European Citizenship

Introduction

The political, geographic and demographic changes which have been taking place in Europe in the last few years has led to the development of the idea of ‘active European citizenship.’ This has become an important idea for politicians and policy makers in the European Union and the Council of Europe, as a way of addressing some of the issues affecting young people living in Europe today:

globalization and migration;
the exclusion and marginalization of young people, living in increasingly diverse societies;
the breakdown of traditional communities because of the rapid pace of social, economic and political change;
the apparent decline in the participation of young people in traditional political structures;
the need to involve young people in the youth policies which are being developed at European level;
the need to bring young people closer to the European Institutions to increase their awareness and engagement, and foster a sense of European identity based on common values, history and culture.

Citizenship is a key issue for Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting and directly linked to the mission of WAGGGS “to enable girls and young women to develop their fullest potential as responsible citizens of the world.”

These pages on our website are designed to support and encourage trainers and leaders in the Europe Region WAGGGS when they are building citizenship projects in their educational programmes, to help them reflect on what can be changed or developed to ensure that young people, particularly girls and young women, are empowered to contribute to the development of an enlarging and increasingly diverse Europe and to build a better world.


They have been produced with the support of the Education and Culture Directorate of the European Commission and the Europe for Citizens programme 2007-2013.

In this area you will find:

European Citizenship game