The World Forum for Democracy is an annual event organised jointly by the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the French Authorities, the French Region of Grand Est and the City of Strasbourg. The 2022 edition will take place in Strasbourg, France from 7th till 9th November 2022. Every year, there is a call for initiatives on promoting democratic governance, civic participation, inclusion, ethics and other topics.  This year one of the topics is “civic education, new platforms for developing informed, engaged democracy” and the ACTIon project applied for a place at the forum to showcase our innovative programmes on civic education for young people.

About the forum:

Initiated in 2012, the World Forum for Democracy is a platform for dialogue and innovation in democratic governance, which promotes the Council of Europe principles across the world. A unique event of its kind, it addresses key CHALLENGES facing democracy taking as a starting point ground-breaking initiatives, and fostering debate between different actors in order to find concrete SOLUTIONS. A democratic exercise in itself, the Forum aims at giving the people – demos – their rightful place in political decision-making. It thus contributes to the evolution of democracy towards more participatory and inclusive structures and institutions, and to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 16 on building just and peaceful societies.

Why ACTIon:

Reaching young people through trained peer role models and motivating them to get involved in grassroot participation actions strengthens the democratic foundations and contributes to the fight against democratic backsliding. Human rights and democracy principles are integral parts of the ACTIon training programmes.

Keep your fingers crossed for us and let’s hope that we get the chance to showcase our programmes and share our experience, and to learn from other actors promoting democracy in Europe to enrich our project even further!