Reconciling Our Past, Building a Democratic Future Theme of 13th World Congress on Civic Education CAPE TOWN, South Africa—Civic Education: Reconciling Our Past, Building a Democratic Future is the focus of the 13th World Congress on Civic Education in South Africa from May 27–June 1. Civic educators from 66 countries and 28 U.S. states and the District of Columbia are gathering in Cape Town to exchange and share best practices in education for democracy programs.
The Center for Civic Education, a United States-based nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that promotes civic education worldwide, hosts an annual World Congress on Civic Education in a country that has shown significant progress in education for democratic citizenship. This year's World Congress is co-hosted by the South Africa-based Centre for Community and Educational Development, in collaboration with the Western Cape Department of Education.
The World Congress will showcase the development of civic education programs in South Africa, including lectures on the country’s history, political struggle against apartheid, and the nation’s educational system. Participants will also learn about civic education programs, projects, and activities currently administered in South Africa by the Centre for Community and Organizational Development.
More than 30 thematic workshops will be conducted during the six-day conference with topics such as human rights, ethics in civic education work, reconciling the past, and cultural exchange programs. These sessions are led by classroom educators, university professors, public officials, and NGO representatives, who talk about their experiences in their home countries, including Ireland, Romania, Mauritius, Ukraine, Venezuela, and the United States.
“The World Congress brings together a worldwide network of civic educators who share similar problems and who are working for solutions based on shared values of democracy and participation,” said Richard A. Nuccio, director of the Center for Civic Education’s Civitas International Programs. “Even though this conference represents a variety of languages, cultures, and histories, the common thread is the desire to educate young people to become effective, informed, and involved citizens.”
The new Civic Education Resources Inventory website will be introduced during the Congress. CERI is an online database of nearly 600 civic education resources from all over the world. The CERI website allows users to search for resources, upload new abstracts, and comment on existing resources. It is a product of the Civic Education Partnership Initiative (CEPI) under the direction of Dr. Alden Craddock, former director of the International Democratic Education Institute of Bowling Green State University, in cooperation with the Center for Civic Education.
About the Center for Civic Education The Center for Civic Education's Civitas International Programs are supported by the U.S. Department of Education under the Education for Democracy Act, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other sources. They represent a sustained commitment to strengthening education for democracy throughout the world. Civitas international civic education programs include partnerships linking U.S. educators with educators and policymakers from more than 65 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.
For more information on the Civitas International Programs, visit the Center's website,
www.civiced.org. For more information on the CERI project, visit
http://ceri.civnet.org/.
