The primary objective of the IDEALS (Intercultural Democratic Education and Life Skills) project was to support teachers in promoting democratic values, social cohesion, active citizenship and intercultural dialogue in diverse secondary school contexts. The project responded to identified needs in the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Italy, Turkey and Romania, including low levels of youth civic engagement, limited critical thinking skills and insufficient training and resources for teachers in democratic education. To achieve this objective, the consortium defined a set of concrete and time-bound objectives focused on the development of a teacher curriculum, a dedicated teacher training course, a web-based knowledge platform, policy analysis on active citizenship, and targeted learning activities for students. These objectives were aligned with the Erasmus+ horizontal priority on common values, civic engagement and participation, as well as school education priorities related to key competences and support for the teaching profession.
The consortium applied for the IDEALS (Intercultural Democratic Education and Life Skills) project to address the need for structured, practical and transnational approaches to democratic education in secondary schools. Across the partner countries, schools increasingly operate in culturally diverse contexts while facing challenges related to social cohesion, democratic participation and civic engagement among young people. The project was designed to support teachers in embedding democratic values, active citizenship and intercultural understanding into everyday educational practice, in line with European priorities on common values and participation in democratic life. The project addressed the need to strengthen democratic life skills among students, including critical thinking, dialogue, participation and responsible citizenship. In addition, it responded to the lack of accessible and high-quality curricula, teaching materials and professional development opportunities for teachers working on democratic education and intercultural dialogue. Prior to the project, many schools lacked coherent and tested methodologies to implement these topics in a sustainable and effective way.