Communicating European Citizenship

Events in EU development dating from the 1990s, such as the problematic ratification of the Maastricht and Lisbon Treaties and low turnouts in European Parliamentary elections, point to questions about the nature of citizenship in the EU. Policy makers have recognised and responded to these concerns in a number of ways, including, for example, the 2006 White Paper on Communication. Nevertheless, challenges remain.

UACES, assisted by co-funding from the European Commission, convened and led a major project into ‘Communicating European Citizenship’, 2009-10.

The project took place as a series of four linked events, organised by a team of academic and teacher-training experts, held in different parts of the UK to facilitate participation.

Event 1, the launch workshop, established the research agenda.

Event 2 was a continuing professional development event for secondary school teachers of Citizenship and provided an important ‘continuing professional development’ (CPD) event for PGCE students, newly qualified and experienced teachers of Citizenship. The event identified, evaluated and selected suitable teaching resources about the European Union that was then 'road-tested' during Event 3.

Event 3 took the form of a ‘Year 10 Conference’ for approximately 100 students. The Conference was facilitated by PGCE Citizenship students from Bradford College, along with some more experienced teachers, and some representatives of civil society organisations.

Event 4 was conference hosted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, uniting academic experts in communication, citizenship and European integration from a range of disciplines (politics, law, sociology, communications).