Project title
Stand up for Europe! Argumentation training against undemocratic slogans: European extension and updating
Project Number
2023-2-DE04-KA220-YOU-000175190
Lead partner
Akademie Klausenhof gGmbH (Germania)
Programme and call
Erasmus+ – KA2 Cooperation partnerships in Youth (KA220-YOU), Call for Proposals 2023
About the project
Brief description
The project stems from the collaboration of 6 partners (2 from Germany, 1 from Hungary, 1 from Turkey, 1 from Slovenia and InEuropa from Italy) for the creation of practical and theoretical materials for the development of training and facilitations activities and workshops for young people aged from 13 to 30 on thematic linked to democracy and European values. Specifically, the training materials will be the starting point for learning how to respond to antidemocratic slogans and discourse in a constructive way.
The training material will be freely accessible through a theoretical guide and a practical manual, a handbook of Good Practices on how to implement and promote common European values in their respective national contexts, and an online self-learning tool (short videos) to reflect and to activate the critical thinking and the peer-to-peer confrontation. Project materials are available on InEuropa website and on the official website in Italian, English and in the partners’ languages (German, Turkish, Slovenian, and Hungarian).
The main goal of the proposed activities is to provide resources to react in a proper way to antidemocratic and populist slogans that relate to daily situations with family, friends, at school, in public spaces, etc.
STAND UP FOR EUROPE! will mainly focus on:
- Values and Identity
- Dilemmas and Conflicts
- Antidemocratic Slogans
- Power, Privilege and Discrimination
The materials constitute the evolution and the update of the Klaus-Peter Hufer method – “Argumentationstraining gegen Stammtischparolen “(Argumentation training against populists’ slogans) in a European sense, widely used in Citizenship Education in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, enriched with topics, methods, and contributions specific to Europe thanks to the collaboration and contribution of the six project partners.
Target groups
The project is aimed at teachers, educators, and trainers enabling them to provide the young people and young adults they work with on a daily basis the resources to respond critically and constructively to hateful, anti-democratic, and populist attitudes, verbal (and physical) attacks, and populist, extremist, sexist, and stereotypical arguments (against migrants, Jews, people with disabilities, women, disadvantaged people, and queer people).
It is also aimed at:
– Activists and volunteers in youth movements/political parties
– Employees of NGOs, initiatives, and civil rights movements, with a particular focus on young people
– Stakeholders and politicians
– Anyone involved in youth education
Through STAND UP FOR EUROPE! we want to:
- Spread awareness of European values and strengthen respect for them
- Develop a training program aimed at preparing young people to respond effectively to populist, anti-European, and discriminatory arguments, both online and offline.
- Develop a method for spreading awareness of European values and their protection through the collection, comparison, and integration of effective training methodologies.
- Defend human rights.
- Contribute to the recognition of violations of fundamental European values through an effective training tool for use in digital contexts, oral discussions, and everyday scenarios.
- Encourage personal reflection on respect for fundamental values and raise awareness of the use of stereotypical and discriminatory arguments and behaviors.
- Stimulate self-assessment through the use of scenarios with which it is easy to identify.
What is Argumentationstraining gegen Stammtischparolen?
Stammtischparolen are populist statements and slogans with which numerous groups of people (often social minorities, but also representatives of the “elites”) are discriminated against. Usually, they are also directed against “the” European policy. These slogans are dogmatic, rigid and prejudice-based: in these speeches, there are very strict categories (“we” and “they”), which defend their positions aggressively and with an exclusionary attitude.
Professor Dr. Klaus-Peter Hufer is a trainer, a lecturer, an author and scientist. He himself works as an adult educator and as an applied professor. His Argumentation training* teaches effective techniques and tricks for responding to populist slogans in conversations (e.g. with facts, irony, critical inquiries, etc.). In its interactive form, the argumentation training offers the opportunity to try out and experience in exchange with the seminar group how to react appropriately to such slogans. Hufer’s training has been frequently used in educational work for many years, also in youth education or in training for employees and volunteers of NGOs and other institutions, parties, companies, schools and organizations.
* Klaus-Peter Hufer: Argumentationstraining gegen Stammtischparolen. Materialien und Anleitungen für Bildungsarbeit und Selbstlernen. 10. Auflage 2018, 120 Seiten, Wochenschau-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main
Partnership
University of Augsburg, Germany
InEuropa srl, Italy
KatHaz, Hungary
Doga School, Turkey
Socialna Akademija, Slovenia
Duration
24 months (from 01/03/2024 to 28/02/2026)
Total Budget
€ 250.000


