Erasmus+ Priorities: Participation in Democratic Life
Priority
Understanding the Key Priority
Participation in Democratic Life is one of four key Erasmus+ priorities. This priority supports people to become actively engaged with their communities and with political and social life. It also strengthens citizens’ understanding of the European Union – which is crucial for the Union’s future.
Practicalities
Putting a Priority into Practice
Putting this key priority into practice will be led by Erasmus+ and its stakeholders, but also requires the participation of beneficiary organisations. Here’s how:
- Erasmus+ supports active citizenship and ethics in lifelong learning.
- Priority is given to projects that offer opportunities for people’s participation in democratic life, social and civic engagement. This can be through formal or non-formal learning activities.
- Erasmus+ can raise awareness and understanding of the European Union context, such as common EU values; the principles of unity and diversity; and the social, cultural and historical heritage of the Union.
- Erasmus+ also fosters youth participation in democratic life through the Youth Participation Strategy.
Project
From Priority to Project!
Feeling inspired, but unsure how you can apply the priority to your own project? Take a look at the work of some previous Erasmus+ projects that focused on Participation in Democractic Life.
Our blog post Erasmus+ Youth Dialogue: Use your Voice to Make Equality a Policy
features Conor Dillon from the Rehabilitative Training programme in the Central Remedial Clinic. He and other young people learned about self-advocacy through a project called ‘The Rights to Decide – Making Equality Our Policy’.