curricula and national strategies across Europe. This strand also interrogated the links between educational inequalities, socio-economic background, and political participation — including the roles of misinformation and digital learning environments. Its centrepiece is the Responsible Democratic Citizenship (RDC) Competence Framework and Vision, which articulated what it means to be a responsible democratic citizen and underpinned all subsequent curriculum design and pilot activities. Complementing it, the National Reports on Education Inequalities and Political Participation mapped, country by country, how socio-economic and structural factors shape access to democratic education and civic engagement.

Curriculum Development and Educational Tools

Building on the RDC competence framework, the project designed flexible curricula and learning approaches for students, teachers, and social educators. The emphasis was on learner-centred methods — transformative education, action learning, and challenge-based learning — to enable students to practise democratic participation rather than simply study it. These efforts are brought together in the Outline of a European Curriculum for Education for Democracy, a cross-national framework adaptable to different educational contexts, age groups, and national settings. Alongside it, the project compiled a comprehensive toolbox — freely accessible through the Agora — bringing together the competence framework, learning units, guidance materials, assessment tools, and policy recommendations.

Pilot Projects and Living Labs

The conceptual and curriculum work was tested and refined through Local Pilot Projects (LPPs) in Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Spain, and Poland. The Design of Local Pilot Projects set out the shared framework governing how these interventions were structured: from building country-specific networks and selecting educational approaches, to implementing activities and evaluating their impact and potential for scaling. National and transnational living labs brought together schools, municipalities, educators, parents, civil society organisations, and public authorities to co-create educational practices and share learning across borders.

FOGGS Contribution and Milestones

FOGGS was a founding member of the DEMOCRAT consortium — a Horizon Europe initiative of ten partners from eight European countries, led by the University of Barcelona — and was engaged in the project from its inception in March 2023. FOGGS contributed substantively to the project’s intellectual core, shaping both the RDC Competence Framework and Vision and the Outline of a European EfD Curriculum, and helping define the conceptual and curricular direction of the project. FOGGS also led the development of the Agora — the project’s central platform for stakeholder engagement, document sharing, and transnational collaboration — and played a lead role in building the project toolbox, a collaborative effort across consortium partners that brought together the competence framework, learning units, assessment tools, and policy recommendations into a single publicly accessible collection.

Agora Platform

The Agora is an interactive digital platform supporting collaboration, dialogue, and knowledge exchange among education-for-democracy stakeholders. It hosts deliverables, multilingual resources, community tools (blogs, podcasts, discussion forums), and provides access to the project toolbox.

The platform supported national and transnational collaboration in Catalan, English, Estonian, Finnish, German, Irish, Polish, and Spanish. Built with secure data management and privacy compliance, it included accessibility features to remain usable beyond the project lifespan.

Democracy Talks

Democracy Talks was a live video series hosted on the DEMOCRAT project's transnational Agora platform, that brought together researchers, educators, practitioners, and policymakers to discuss topics at the intersection of democracy and education. Spanning twenty-five sessions, the series explored themes including responsible democratic citizenship, experiential learning, gender equality, fake news and conspiracy theories in education, citizen assemblies for children and young people, and transformative approaches to civic education. Each talk was broadcast live and remains publicly available for viewing.

Conferences

Key Outcomes and Resources

For full deliverables and working papers, see the Agora resources page.

Funding

European Union flag

The DEMOCRAT project was funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Actions programme (Grant Agreement No. 101095106). Views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the European Research Executive Agency or the European Union.