„Europe
and
Session VII - Education for Global Citizenship and
Sustainable Peace
Europe and
Dr. Walther
Lichem
The development of relations between
Europe and the
o
There has taken
place a growing “horizontalization” of our political and societal structures
marked by a replacement of command and obedience by patterns of democratic interaction
on the basis of equality
o
Dictatorships
which marked the history of many European powers during the 20th
century have given way to democratic processes and related state structures.
o
Related to these
structural changes are changes in the power elements which define interactions
and the results of relations between states. Visions, values, knowledge and
understanding and related capacities for partnering with other state- and
non-state actors have received a new focus as “soft power”.
o
Human rights and
freedoms have become the core constitutional principles at national, but also
at local, regional and global levels. Human rights have become universal.
Historical references to human rights in Africa (the constitution of Kourukan
Fouka) and
o
These
developments have also been marked by a growing role and contributions from
non-state partners in governance processes. This has become particularly
pertinent in the development of new patterns of international and global
relations and the related agendas. In fact we are to recognize a growing
responsibility of the citizen in the development and regarding the quality of
inter-societal/inter-national relations.
o
The capacity for
otherness of societies are not only defining the national political processes
but mark the general responses of societies and states to the growing
trans-national interdependencies.
Another fundamental change in the basic
framework within which European interactions and the process of integration have
taken place is the “relativisation” of identity. The “nation state” conceived
as a static, single-identity society has been replaced by societies whose
identities are based on multiple identity-shaping elements including language,
place of residence, religion, education, profession, mobility and encounters
with otherness. This process led to a needed recognition of a plurality of
identities in each European society. In the Austrian capital
The pluri-identity society is led by
persons who have been able to develop pluri-identity personalities, disposing
of more than just one identity due to personal multi-linguism, changing
residences and the variety of societal partners. The Slovenian-speaking people
in the South of Austria cherish a proverb according to which one is as many
times a human being as many languages one speaks.
This relativisation not only of
personal and societal identities and hence the supposed criteria for responses
to the issue of “belonging” as well
as the enhanced role of the citizen in
shaping trans-national interactions and cooperation have allocated to the
citizen a growing role and responsibility and political importance. Human
rights, human development and human security reflect a development which is
understood in the terms of Mahbub Ul Haq as a process towards a broadening
spectrum of choice, i.e. towards freedom. The European integration therefore
had to be based on a recognition of the interdependence between freedom and
human rights. There can be no democracy without an effective system of human
rights. Accepting human rights, self-determinedness and democratic political
processes have become the basis for new shared identities at regional level and
hence the basis for intra-regional cross-identification and solidarity.
Processes of European integration with
the
- A
recognition of identity plurality both within one’s own society and
statehood and in the context of the European region
- The processes
of relating to otherness will require societal integration which
recognizes the basic right to identity plurality replacing the concept of
assimilation.
- The European
community is marked by a plurality of identities in each society recognizing the various articulations of
otherness as an asset.
- The
framework within which pluri-identity societies achieve societal cohesion,
security and peace is the broad-based recognition of values providing
human dignity and inclusion to all segments of society.
- The Council
of Europe has assumed the role of the portal institution towards
participation in the broader European community. The basis of this
organisation’s membership is not marked by ethnic, linguistic, religious
sameness but simply by a shared affirmation of those core values on which
national governance and intra-societal relations and the relations with
the other countries in the region are to be shaped.
The larger European region has to be
marked by a recognition of diversity, of peaceful interaction, cooperation and
solidarity on the basis of sovereign equality.
The implementation of the commitments which the
Any society-based process of enhancing
cooperation and implementing a process of regional integration with the Russian
Federation requires, however, the development of societal capacities for
knowing and understanding the other - the Russians, their history, culture,
challenges and responses and - the Europeans
in their broad diversity yet unified by the commonality of values.
The need for recognizing regional
learning processes for a sustainable peaceful regional partnership and
integration is to be implemented both in the countries of the Western European
community and in the
- Education
programmes in schools on the history, culture of societies and states in
the larger European space
- Providing an
understanding of the human dignity of the other as an asset and a source
of enrichment
- Strengthening
the role of civil society in these processes of societal development
- Recognizing
the crucial role of non-state partners in these processes of European
integration, including
-
the media, understanding
the key role of media in the development and change of societal perceptions of
the other
-
academia and
related study programmes. There is a need for enhanced knowledge in these
processes of societal development
-
recognize the
rising role of the private sector’s partnerships and engagements in public
space and
-
the cultural
capacities of each society are an
important carrier of the concept of otherness as an asset.
-
granting local
and regional authorities a platform of interaction and thus bringing the
European partnership with the
-
a good case would
be the fostering of the establishment of human rights cities in Europe and in
the
There is thus a need for a new focus in
the development of relations between Europe and the
- Enhanced
involvement of the societal non-state structures and processes in this
relationship towards societal capacities for otherness, freedom, human
rights, democracy and self-determinedness in a shared community
- Mutual
support in these processes, making societal development an inclusive
regional concern marked by interaction and multi-dimensional relatedness
- Avoiding
processes behind the walls of “national sovereignty” and conducting
intra-regional interaction in a setting of openness, interest and
cross-identification.
- Creating
platforms for jointly addressing Global Agenda issues leading to an
enhanced coordination of foreign policy and global responsibility.