Educational Programs for School

It is important that these topics are introduced in schools, so that children and young people have the opportunity to learn about their rights as European citizens.

In the photo: the new EU Junior Experts for the 2024/25 academic year.

European Citizenship Education

Maintaining a close relationship with the school system is a core priority for the Europe Direct Punto Europa Forlì. Being a conscious European citizen is essential for building one’s life, navigating challenges, and seizing opportunities. Encouraging citizens—especially young people—to engage actively in political and social life has increasingly become a priority at both national and European levels.

Through its European Citizenship Education Project, the Europe Direct Punto Europa center in Forlì aims to promote active citizenship within educational systems. Introducing these topics in schools ensures that children and young people have the opportunity to learn about their rights as European citizens.

Europe Direct Punto Europa Forlì offers free school interventions upon request, adapting content, topics, and language according to the type of school and any specific educational needs. The objectives of these interventions are to:

• Educate young people on European topics;

• Bring schools closer to the European integration process, fostering understanding of its challenges and appreciation of its benefits;

• Enable local communities to play an active role, including in educational activities, in the process of European construction.

Informing and raising awareness about European Union issues is entrusted to young trainers selected from students at the Forlì campus of the University of Bologna. These students, already specialized in EU studies, participate in a training course where they learn effective communication techniques for classroom sessions. Having university students lead the sessions adds significant value, as they can engage and motivate school students more effectively.

Sessions are tailored according to the type of school and teachers’ requests. They primarily provide a general overview of the history of European integration and the motivations behind the process. Teachers can then choose to continue with additional sessions on specific topics, such as EU institutions and policies, European citizenship, study and work opportunities in the EU, environmental policy, and other subjects agreed upon with the educators.

At the end of each school session, students complete a questionnaire evaluating the trainers’ performance and the services offered by Punto Europa. Data collected over the past years show consistently positive assessments from both teachers and students in middle and high schools. Another notable result is the steadily increasing percentage of students reporting knowledge of the European Union. After a decade of school activities, many students have already participated in a session in a previous class.