Site of the Month:
European Stability Initiative (ESI) is a site where you can find reports on South Eastern Europe and European enlargement Policy. Recent projects are about the situation in Turkey and EU policy on Visa-Free Travel for the Western Balkan.
Education
In 2008 GONG plans to implement another season of 'I Vote for the First Time' and 'European Class workshops'. European Class workshops will be conducted in high-schools during the spring term and I Vote for the First Time workshops in fall.
The www.vote.ie website developed by the VPSJ in 2006 provides a wealth of information on Active Citizenship and voting in Ireland. The website provides another means of making our message about Active Citizenship and the importance of participation in the democratic process more accessible to the general public. There are practical sections on registration, completing a ballot paper, how we are governed and further ways to engage with politicians. The website also provides information and resources such as flyers, posters and new workshop materials to members of the National Active Citizenship Network. The site has been a huge success and proved a very useful resource for many in the run-up to the General Election in 2007 when it received a record number of hits.
The Active Citizenship/Voter Education Programme that is used by the VPSJ was adapted with permission from NETWORK Washington, who had their own American Voter Education Programme. The programme which was amended to meet the needs of Irish voters, is strictly non-party political, and has been very successful in encouraging people to register to vote and have their say in the democratic process. The programme which is 15 per cent presentation and 85 per cent participation is divided into three units. The first unit deals ‘Our Voices, Our Vote’, whilst the second unit covers ‘Issues’ and the third looks at ‘Candidates’.
Already since the 1990s the IPP has been successfully implementing the project ‘Find your way in local government’ in the Netherlands. At the moment every year 2000 pupils from 40 Dutch municipalities participate in the project. The goal is to give young people aged 14-19 years old the conditions and the opportunities to acquire skills necessary for taking an active part in local democratic decision-making processes.
De Haagse Tribune is successfully running for the second year now. It has been developed especially for secondary schools. Each day two or three classes from across the country visit The Hague to participate in this project. During the day they become in an active and involved way familiar with the Dutch political system, the constitutional monarchy.
Because of the Croatian parliamentary elections of 25 November 2007, GONG organized a nation-wide campaign. It was officially announced in October, although certain activities were conducted in the months before. The GONG campaign for the parliamentary elections focused on educating and informing citizens, observing the overall election process and reporting on its course.
From the 21st till the 24th of April, a conference took place on the role of NGOs in education for democratic citizenship in Warsaw, Poland. The main aim of the conference was to exchange successful project experiences and innovative practices in the field of democratic citizenship and human rights education. Ruud Veldhuis draws conclusions from the event.