Welcome to Understanding Europe!
Understanding Europe is the Schwarzkopf Foundation’s European network for Democratic Citizenship Education. It offers courses for and by young people and is committed to fostering democracy, diversity and participation in Europe.
Note
Due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of Understanding Europe’s courses and activities are taking place digitally. More information can be found here.
Educational Approach
Learn more about our approach of Peer Education and what it means for our work with young people throughout Europe.
EU-Crash-Courses
This four-hour analogue or digital format provides students with basic knowledge on the EU and Europe. It addresses questions such as: Why does the EU exist? How does it work? And how can I have a say in it? The methodology is based on interaction and exchange.
Media-Crash Course
This course consists of purely digital formats which can be combined flexibly, allowing to customize content and length. It aims to teach students basic media skills and deals with questions such as: How do journalists work? What makes media reliable? How can I react to hate speech?
Educational Materials
Here, you can find our publications, workshop manuals, illustrations, videos and other materials – all freely accessibly. Depending on their format, they are availabe in English, German and other languages.
Personal Responsibility
We empower young people to develop and execute their own projects and seek to give them a voice.
Democratic Citizenship Education
We facilitate an understanding of the values, attitudes, skills and knowledge necessary for participating in a democratic Europe.
Peer Approach
Our trainers are young volunteers who are between 16 and 27 years old. Because of their own experiences, they are able to relate to the life and perspectives of young people.
Guidance
We see ourselves as learning partners and counsellors. Our educational programme connects young people with civil society actors from different countries.
Become a Trainer!
Our courses are developed and conducted by young trainers. Learn how to become a trainer yourself and how our qualification program supports you in doing so.
European Summer School
The annual European Summer School is our core training event for experienced Trainers from our network. Through participating in diverse and intensive courses, they are prepared for conducting Trainings for Trainers in their own project countries.
Our Network
Our network consists of youth organizations in 11 European countries who implement and run the project on the ground. Find your local contact and approach them if you want to book a course or learn more about their work!
News
First Digital Understanding Europe Coordinators' Meeting
From 7-10 May 2020, our Understanding Europe Coordinators held their bi-annual Coordinators‘ meeting, giving them the opportunity to update each other on the progress of the project in their countries, to exchange and support each other on common challenges and plans for the future. Read more...
NECE Focus group of the "Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture"
In the framework of the NECE network (Networking European Citizenship Education) we are member of the focus group of the Reference Framework... Read more
Spring trainings for German peer-trainers of Understanding Europe
On the first weekends of March two spring training events for the Understanding Europe peer trainers took place in Bielefeld and Potsdam... Read more
International Coordinator Meeting of our Understanding Europe project
A transnational exchange started our February in 2018! 14 young people came together from 14 different European countries... Read more
The Trainings 2017 are Done! Our Teams in Prague, Brussels, Porto and Bologna are Ready for the New Year
rag, Prague, Vienna, Brussels, Porto and Bologna. If you tour all these cities, you will be travelling at least a distance of 4.000 kilometers... Read more
Trainings in Aserbaidschan, Armenien and the Ukraine
The entry is only available in German. Read more
Understanding Europe: EU Commissioner Oettinger in dialogue with young people in Hamburg
hich are the European demands that young people want to get active for? Which methods are available to... Read more