Our research on the reach of our regional groups showed there was a significant increase in younger people’s interest in the themes and topics Attac promotes as well as motivation among citizens for civic engagement and a need for educational activities to support this engagement to be effective. There was also huge potential for us to increase the reach of our educational activities to traditionally under-represented groups, but we needed to make some changes to our organisational and educational profile to achieve this In 2018 we reviewed our training and education work and recognised several factors influencing our capacity and impact. As a result of this review we devised 3 core goals for our civic education provision for the coming 5 years: Goal a) Improve our educational methodologies and diversify our educational leadership to help us reach more diverse audiences and increase the impact of our work. Goal b) Increase our capacity to operate at the national and international level, to expand the reach of our educational provision. Goal c) Improve the profile and accessibility of our educational work. These three strategic goals informed the development of the operationalised learning objectives in our EDP detailed below.
For 20 years Attac has provided citizens with access to knowledge and education on economic policy and systems. Recent trends in global fiscal policy are stimulating uneven development, within Europe and across the globe, that have important socio ecological consequences. We respond by educating citizens on alternatives and supporting civic engagement that calls for an equitable and inclusive society. We have strong relationships with other Austrian organisations working on economic issues. We are also part of a global Attac movement. We have developed public education to support understanding of economic developments, particularly in the area of taxation, fiscal regulation, banking, free trade and more recently the impact of growth on the climate. We have also worked locally, to help Austrian citizens understand how local issues and challenges are interconnected with wider economic policy and praxis. The world changed hugely over those 20 years and we needed to adjust our educational programme and approach accordingly to better respond to these changes. We needed to reinvent our educational frame and curricula in order to reach a wider, more diverse audience and help civic education to place economic education at its heart.