Research reports
Participation Erasmus Alumni for Civic Engagement
This report delves into how Erasmus+ activities can encourage civic engagement and political participation among both young people and adults. It seeks to clarify the distinctions between social and civic engagement, as well as participation, versus political engagement and participation. The report underscores the importance of engagement and participation for the European integration project, highlighting various dimensions of individual and collective engagement.
In the second part, the report presents findings from the international conference ‘Erasmus+ Contribution to European civic participation,’ held in Naples, Italy on December 19 and 20. Discussions focused on the importance of engagement, participation, European citizenship, civic and political knowledge of the EU, and how Erasmus+ can contribute to enhancing civic engagement, political literacy, European citizenship education, critical thinking, and adherence to European values. The report also presents 15 significant recommendations proposed by the participants.
Participation and Civic Engagement in Erasmus+
In October 2023, a Final Report by Paul Blokker, a professor at the University of Bologna, Italy, was produced following the International seminar “Participation and Civic Engagement in Erasmus+” in Malmö, Sweden. The report discusses the importance of civic and political competences within the Erasmus+ program and European citizenship. It highlights how international mobility serves as a “testing ground” for European citizenship, revealing challenges such as socio-economic inequality and the absence of a transnational European public sphere. The second part details the discussions from the international conference in Malmö, where over 100 participants engaged in deliberative roundtables on themes like gender inequality, Europe’s colonial past, and the East-West Europe divide. These discussions provided insights for future debates and actions within the PEACE Action. The third section discusses the “Train the Trainers” session in Malmö, focusing on topics relevant to Erasmus+ such as youth political engagement, European citizenship education, and social inclusion.
Erasmus+ and the European Elections
Erasmus+ for Civic Engagement
The main objectives of PEACE is to discuss and debate, explore and develop the civic and political dimension (but also related ones such as political engagement and activism,
critical thinking and political knowledge of the EU) and to propose a series of innovative ideas on how civic and political engagement can be stimulated. In order to give strength, substance and scientific evidence to the project on civic engagement a group of university researchers coordinated by Paul Blokker, Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Bologna, has been created. After the projects’ focus groups four final reports were produced, edited by Professor Blokker himself, following the international seminars in Naples (December 2022), Malmö (Sweden, October 2023), Seville (Spain, April 2024) and Lisbon (Portugal, November 2024). The report contains studies, results, ideas and proposals from the European alumni network that took part in the international seminars and are involved in the long-term European PEACE project on active participation.
You(th) and the 2024 European elections: a survey to understand the concerns of young Europeans
This report (December 2024) on the youth survey You(th) and the 2024 European elections: a survey to understand the concerns of young Europeans was written in the context of the TCA Participation Erasmus Alumni for Civic Engagement (PEACE), coordinated by INDIRE/Erasmus Agency Italy. Author prof. Paul Blokker, with Michele Fiorillo, phD researcher at University Sant’Anna Pisa; Rossana Palladino, Professor at University of Salerno; Esteban Octavio Scuzarello, phD researcher at European University Institute and Tommaso Visone, Professor at Sapienza University of Rome.