Civic Education for a Society of Citizens

A seminar titled «Sapere Aude: Civic Education for a Society of Citizens,» held in Vienna in cooperation with Dialogbüro and supported by the Swedish Institute (Detta projekt finansieras av Svenska institutet) and the Council of Europe, brought together the IX cohort of the programme — more than 50 representatives of civil society, experts, journalists, human-rights defenders, diplomats, and academics from the EU, Ukraine, Russia, Central Asia, and the South Caucasus — to discuss pressing issues facing societies today. Through courses, workshops, roundtables, and discussions, participants tackled major contemporary challenges: global disorder, civic agency and the limits of resilience, the Dark Enlightenment, populism and radicalization, security dimensions, transitions to democracy and regime change, and the essential role of the humanities as a foundation for democracy and the rule of law. They also worked on the Theories of change and peer-reviewed project ideas to be launched during the year, and debated fundamental problems of justice and the rule of law, emphasizing the need to uphold the universal values of freedom, dignity, and human rights.