Deadline: 15 December 2019

The European Union (EU)/Council of Europe Joint Programme “Democratic and Inclusive School Culture in Operation” (DISCO) is seeking applications for project proposals 2020-2021 to promote Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education (EDC/HRE) with an aim to contribute the fostering of inclusive and democratic societies in the States party to the European Cultural Convention.

Priorities

Competences for Democratic Culture in education institutions:

• The immediate project outputs may include:
  • new or revised curricula;
  • innovative pedagogical methods and approaches;
  • innovative internal and external assessment methods;
  • teaching materials, education resources, study courses, teacher-training tools;
  • whole-school approach scenarios;
  • strategies to build resilience to radicalisation;
  • peer learning
• Project activities may include:
  • focus group meetings,
  • seminars,
  • workshops,
  • conferences,
  • training activities,
  • competitions,
  • production of visual materials,
  • peer review activities,
  • peer learning activities

Fostering democratic and inclusive culture in education institutions, with a particular focus on creating opportunities for migrants, refugees and minorities:

• The participating countries are invited to develop mechanisms to foster inclusion and a sense of belonging to a community for groups which face a high risk of exclusion, with a particular focus on migrants, refugees and minorities by creating opportunities to embed the learning environment in the local community based on a whole school/community approach.
• The immediate outputs may include:
  • mechanisms and/or school practices that encourage learners to voice their thoughts and concerns without being criticised and learn to understand the beliefs, interests and viewpoints of others;
  • structures to ensure the active participation of all members of the learning community in the governance of education and training systems and institutions;
  • self-assessment tools for schools to assess the inclusiveness of the school;
  • scenarios of a democratic school model promoting acceptance and respect of diversity and intercultural understanding;
  • tools to assess students’ needs; and
  • up-scaling and dissemination of inclusive education methods.
• Project activities may include:
  • focus group meetings,
  • seminars,
  • workshops, including those focusing on parents,
  • conferences,
  • training activities,
  • peer review activities,
  • peer learning activities
  • community events with the civil society organisations
  • campaigns and media advertising
  • design of informative materials and pedagogical resources

Funding Information

The indicative available budget under this call for proposals is EUR 500 000 (five hundred thousand Euros).

Implementation period

• The implementation period of the projects should start on 2 March 2020 and shall not extend beyond 1 November 2021.
• Reporting requirements shall be completed on 30 November 2021 at the latest by each of the implementing partners.

Eligibility Criteria

• Any public or private non-profit organisation active in the field of education for democratic citizenship and human rights education will be eligible implementing partners.
• For example, such organisations can be:
  • a higher education institution;
  • a public body at national, regional or local level;
  • a non-profit organisation, association or NGO;
  • a foundation;
  • a school/institute/educational centre (at any level, from pre-school to upper secondary education, and including adult education);
  • a body responsible for policies in the field of education and training;
  • an organisation providing courses or training.
• For-profit organisations may also be eligible in exceptional and duly justified cases and as long as the non-profit character of the proposed actions is observed. The validity of the justification will be examined by the Evaluation Committee

Target stakeholders

Projects should target in particular the following key stakeholders:

• Policy-makers
• Teachers, teacher-trainers and school leaders
• Pupils / students
• Civil society (NGOs, parents associations, youth organisations)
• Parents
• The local community

How to Apply

The application form, completed and signed, together with the supporting documents, must be submitted in electronic form (Word and/or PDF) via e-mail at the address given on the website.

Eligible countries: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom

For more information, please visit https://pjp-eu.coe.int/en/web/charter-edc-hre-pilot-projects/call-for-project-proposals-2020-2021