Chair in Active European Citizenship

2026-07-22

93% of Irish 15 to 30-year olds consider that national governments should strengthen school education about rights and responsibilities as EU citizens (Flash EB 455). Ireland has had to take stock of what the UK’s departure means for the Republic and its citizens with regard its own membership and links with the EU. This Chair in Active European Citizenship aims to use agonistic deliberation through its teaching to analyse the EU from the citizen’s point of view. Using different social media platforms as part of module assignments, it targets different audiences from primary to third level making EU public affairs relevant to young citizens’ daily lives. Three types of activities will be developed: 1. Teaching the EU through the citizenship lens – (600 students over 3 years) a. Three and a half European politics modules at UG and PG level. Outputs: Monthly episodes for primary level YouTube EU TV Junior and post-primary level EU TV +. b. A university-wide Continuing Professional Development course on ‘Communicating Europe’. Outputs: TikTok/Instagram posts 2. Making the EU ours, connecting with other levels of education. a. Developing a European strand to the post-primary Young Social Innovators programme (1,680 students). b. A series of events centred on Europe Day – a transnational Europe Week including Europe Day Zoom Quizzes at primary (21,000 students from Ireland and the rest of the EU) and post-primary level (1,500 students), a Europe Day festival (600 people from civil society). 3. Multi-disciplinary research into the pedagogy of teaching on the EU in primary, post-primary and third level will be edited in a volume. Two articles based on fieldwork done at primary level will analyse the use of agonistic deliberation in the teaching of EU politics. Through research and teaching on active European citizenship and targeted activities, the expected results are increased understanding and engagement from 5 to 30-year olds thanks to experiential learning.

Ireland

2025-12-15