Dear Global HRE List Members, Following the announcement of the publication "Compass", the manual on human rights education with young people produced by the Council of Europe's Directorate of Youth and Sport, I would like to provide some further information about what is in "Compass" and what is coming next in our programme. Human rights and human rights education have often served as the background of values and as a political framework for a multitude of activities and projects that may range from a summer camp to a youth exchange or a school club. This implicit practice of HRE has been a characteristic also in the youth policy in the Council of Europe, which has traditionally focussed on issues of "burning" interest for and of young people (including human rights). This has been and remains the main way to pursue, in the youth field, the mission of the Council of Europe. The Human Rights Education Youth programme has been developed around the idea of bringing human rights education into the mainstream of youth work practice. The provision of educational materials to all those who are concerned but are not "human rights educators or trainers" is essential for this purpose, while sustaining the work of multipliers at the local level. The experiences acquired by the Directorate of Youth and Sport in the field of educational and training materials (e.g. Domino, Education Pack, T-Kits) made the absence of specific materials on human rights education more visible, while demonstrating the relevance and appropriacy of such materials. Not so much because there are no available HRE materials (they exist, from different kinds of human rights education organisations and from the Council of Europe itself), but because they are considered either too specific (focusing on legal education, for example) or they are not always suitable for non-formal educational activities with and for young people. The fact that most of them are produced within a specific national context and language(s) makes them less accessible or interesting to a wider European public, such as the participants in European educational and training activities. What is in Compass? Compass has been written by a European team composed of Patricia Brander, Rui Gomes, Ellie Keen, Marie-Laure Lemineur, Bárbara Oliveira, Jana Ondrácková, Olena Suslova and Alessio Surian. Their work has defined and supported by a Reference Group of experts. Compass is special in the sense that it aspires to be a global tool for HRE, including legal texts, theoretical background on human rights and human rights education and on key human rights issues. Its core remains the methods, activities, exercises or games that make it practical for users. The educational approach underlying Compass was outlined by the Reference Group, according to which the manual should be: Sufficient - anyone wanting to venture into human rights education should be able to start immediately, with no need to check other books or materials. Ready to use it should have activities, methodologies and texts that can be used immediately (no further training needed). Up to date with young people - it should address human rights issues from the perspective of young people or reflecting their primary concerns. Practical and experiential the activities and methodologies should be holistic and, as far as possible, build on experience, helping the learner to learn and encouraging them to take action. Addressing values and attitudes - in the sense that human rights are not just about laws or institutions (bring human rights closer to the young people). Encouraging action - learning about human rights is also learning for active participation in society. The activities should always lead towards action. Suitable for formal and non-formal education: all activities (in format, duration, etc.) should be suitable for the classroom and for non-formal youth work activities. Adaptable - all activities and contents should be easily adaptable and translatable to the local social and educational context where it is being used. A starting point - Compass is neither a recipe book nor "the" manual with answers to everything. The use of other materials and approaches is recommended for all those wanting to go further or to go deeper into issues. A central element in the philosophy of Compass is that the facilitator/s (teachers, groups leaders, trainers…) do not need to have any special previous training. Compass, in fact, is not so much addressed to specialists in human rights education (who are already experienced in other materials) than to those who are curious and motivated but have had no opportunities for training or do not want to become specialists. This attempt to "democratise" and "popularise" HRE through Compass is perhaps the most ambitious of the objectives of the project. With this in mind, the 420 pages of Compass are organised as follows: Chapter 1: familiarises the reader with what we mean by human rights education and how to use Compass. Chapter 2: a collection of more than 49 activities of different levels of complexity, organised according to 15 global themes and address different types of rights. Chapter 3: "Taking action", contains ideas and tips for those that would like to be more active in promoting human rights, Chapter 4: what the user needs to know about human rights and international standards and documents; Chapter 5: Supplementary background information about the 15 themes. The appendices contain essential information and legal documents, because human rights are also about laws. The 15 themes are meant to illustrate and represent the areas of major concern regarding human rights for young people across Europe today. Addressing human rights through these themes contributes to a better understanding of the universality and interdependence of human rights and makes human rights education concrete and relatable to the local reality of participants. The themes are: Children's rights, Citizenship, Democracy, Discrimination and Xenophobia, Education, Environment, Gender Equality, Globalisation, Health, Human Security, Media, Peace and Violence, Poverty, Social Rights, and Sport. What next? Compass is now available in English; the French version - Repčres - will be available before the end of the year. The Council of Europe is also producing Russian and Arabic versions. At present it is also being translated into Dutch, Polish and Slovenian by accredited partners. The most important step may be yet to come: by December 2002 the first on-line version of Compass will be available on the Internet, featuring some innovations which, we believe, will also encourage further exchange and cooperation between its users. The availability and accessibility of Compass across Europe are essential to make it a tool for mainstreaming HRE. An ambitious programme of national and regional training courses is being carried by local partners. National courses on human rights education using Compass as the main tool have been held in Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and Poland and preparations are under way for courses in Italy, Armenia, Portugal, Romania and Finland (for the Nordic-Baltic region). These courses are a follow-up to the first training course for trainers in human rights education, held in March 2002 and which will be held again in April 2003. A Consultative Meeting will be held later next year, possibly leading to an advanced training course for trainers in HRE. The follow-up of the Human Rights Education Youth Programme from 2003 to 2005 has been confirmed under the heading of Youth Promoting Human Rights Education and Social Cohesion. The main features of the present programme will continue, including national training courses and financial support for pilot projects (through the European Youth Foundation). A special attention will be devoted to violence and to gender equality. For updated information, please visit http://www.coe.int/hre COMPASS ISBN : 92-871-4880-5 Format : A4, 420 pages Price : 28 E / 42 US$ Available from Council of Europe Publishing - 67075 Strasbourg Cedex E-mail : publishing@coe.int; http://book.coe.int Fax : +33 (0)3 88 41 27 80 Compass can also be requested at the Directorate of Youth and Sport / European Youth Centre Budapest: eycb.secretariat@coe.int Rui Gomes Programme and Training Administrator European Youth Centre Budapest Directorate of Youth and Sport of the Council of Europe rui.gomes@coe.int ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to <hr-education@hrea.org>. Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact <owner-hr-education@hrea.org>. **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source.
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