International

Completed: DEMRED

DEMRED – Strengthening Democratic Resilience through Education is a joint education program with the Council of Europe bringing together education professionals from countries which have recent experiences with terrorist attacks. This project is completed.

Trainings for Educators in Western and Northern Europe

Policy Recommendations from Practice

Several European countries have experienced terrorist attacks in recent years. The attackers have claimed allegiance to a variety of ideologies, most commonly Islamist and right-wing ideologies. They have used a variety of methods and caused different degrees of damage, both psychological and material.

2021 marked 10 years since the terrorist attacks in Oslo and at Utøya 22 July 2011. There are important lessons to learn both from Norway and other countries’ experiences with educational responses to terrorist attacks, and the role of education in preventing extremism, ensuring democratic resilience.

Demred March 2023

“It can be useful to look outside our own education systems for inspiration.”

Teachers and educators from Northern and Western Europe met on the island of Utøya to learn, share, and give feedback on the role of education in building democratic resilience.

Expert group

EWC and Council of Europe work with a group of experts to develop learning materials and trainings for the DEMRED project.

Advisory Board

Representatives from institutions and experts in different countries who work with preventing extremism and/or promoting human rights education and education for democracy.

Resources

Teaching Controversial Issues

This page with video tutorials gives a basic introduction to Teaching Controversial Issues (TCI) and how to work with them in classroom, school and beyond.

Signposts teacher training module, Teaching about religions and non-religious world views in intercultural education

This manual is developed to be used in teacher education. The aim of the training module is to offer safe ways for teachers to address issues connected to religion and non-religious world views in the framework of intercultural education.

Learning Resources on 22 July 2011


This digital resource provides guidance and tools for teachers on how to teach about 22 July, democracy and citizenship as an interdisciplinary topic, in different subjects and on different levels from 1 – 10th grade.

Project team

Ingrid Aspelund

Head of Youth Section

Other projects

Hate I´m Against

"Hate, I'm against" gave Polish and Norwegian students the skills and tools to organize social campaigns against hate speech and discrimination in their schools and local environments.

Information vs manipulation – How to stand up against propaganda

The project “Information vs manipulation – How to stand up against propaganda?” promoted critical thinking and media literacy among students in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Regional Summer Academy Montenegro

The South East Europe Regional Summer Academy "Human Rights in Action" promoted human rights education in South East Europe.

Regional Summer Academy Poland

The Regional Summer Academy "Democracy at School" promoted education for democratic citizenship in Poland, Russia and Eastern Partnership countries.

Visegrad at Utøya

Youth leaders from political parties and civil society in Visegrad countries (Poland, Hungary, Czeck Republic, Slovakia) and Norway meet at Utøya to learn and exchange experiences on how to promote a democratic culture in their local and national communities.

Dealing with Controversy in the Nordic Countries

The project aimed to strengthen particpants' competences in creating safe and inclusive spaces for teaching and discussing controversial issues with young people.

Baltic Summer Academy

The Baltic Summer Academy aims to build the capacity of schools in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to foster an inclusive and democratic culture through promotion and implementation of citizenship and human rights education

STEP UP – Student Teachers’ Practice for Democratic Culture

The project Student Teachers Practice for Democratic Culture - STEP UP-DC attempts to connect Competences for Democratic Culture (CDC) and teacher training, especially Initial Teacher Training (ITT) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

Fighting antisemitism, xenophobia and racism now!

Through interactive workshops and sharing of experiences between participants from Norway and Poland, we aim to raise awareness and knowledge about hate speech, as well as strengthen skills and attitudes to prevent it. 

Preparing Future Teachers in the Western Balkans

Preparing Future Teachers in the Western Balkans aims to develop and integrate new teacher education modules with a focus on practice-oriented teaching promoting citizenship, democracy and human rights.

The Thorvald Stoltenberg Seminar

Every year, The European Wergeland Centre (EWC) and Utøya invite young activists, educators, and community leaders between the ages of 18 to 30, to a training in democracy and intercultural dialogue.

Regional Cooperation between Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova

The aim of this regional project is to strengthen the regional cooperation and dissemination of best practices while also building a professional pool of experts in Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, with a focus on democratic citizenship and human rights education.