Empower Democracy

DVV International is a partner in the Erasmus+ project ‘Empower Democracy – Building Competencies for Active Citizenship in Europe’.

What skills are needed to encourage young adults to engage in active democratic participation – and how can these skills be taught through educational initiatives? These are precisely the questions addressed by the project, coordinated by Mannheim Evening Academy and Adult Education Centre. In collaboration with five institutions from four countries, the project is developing a new curriculum to help young adults understand democratic processes and contribute their own perspectives. From developing common competency standards and practical educational programmes to training educators, the project goes one step further: democracy should not merely be taught, but also experienced and made tangible.

The project is funded under the Erasmus+ programme and runs from November 2025 to October 2028.

Empower Democracy at a glance

Empower Democracy – what’s behind the name?

The project ‘Empower Democracy: Building Competencies for Active Citizenship in Europe’ is an international initiative aimed at promoting and enhancing the democratic participation among young adults. Five organisations from four European countries are working together to develop curricula and training programmes for educators, strengthening adult learning and education institutions in their work with this target group.

Who is part of the project?

The project is coordinated by the Mannheim Adult Education Centre. Other members of the consortium are:

Asociatia Euro Adult Education (Romania)
Wiener Volkshochschulen (Austria)
General Department for Education, Youth and Sport (Moldova)
German Adult Education Association / DVV International (Germany)
The Rostock Adult Education Centre is involved as an implementation partner during the pilot phase.

What are the main objectives?

Strengthening democratic competences: Young adults develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to actively participate in democratic life.
A common competency framework: The project partners are developing a common competency framework for democratic competences that will serve as a basis for further educational work.
Developing practice-oriented educational programmes: Based on this competency framework, specific educational modules are developed that address the needs of young adults and can be directly implemented in educational settings.
Training educators:As well-trained educators are a key prerequisite for successful educational programmes,educators are introduced to the curriculum and trained in its implementation as part of a Summer School.
Piloting the educational programmes: The newly trained educators will pilot the educational programmes in all four partner countries. In total, 120 modules will be delivered, reaching approximately 450 young adults.
Dissemination and transfer: The experiences gained during the pilot phase will be incorporated into the revision of the competency framework. The resulting handbook will be freely available, enabling further adult education institutions to implement the modules themselves.

News

Learning democracy, living democracy: Summer School as part of the EU project "Empower Democracy"