Civic engagement and participation in democratic life will increasingly be at the heart of transnational cooperation partnerships in Higher education. As cross-cutting priorities of Erasmus+, these values will not only be the driving force behind future educational initiatives, but will also contribute to improving civil society as a whole, with real benefits in various areas, from the world of art to solutions to the phenomenon of overtourism, from intergenerational engagement to combating populist ideas and fake news, to sport and creativity.
This is clearly demonstrated by the EU-Engage: Promoting Civic and Democratic Engagement in Higher Education event, which will take place from 29 September to 1 October 2025 in Gdynia, a city in northern Poland. Organised by the Polish National Agency FRSE–Foundation for the Development of the Education System as one of the 2025 stages of the long-term PEACE+ project, focusing on civic engagement and European values and coordinated by the National Agency INDIRE, the TCA seminar was attended by 67 participants from 11 European countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Turkey), as well as Canada.
The exchange, partnership and capacity-building event aimed to bring together key players in the higher education sector to reflect on how to more effectively promote Participation in democratic life, common values and civic engagement as a horizontal priority of the Erasmus+ programme.
The activities during the three days were designed to facilitate partnership development and the launch and progress of project ideas relevant to civic and democratic engagement in higher education. To achieve this goal, the event was structured around the phases of inspiration, ideation, collaboration and preparation, with the aim of guiding participants through the necessary discussions and initial stages of project development in this area.
During the final session, several project ideas were presented. There was clear interest and willingness on the part of participants to engage in future cooperation partnerships, as eight of the ten projects presented were the focus of ongoing discussions and presentations until the end of the event in Gdynia. Now, the organisers hope that the ideas developed through transnational teamwork will find their place in the future and that they can also be presented in the coming years as good practices born under the PEACE+ project.
Here are the eight project ideas conceived during the event:
- Rediscover Europe: A New Tourism Concept;
- Democracy Here and Now;
- Civic Action Through Mobility Participation – CAMPs;
- Demasking Populist Ideas: Tools for Educators in Higher Education;
- FUNdamental Rights; Empowering Students and Enhancing Knowledge through Art and Creativity;
- Intergenerational Engagement: Cooperation between Generations to Strengthen European Entrepreneurship and Build the Foundations of a New Economy in the Era of Demographic Crisis;
- Community in Motion: Sports for Civic Impact;
- Story Space for Democracy
Going into detail about the seminar activities, moderated by Paul Guest, the first day saw introductory greetings from Renata Decewicz, Deputy Director, Erasmus+ Higher Education Unit, National
Agency for the Erasmus+ Programme and European Solidarity Corps, followed first by a speech by Cristina Bacalso, Policy Analyst and independent research consultant on the theme of democratic participation as a cross-cutting priority for Erasmus+ , and then by the presentation of the PEACE+ project, scheduled to run until 2027.
The following day, before the group work began among the various participants, who discussed ideas for real projects with potential partners in line with the general theme of the event, there was an inspirational panel discussion featuring Agata Komendant-Brodowska from the University of Warsaw, who spoke about a project on anti-polarisation and better democracy, and Katarzyna Kucharska (also from the University of Warsaw), who presented the UNICOMM initiative for active participation by the university community. Dorota Piotrowska (Technical University in Lodz) presented a project to build a comprehensive educational ecosystem for sustainable development goals, and Piotr Wołejsza (Science4People) presented a debunking (anti-fake news) project, with the implementation of teaching methods based on artificial intelligence and digital tools to support the fight against disinformation.
In the late afternoon, participants had the opportunity to visit the Emigration Museum in Gdynia, which offers an interactive tour recounting the history of emigration from Polish territories spanning hundreds of years.
The final morning of work focused on tools for writing an effective project and presenting the ideas that emerged from the various working groups, with related reflections from the plenary session.
By Matteo Minà, journalist, Agenzia nazionale Erasmus+ INDIRE
Photographs taken by Szymon Łaszewski (FRSE)