|
EUDEC 2008 Leipzig
Leslie Ocker
Paul-Gruner-Str. 33
04107 Leipzig/Germany
Phone: +49-341-9261877
Fax: +49-341-9261878
info@eudec2008.org
|
|
EUDEC 2008 Conference Report
The first European Democratic Education Conference, EUDEC 2008, was held in Leipzig, Germany, from 25 July to 3 August.
More than 400 students, teachers, parents, academics and representatives from various schools, institutes and organisations around the world came together to exchange ideas and best practices and to explore potential areas of cooperation in the field of democratic education.
The Participants
The conference organisers were extremely pleased, not only with the number of participants, but also with the diversity. A wide variety of schools, from public schools to student-led learning groups – and everything in between – were represented. About half of the participants were school and university students.
The following countries were represented (25 in total): Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, the UK, the Ukraine and the USA.
The Programme
Four days of the conference were planned as an “open schedule”, which was quickly filled with workshops and presentations offered by participants of all ages. A planned programme with 70 lectures, workshops and presentations was offered during the two-day “public session”, attracting roughly 150 additional guests. The public session programme can be downloaded here. The organisers plan to post the texts for several lectures on this website and ultimately publish them in the form of a conference book.
Sustainability
The conference and network organisers have received special recognition for their environmental commitment. For example, all conference and network materials were printed on recycled paper. Conference caterer used all organic ingredients, primarily from regional farmers. The pens enclosed with the conference guide were even compostable! For this commitment, EUDEC was selected as an official project of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.
Conference Outcomes
Over the course of the conference, the European Democratic Education Community, which had formed as an outcome of the international conference-planning effort, gained 87 new members, including schools, organisations and individuals. During the first member’s assembly, which was held on the last day of the conference, many new members stepped forward to offer their support in various areas such as information gathering, fundraising, outreach, translation work and general organisation.
The establishment and growth of this new European network was a significant long-term impact of the conference. Other important conference outcomes:
- A research group formed to plan cooperative international research projects focused on the field of democratic education. This group is made up of experienced researchers, academics and university students and will be organised as a working committee for EUDEC.
- The conference attracted a great deal of media attention – from both newspapers and radio programmes – spreading the ideas of freedom in education to the general public.
- Plans were made for future European meetings: The next EUDEC members’ assembly will be held in Poland in 2009, and EUDEC 2010, the next regional conference, will take place in either Denmark or the UK.
In the coming months, the 11-member EUDEC council will be busy at work, updating the website, creating a database of schools, developing platforms for student and teacher exchanges and expanding its presence in Europe.
 www.eudec.org
|
