Project description
Embedding democratic pedagogy in education
Gaps in citizenship education and democratic participation among disadvantaged young people require new approaches embedding democracy in everyday learning. In this context, the EU-funded DEMOCREATE project seeks to transform secondary, vocational, higher and non-formal education settings into spaces where democracy is not simply abstract knowledge but experienced in practice, across five European countries. Building on the validated Community-Led Research and Action methodology, the project enables students, educators and community partners to co-create democratic learning through participatory research and collective action. By engaging educational institutions and local communities, the project seeks to strengthen civic competences, democratic culture and institutional capacity while generating evidence-based tools, curricula and policy recommendations to support the long-term integration of democratic pedagogy across European education systems.
Objective
"To address persistent shortfalls in European citizenship education, DEMOCREATE will implement a 3-year initiative across 5 countries (UK, Netherlands, Finland, Czechia, Poland) embedding democratic practice in educational institutions. Targeting youth 15–29, with focus on disadvantaged groups facing intersecting inequalities, the project works across secondary, TVET, higher and non-formal education settings to create ""democracy-in-action"" environments.
Through participatory research, DEMOCREATE scales the validated Community-Led Research and Action (CLRA) methodology from its HORIZON YOUROPE foundations. Grounded in Prefigurative Democratic Praxis, CLRA enables students, educators and community partners to co-create democratic learning through cycles of inquiry and action. Democracy becomes lived practice rather than abstract knowledge with citizenship developed through immediate participation.
The project will have impact at individual (competence), relational (culture), and institutional (structural) levels, engaging 50 institutions through a phased expansion model: 25 pilot sites scaling to 50 through twinning partnerships. This reaches 5500 students through 220 CLRA cycles (44 per country) involving 220 educators and 200 professionals from NGOs and communities, establishing 25 formal partnerships between educational institutions and non-formal actors.
Using coordinated work packages, mixed-methods evaluation will generate evidence including a DEMOCITIZENSHIP survey measuring citizenship competences and civic/political efficacy; Collaborative ethnography will document lived experiences; Key Transformative Indicator scans will track institutional change. Professional learning communities will co-develop implementation toolkits, 50 CLRA-integrated syllabi and sustainability frameworks.
Outputs will include national roadmaps, teacher-education micro-credentials and accreditation recommendations for democratic pedagogy integration across European education systems."
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.2.2 - Culture, creativity and inclusive society
MAIN PROGRAMME
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HORIZON.2.2.1 - Democracy and Governance
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL2-2025-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
CV1 5FB Coventry
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.