Conference Agenda

Need for research

This study focuses on the topic citizen involvement (also known as „citizen participation“, “citizen engagement“ or as „civic involvement“). The topic civic engagement is linked to the topics deliberation, empowerment and democratic learning. In addition, it is currently a central and rapidly growing task of local authorities in decision-making processes. The author Georg Weisseno notes, „Society and educational policymakers expect political education to contribute to the development of democratic attitudes and the associated on willingness to participate. This should be achieved in all areas in order to prevent illiberal, autocratic and authoritarian behaviour.“ (See Weisseno, G. 2023, Learning through political participation. p. 317). The concept of civic engagement is defined as „working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make a difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.“ (Ehrlich, Preface, p. vi, In: Oxford handbook of political participation, p. 382) In the study, reference is mainly made to participatory and informal areas and forms of participation in the information, consultation and co-decision (cooperation and decision-making) stages. These areas are designated to in the literature as less formalized or unconventional forms of citizen participation. Three substantial areas of political participation in democracy are distinguished:

• Participation in representative structures (e.g. elections),
• co-determination on direct issues (e.g. referendum),
• Participatory forms of participation (e.g. citizen dialogs).

The study focuses on the informal type of civic participation. Informal participation refers to dialog-oriented, consultative and freer procedures in which citizens come together to form opinions or make decisions. The concept of citizen participation is understood to mean both, a top-down as well as a Bottom-up strategy for political participation. The focus of the study lies on the practice of civic involvement and how municipalities deal with the challenges in this field.

The project focuses on the issue/problem of citizenship education as a tool to contribute to the promotion of youth well-being. The research hypothesis relates the phenomenon of youth existential distress to the lack or absence of life skills, and the construct of active citizenship and education for its exercise as educational key categories and tools to promote such skills and contribute to dealing with the phenomenon of youth existential distress.The research questions were the following: What is the role and influence of beliefs and efficacy in life skills on the development of positive thinking and subjective well-being of adolescents? What is the relationship between these two aspects and participatory processes, the propensity to assume forms of responsibility and civic engagement, and the development of active and proactive attitudes towards the future?

The research aimed to understand the relationship between the phenomenon of youth existential distress and the lack of life skills; to understand the relationship between the perception of one's own effectiveness in life skills, the perception of well-being and the lack of forms of positive thinking and the propensity to project oneself positively and responsibly into the future; to pedagogically re-signify the construct of active citizenship and its implementation through a bottom-up approach.

The research focuses on one of the educational emergencies facing pedagogy and education today: the challenge of the existential distress of adolescents, understood as the difficulty in performing "normal" evolutionary tasks. The data provided by ISTAT (2019), SIP (2022), UNICEF (2021) are alarming and show the increase, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, in mental disorders between 10 and 19 years old and in suicides between 15 and 19 years old. The interpretation used was pedagogical, with the aim of formulating the issue from the point of view of the subject educability. For this reason, the research did not focus on pathological distress, but on those forms of socially compatible, often invisible distress that Sergio Tramma (2019) includes in what he calls the "grey zone". The epistemological framework of the research is that of complexity theory (Morin, 2000; Ceruti 1994, 2020, 2021), the capability approach (Sen, 1986, 1993, 1994; Nussbaum, 2011, 2012, 2013), ecological theory (Brofenbenner, 2002), the sustainability paradigm (ONU, 2015) and global citizenship education (UNESCO, 2017; 2023).

Attention to skills is at the heart of the research, and reference is made to the numerous national and international documents that stress the need to promote not only knowledge in the younger generations, but also the ability to be and the ability to do (WHO, 1993; OECD, 2021; UNICEF, 2021; European Commission, 2020). First of all, the Council Recommendation on key Competences for Lifelong Learning (2018), which questions the construct of citizenship and civic competences for the integral education of the subject. In this sense, the research identifies citizenship education as a way to counter existential distress, together with educational approaches based on the promotion of life skills. In this sense, citizenship education is seen as a practice of developing the future (Pignalberi, 2020), taking on a capacitive and educational meaning and using concepts such as empowerment, agency, participation, individual and collective well-being self-efficacy, fundamental protective factors against the emergence of forms of discomfort.

Citizenship Education (CE) has gained prominence in addressing democratic challenges arising from global inequality, climate change, migration, and pandemics. CE is widely considered an essential tool for equipping learners to meet these challenges (Kolleck 2022). It can be broadly defined as a concept that summarises all educational processes aimed at preparing individuals for their role as citizens, ensuring their access to rights and responsibilities, and promoting active participation in democratic societies (Osler & Starkey 2006). Although traditionally regarded as the domain of nation-states, the CE field has opened up to alternative actors, with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) emerging as significant contributors, leading to claims of an 'NGOisation' of CE (Ribeiro et al. 2016).

Education processes are no longer limited to national contexts but cross borders and involve diverse stakeholders, including practitioners, governments, intergovernmental organizations, businesses, and NGOs (DeMars 2005; Lubienski et al. 2022). NGOs are evolving as key players shaping educational content, practice, and governance. With their adaptability and flexibility, NGOs have become significant contributors to public education systems (Martens 2002). The ongoing globalization of education has led to the emergence of transnational NGO networks that transcend national boundaries by connecting diverse stakeholders (Menashy 2016). These networks are ascribed potential in addressing current challenges in education governance and implementation, particularly in areas such as CE. The increasing engagement of NGOs in transnational networks underscores their commitment to enhancing communication and collaboration, essential qualities for effective action in the globalized era. Transnational NGO networks in education serve various purposes, exhibiting different degrees of formality that range from unofficial partnerships to legally established coalitions (Goodwin 2009). As it has been argued that the form of a network should follow its functions, the structure of a network appears to be closely linked to specific functional needs (Hearn & Mendizabal 2011). However, despite the rising presence of transnational NGO networks as potentially impactful players in the CE field, there is a lack of understanding of their organisational structures as collective actors and a research gap on their roles and functions.

In order to address these gaps, this article conducts an analysis of a qualitative data set consisting of a series of semi-structured expert interviews with key NGO representatives from a selected group of five transnational NGO networks working on CE in Europe. It aims to answer the central questions: (1) What functions and roles do transnational NGO networks carry out in the field of CE in Europe?, (2) How are these functions and roles accomplished by networks through different organisational structures?, and (3) How do the structural characteristics of a network relate to its effective fulfilment of functions and roles?

The Network Functions Approach (NFA) serves as the study's analytical framework, focusing on the functions and roles of transnational NGO networks rather than just their organizational structures (Hearn & Mendizabal 2011). Through this lens, light can be shed on the dualistic nature between forms and functions as well as the networks’ potential to act as effective educational players or changemakers in the transnational sphere (Macpherson 2016). The NFA synthesizes five core functions: Knowledge management, amplification and advocacy, community building, convening, and resource mobilisation. These functions are essential for understanding the network's agency and support roles in effecting change and facilitating members' actions. The NFA offers a robust yet adaptable framework for the systematic analysis and comparison of these networks by providing categories to assess their formal shapes and actions. This article aims to contribute to the understanding of how transnational NGO networks operate, and the findings should inform future research, policy and strategic planning for transnational NGO networks working in CE.

The social crises of the last few years have led to social uncertainty among the younger generation (Andresen et al., 2022). In Germany, this is also accompanied by doubts about the existing democracy, especially among young people from middle and low educational backgrounds (Habich & Remete, 2023; Open Society Foundation, 2023). In addition, young people hardly feel noticed by politics, which reduces satisfaction with democracy (Vodafone Stiftung, 2022).

In Germany, youth work, youth organizations and clubs are important places for leisure activities and important settings for non-formal education. These activities bring together young people and the support of youth workers or educators, so that young people can express and organize themselves for their interests and take responsibility (Düx et al., 2008; BMFSFJ, 2012).

In these contexts, young people's insecurities are addressed by them having access to democratic forms of action, creating and establishing norms and values in everyday interactions and being able to communicate their needs and interests. Democracy – at least in the intention – is the “goal, object and practice of education” also in German youth work (BMFSFJ, 2020, p. 125).

The focus of the paper is the promotion of civic participation as a special approach to democratic education. Especially in the non-formal educational context of youth work, which is based on maxims such as voluntariness or interest orientation (Sturzenhecker, 2021; BMFSFJ, 2020), there are special participation opportunities for young people: Here participation itself is a maxim, and can have a variety of forms, f.e. the adoption of responsibility in youth associations, the participation in youth committees (e.g. youth parliaments) or informal participation through interactional everyday processes (Züchner & Peyerl, 2015).

The article therefore aims to discuss the extent to which (the facilitation of) participation in youth work as a non-formal place of education can enable democratic education.
To determine the goal of democratic education, discourses around citizenship learning draw on the distinction learning about, for and through democracy (Bîrcéa et al., 2004; Sant, 2019), which together supposed “the meaning and functioning, the normative expectations and perspectives for action as well as open up the rules, behavior, conventions and creative scope of democratic communities" (Edelstein, 2009, p. 82). While learning about democracy is primarily aimed at imparting knowledge, learning for democracy is primarily about promoting democratic value orientations (Kołczyńska, 2020).

In particular, learning through democracy is closely linked to Dewey's idea of democracy as “a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience” (Dewey, 1916/2023, p. 144). Dewey (1939/2021) assumes that democracy as a way of life is characterized by the ability to judge and act intelligently (Dewey, 1939/2021), which is achieved through experiential learning is acquired in one's own local area (Dewey, 1939/2021). Particularly in youth work, democratic education is strongly based on the idea of democracy as the idea of an “embryonic society” (Dewey, 1899/1980, p. 12) and fosters participation experiences.

Particularly for pedagogically initiated participation processes, the question arises, whether all forms of participation contribute to democratic education or whether democratic education as learning through democracy requires reflection processes that clarify the connection of everyday interactions and decision making to the concept of democracy. Drawing on the concept of democratic consciousness (Abdi & Carr, 2013), which includes one’s attention to social processes, an understanding and appreciation of democratic norms, sensitivity to different political power relations, and the recognition of rules and institutions for the creation of general obligations (Himmelmann, 2007), the article discusses the extent to which participation in youth work promotes democratic consciousness.