Students’ European Awareness

through

Learning for Democratic Citizenship

Education for peace

No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.

John DONNE

Nessun uomo è un’isola, intera in se stessa, ogni uomo è un pezzo del Continente, una parte del tutto; se un pezzo di terra viene spazzato via dal mare, L’Europa diventa più piccola, allo stesso modo come se fosse una tua proprietà o quella dei tuoi amici.; ogni morte di uomo mi diminuisce, perché io partecipo dell’Umanità; e così non mandare a chiedere per chi suona la campana; essa suona per te.

John DONNE

HowHow can teachers help students to feel European?

What does “to be European” really mean?

Why is important for us to belong to a united Europe ?

Who is the “active citizen?

It is a very difficult task but teachers

and students are called to give their

Contribution, though small, to the

building of a freer,more tolerant and

just European society based on

common values.

Learning for Democratic Citizenship

An instrument for developing a culture of rights and responsibilities

In the "Final Declaration", passed at the Second Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the member states of the Council of Europe in October 1997, the assembly expressed their view that "the far-reaching changes in Europe and the great challenges to our societies require intensified cooperation between all European democracies".

The Summit went on to say:

(...) "Aware of the educational and cultural dimension of the main challenges to be faced by Europe in the future as well as of the essential role of culture and education in strengthening mutual understanding and confidence between our peoples: - (we) express our desire to develop education for democratic citizenship based on the rights and responsibilities of citizens, and the participation of young people in civil society. " (...)'

(…) “Consapevoli della dimensione educativa e culturale delle sfide principali che l’Europa deve affrontare nel futuro come anche il ruolo essenziale della cultura e istruzione nel rafforzamento della comprensione e fiducia reciproca tra i nostri popoli: - (noi) esprimiamo il nostro desiderio di sviluppare l’educazione per la cittadinanza democratica basata sui diritti e responsabilità dei cittadini, e la partecipazione dei giovani alla società civile. “(…)

The ideal of “active citizenship”

To develop citizenship not just in the legal sense of the word but also through encouraging people’s practical involvement in democratic process at all levels;

To act in the field of education, training and youth to offer a priviliged vehicle for the promotion of active participation in Europe’s rich diversity of cultures and economies.

A famous song by an Italian singer, Giorgio Gaber, says

and we all should think to it if we want to feel really

free and active part of the contemporary society

Active European citizenship is our common history, the contradictions in our past that we have now accepted and by-passed, our common commitment to a world of greater solidarity.

Europe, which we have been trying for many years to be citizens of, has no fixed frontiers. We were six nations, then twelve, then fifteen, then twenty-five and now we are hoping to widen the circle...

The building of a New Europe

The history of our countries in their fighting

towards indipendence and democracy

The Twentieth Century

Dictators……Never more…

Never more…

Never more…

Foreign rulers……

Second World War

Wars

State invasions

Never more........

Never more...

Never more...

The story of building a New Europe during these past fifty years forces us to establish peace in the earth that has been soaked in the blood of our wars and of our recent or even ancient conflicts. That is what our memory of those times tells us to do. European citizenship, like nationalistic Civics of recent times, is tied up with History, but it has a quite different approach in that it refuses to conceal mistakes, errors of judgement, wrongdoing or even crime.

Building a new Europe

The Global Campaign for Peace Education was launched in May 1999 at the Hague Appeal for Peace Conference in The Hague, The Netherlands. The Hague Appeal for Peace Campaign brings together groups that focus on human rights, disarmament, women rights, and social justice to work towards abolishing war in the 21st Century.

The Hague Appeal for Peace

Nowadays, the need for peace education is greater than ever before. Humanity faces challenges of unprecedented proportions in areas such as the continued development of mass-destruction weapons, conflicts between states and ethnic groups over scarce resources, the spread of racism and the huge and widening gap between rich and poor throughout the globalised economy, massive violations of human rights and the degradation of the environment.

The need for Peace

Peace education is a participatory process which changes our way of thinking and promotes learning for peace and justice. The Hague Appeal for Peace Global Campaign for Peace Education has two goals:

to build public awareness and political support for the introduction of peace education into all spheres of education, including non-formal education, in all schools throughout the world.

to promote the education of all teachers to teach for peace.

Peace Education

European security and military organizations

through

The Treaty of Amsterdam

The treaty of Mastricht

The Treaty of Nice

The Common Foreign and Security Policy

Following the signing of the Treaties of Rome, European construction focussed on economic aspects, i.e. the creation of a common market, although ideas for cooperation in the field of international policy were already in evidence. For almost forty years of European construction the very expression "common foreign policy" found no place in the Treaties.

It entered into force in 1999 and revised the provisions on the CFSP (Common Foreign Security Policy). Its Articles, from 11 to 28 on European Union are since then devoted specifically to the CFSP.

An important decision in terms of improving the effectiveness and profile of the Union's foreign policy was the appointment of a High Representative for the CFSP (an innovation of the Treaty of Amsterdam), Mr Javier Solana, who took up the post on 18 October 1999 for a period of five years.

The Amsterdam Treaty

For the first time, Member States incorporated in the Treaty the objective of a "common foreign policy". Since the Treaty's entry into force on 1 November 1993, the European Union as such can make its voice heard on the international stage, express its position on armed conflicts, human rights and any other subject linked to the fundamental principles and common values which form the basis of the European Union and which it is committed to defend.

The Treaty of Mastricht

The new Treaty of Nice entered into force on 1 February 2003 and contains new CFSP provisions. It notably increases the areas which fall under qualified majority voting and enhances the role of the Political and Security Committee in crisis management operations.

The Treaty of Nice

The European Rapid Reaction Force is the European Union’s own military capability. It’s intended to be used for what are known as ‘Petersberg Tasks’ which range from peacekeeping to full combat. The EU’s member states have agreed to build a combined military capacity by the year 2003 which is able to deploy up to 60,000 ground troops within 60 days and to maintain such a force on a mission for one year. To make this a reality they met in Paris in November 2000 to voluntarily pledge resources to a ‘catalogue of forces’. All member states except Denmark have agreed to take part.

Rapid Reaction Forces

What is the European Rapid Reaction Force?

According to the ‘catalogue of forces’, the 60,000 troops will be supported by 100,000 others plus approximately 400 combat planes and 100 ground facilities. The force will be militarily autonomous and have command, control and intelligence capabilities. It will have logistical units and, if in combat, of air and naval elements. Member states have also agreed to co-operate in improving their intelligence, air and naval transport military capabilities.

Our work is over by now…….

We hope that it has not been too boring for you

Thank you very much for your attention

The students