Education for Democratic Citizenship and Well-Being (EDC-WB) - Completed
01.06.2024 - 31.08.2025
General Overview
EDC-WB created a practical democratic educational programme for Ukrainian educators and community leaders, to empower Ukrainian citizens to exercise their democratic rights and engage actively in democratic life.
Purpose and Significance
Ukraine is progressing towards democratic governance and European Union membership. The processes of democratisation and European integration require not only the consolidation of democratic institutions but also the socialisation of democratic values within society. A significant challenge for Ukrainian democracy is the limited societal understanding of democracy and citizenship, coupled with a lack of experience with a functioning democratic system. In democracy indexes such as V-Dem, Freedom House, and Nations in Transit, Ukraine is often classified as a transitional or hybrid regime with substantial challenges to overcome. These classifications reflect ongoing deficiencies in the implementation and understanding of democratic principles. Despite making strides, Ukraine still faces a long journey towards developing a stable and deeply rooted democracy that is solidified not only institutionally but also within its society.
The Education for Democratic Citizenship and Well-Being (EDC-WB) project addressed these challenges by creating a democratic educational programme for various Ukrainian stakeholders, supported by the Ministry of Education and Science in Ukraine. Under the coordination of Linnaeus University, Sweden, two other EUniWell universities were involved: Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine, and the University of Murcia, Spain.
© Karollyne Videira Hubert on Unsplash
Implementation Method and Timeline
To successfully implement this educational programme, multiple workshops and meetings with strong participation from Ukrainian key stakeholders were conducted.
September, 2024: Project-Meeting 1 – Poland
The first workshop in Krakow, Poland focused on sharing expertise, identifying target groups, and understanding their needs regarding democratic education. It was held in Krakow, Poland to ensure a smooth and safe travel for Ukrainian partners and to explore possible cooperation within future applications with Jagiellonian University in Krakow.
October 2024: Project-Meeting 2 - Spain
The second meeting in Murcia, Spain, focused on developing training program for online and onsite implementation, teaching methods and recruitment procedures.
February, 2025: Project-Meeting 3 - Spain
The third workshop prioritised consolidating the training programme, assessing the necessary technical tools for implementing the educational courses developed and beginning the recruitment process of participants.
Outcomes
By focusing on education for democratic citizenship, EDC-WB empowered Ukrainian target groups to facilitate education and dissemination through theory and practice. The programme equipped learners with knowledge and skills to understand and promote democratic rights and responsibilities in Ukrainian society.
In December of 2024, the project was awarded 300,000 euros from the Swedish Institute to implement the training program to four strategic Ukrainian stakeholders; university representatives, local public servants, civil society representatives and members of the Ministry of Education and Science. The training of university representatives and local public servants took place in fall 2025 with the remaining training scheduled for April and September of 2026.
The training developed incudes 80h onsite and online on Democratic Education in Ukraine. The programme of Education for Democratic Citizenship focuses on the following modules:
- Democratic Governance;
- Democratic Education;
- EU Governance & Citizenship.
Further Information
Contact:
Daniel Silander, Department of Political Science, Linnaeus University
Jan Aidemark, Department of Informatics, Linnaeus University
