COOPERATION FOR DEVELOPMENT
Previous projects supported by Visegrad FundProject aims facilitation of cohesion of 3 local actors: Libraries, public schools and local stakeholders to revitalize deactivated community participation in 6 municipalities of Georgia by sharing V4 experience. Covid-19 pandemic ,,killed'' almost all traditional mechanisms of civic participation in regions of Georgia. Public schools are teaching online, social interaction is at its lowest level. Meanwhile Community libraries remain open and with proper capacity building could serve as space and vehicles for participation, cooperation and innovation among local actors.
Schools have key role in making youngsters democratic and responsible citizens. Experience gained from working with public schools reconfirmed that notion ,,Democracy in Education’’ requires continuous support and improvement in Georgia and isn’t sufficiently addressed by CSOs or government. Project used V4 experience to improve democratic culture of educators and youth by sharing approaches which is used at Polish schools, practical knowledge for Community involvement from Czech Republic and innovative toolkit from Hungary.
Democratic citizenship, respect for human rights and intercultural understanding is learned more effectively through ‘doing’ than accumulating facts ‘knowing’. Teacher competences in developing analytical and critical thinking skills to promote democratic values and active citizenship are crucial when addressing controversial issues. Project proposed an innovative approach “learning by doing methodology for active citizenship” – combination of teaching controversial issues for democratic values and student debating for critical thinking.
Past Project partners:
Foundation for Democratic Rights - DemNet, Hungary
