This comparative exploratory project examines how civic engagement is understood and practised in the Baltic states. Due to their proximity to Russia, their historical experiences of Soviet occupation and the current geopolitical threat, civic engagement is often linked not only to social participation, but also to democratic resilience, crisis preparedness and civil defence.

Through expert interviews and participant observation, we aim to investigate relevant theoretical idea, educational practices, including formats related to Service Learning, and the ideas of citizenship they promote. The project critically examines how such approaches may contribute to resilient citizenship and what implications they hold for civic and political education in Germany and Western Europe.

“The Democracy Detectives” is a project for fifth-grade students developed by teachers at Christian-Ernst-Gymnasium Erlangen. The Professorship of Civic Education and Didactics of Social Studies provides academic support for the project and conducts accompanying research using both qualitative and quantitative methods.

The research examines how students develop political questions based on issues from their own everyday lives, carry out investigations, prepare and analyse expert interviews, and create their own media products. Particular attention is paid to how their political understanding, participatory competence, political self-efficacy and critical media literacy develop over the course of the project. The research also explores how learner-centred and gender-sensitive civic education can be implemented in practice in a school-based project during the early years of secondary education.

Methodologically, the accompanying research combines quantitative and qualitative approaches. Pre- and post-project questionnaires capture changes in the students’ self-assessments, particularly in relation to their competencies and sense of self-efficacy. These are complemented by interviews with participants and stakeholders, as well as participant observation throughout the project. The analysis also draws on the materials used and the media products created during the project.

Further information about the teaching and learning format and the practical work with the students is available under “Teaching and Learning Projects”.

What Is “Einmischen!”?

“Einmischen!” is designed as a new programme combining political learning with practical experiences of democracy. Students in grades 8 to 10 select a current key societal issue and develop their own civic engagement project at their school or in the surrounding community.

Through accompanying workshops and cooperation with volunteers from a civil society organisation, the young participants strengthen their awareness of societal challenges and democratic values. They further develop their capacity for political judgement and gain experience in project planning, enabling them to initiate change within their own communities and contribute to sustainable and democratic forms of coexistence.

What Are the Objectives of the Project?

“Einmischen!” seeks to build a bridge between schools and civic engagement outside the school environment. The project aims to develop ideas for longer-term cooperation between schools and civil society organisations.

It combines the objectives of civic education with the teaching and learning approach of service learning. In doing so, it enables young people to experience democracy and active participation in practice and strengthens their sense of self-efficacy.

“Einmischen!” is open to all types of schools. Both school classes and teacher-supervised school working groups may participate.

How Is the Project Being Studied?

The study of “Einmischen!” follows a mixed-methods design in which quantitative and qualitative approaches are given equal weight.

The quantitative component consists of a longitudinal pre-post survey in which students assess their perceived development of participatory competence. The qualitative component comprises participant observation and interviews with students. These methods are used to reconstruct learning processes, experiences of participation and the ways in which participants interpret the project over time.

Which Institutions Are Involved in “Einmischen!”?

“Einmischen!” is a joint project involving several partners. The lead organisation is the Landesnetzwerk Bürgerschaftliches Engagement Bayern e.V., Bavaria’s state network for civic engagement.

The project is supported by the Stiftung Bayerisches Wertebündnis, the Bavarian Agency for Civic Education and the Bavarian State Ministry of Family Affairs, Labour and Social Affairs. Its patron is Eva Gottstein, the Bavarian State Government Commissioner for Volunteering.

The Professorship of Civic Education and Didactics of Social Studies supports “Einmischen!” through formative consultation and evaluation.

The o[s]tklick Project

In recent years, right-wing extremist and right-wing populist attitudes and behaviour have increasingly placed strain on democratic coexistence. Issues such as racism and group-focused enmity are widely recognised as challenges affecting society as a whole and are being addressed through civic education initiatives (see, among others, Küpper 2016; Melter and Mecheril 2011).

One group that has so far received comparatively little attention consists of ethnic German repatriates and late repatriates from Russia and other post-Soviet states. This is particularly significant because right-wing populist actors have specifically sought to appeal to members of this group (see Klimeniouk 2018).

The project “o[s]tklick – Responding Democratically” addresses this issue by developing and disseminating a liberal and pluralistic counter-narrative.[1] Its aim is to strengthen the principles of diversity of opinion, participation and solidarity within the target group and to promote critical engagement with anti-democratic content.

The project seeks to reach repatriates and late repatriates within their digital everyday lives through videos and shareable graphics addressing topics such as discrimination, equal opportunities and life in a democracy. To generate interest and increase the reach of the materials, the videos are produced with the involvement of prominent members of the Russian-German community.

The project also draws on the multiplier effect created by its supporters. By sharing and liking the content, they help circulate the videos both on social media and through private messaging services. While the videos primarily aim to develop viewers’ conceptual knowledge and provide a starting point for critically examining anti-democratic content, the activities of o[s]tklick extend beyond the production of digital materials.

Interactive workshops are designed to develop participants’ media literacy and argumentation skills. Following the workshops, participants should have a range of strategies at their disposal for responding to hate speech and right-wing slogans. Their media literacy is also strengthened to help them identify false and misleading information more quickly. Developing these competencies is intended to enable participants to articulate and defend their own positions with greater confidence within the framework of a liberal and pluralistic democracy.

The Work of the Professorship of Civic Education

In its evaluation of the project, the Professorship of Civic Education and Didactics of Social Studies sought to identify the conditions under which conceptual knowledge, argumentation skills and media literacy can be successfully developed.

Users’ responses to the materials produced and disseminated by the project were examined using qualitative content analysis based on Mayring’s approach. Comments posted underneath the shareable graphics and videos were analysed using categories such as “concepts of democracy expressed” and “argumentation strategies applied”.

The workshops were evaluated through participant observation, supplemented by quantitative questionnaires. Qualitative interviews with workshop participants provided further insights into the development of networks and the dissemination of the materials. In-depth expert interviews with project partners also contributed important contextual and field-specific knowledge.

[1] A counter-narrative is a positive and meaningful alternative narrative that challenges an extremist worldview. Its purpose is to present a liberal-democratic alternative to anti-democratic ideas and to contribute to their critical deconstruction.

Project and Problem Description

The project “Eichstätt – A Space for Everyone” focuses on sustainable and inclusive urban development in Eichstätt. It seeks to investigate the diverse needs and expectations of local residents and to promote the design of public spaces that serve different groups within the population.

A particular challenge lies in addressing the diverse and often conflicting demands placed on urban public spaces. These spaces are expected to provide safety, accessibility, opportunities for recreation and social interaction, and sufficient room for movement. At the same time, their design and use may have exclusionary effects that restrict access for certain groups.

These challenges call for a transformation towards a “space for everyone” in which different interests and needs are equally recognised and respected. The project “Eichstätt – A Space for Everyone” aims to support this process of transformation and develop sustainable approaches to inclusive and equitable urban development.

The Citizen Science Approach

The project follows a citizen science approach that actively involves members of the public in the research process and draws on their local knowledge, experiences and expertise. In this case, we work with young citizen scientists and involve students from two schools in Eichstätt in the research process.

This participatory approach enhances the relevance of the research, promotes democratic participation and places a stronger emphasis on practical solutions. Young people play a key role in the project, as they are frequently marginalised and underrepresented in decision-making processes.

In keeping with the citizen science approach, the young participants receive research methods training tailored to their needs. This enables them to acquire the knowledge and skills required to contribute actively to investigating and addressing local challenges and to provide impetus for the sustainable transformation of the city.

The project also works directly with the City of Eichstätt, which benefits from both the research process and its findings. The approach facilitates the transfer of research findings and strengthens the connection between theory and practice.

Research Methods

* Qualitative interviews and expert interviews
* Collaborative and critical mapping
* Participant observation and observation accompanying the research process

The project “Eichstätt – A Space for Everyone” is funded by the Hans Sauer Foundation. The Foundation particularly supports projects that pursue collaborative and co-creative citizen science approaches and incorporate participation, transdisciplinarity, design and innovation.

Background and Development

Under the leadership of the Chair of Civic Education at TU Dresden, the pilot project “Strong Teachers – Strong Students” was launched in 2015 at nine vocational schools in the Free State of Saxony. The project was initiated by the Robert Bosch Foundation and jointly funded by the Saxon State Ministry of Education.

The project’s original approach focused on promoting a democratic school culture that critically addresses racism. This was achieved primarily by providing teachers with professional subject-specific guidance, advisory support and opportunities for networking.

Following the main project phase, a transfer phase was launched in Saxony in 2019. Its aim was to establish selected elements of the project, such as its methods, approaches and structural conditions, as a statewide provision and to embed them within Saxony’s education administration.

At the same time, the Robert Bosch Foundation and the German Federal Agency for Civic Education transferred the approach to other federal states. These included Lower Saxony, where the project has been completed, Brandenburg, where it is currently being transferred into established structures, and Hesse, where it entered the implementation phase.

Key Findings from the Pilot Project

The pilot phase produced two key findings regarding how schools address racism and group-focused enmity:

First, it highlighted once again the urgency and necessity of professional development. The challenges faced by individual schools vary considerably and are not limited to students. Rather, they affect the entire school system, including teaching staff and school leadership. At the same time, appropriate strategies for addressing and responding to these challenges appear, in some cases, to be insufficiently established.

Second, the formative support and evaluation formats produced effects that can help strengthen the structures of schools, educational organisations and education administrations. They also had an empowering effect on those responsible for education.

The Evaluation Project: What We Do

Building on the findings and experiences of the Saxon pilot project, the evaluation project provides formative support to the newly established project sites during implementation. Its main areas of interest are:

* identifying the conditions required for successfully transferring the project into sustainable initial and continuing professional education structures;
* identifying the conditions required to achieve lasting changes in school culture in relation to these issues.

Drawing on the experiences of the Saxon pilot project, a further focus lies on how right-wing extremism and group-focused enmity are discussed and negotiated within schools and at the interface between schools and external organisations. This includes, for example, dialogue about where the limits of tolerance should be drawn.

The project follows a qualitative grounded theory research design. This is particularly suitable for a formative approach because it allows the research to respond flexibly to the differing challenges and starting conditions at the individual project and education sites.

To facilitate the effective transfer of knowledge, the evaluation is conducted in a participatory research setting. The research project is planned and coordinated collaboratively with the project leaders at the individual pilot sites. This close cooperation is reflected in jointly agreed data-collection settings and in the continuous integration of research findings into project implementation.

The approach also makes it possible to involve further participants in the pilot projects more actively in the research process, particularly teachers, but also advisers and other stakeholders.

The Professorship of Civic Education and Didactics of Social Studies conducted the evaluation of the nationwide project “Strong Teachers – Strong Students” from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2024.

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