The project aimed to strengthen cooperation between European organizations working with the approach of civic education in football stadiums and to lay the foundation for a long-term partnership in the form of a European network. It also sought to improve the quality and diversity of educational activities by facilitating the exchange of best practices and developing new ideas collaboratively. In addition, the project aimed to increase the visibility of the approach at the European level and to empower participating organizations to further develop their structures, methods, and funding opportunities.
We applied for this project to address the growing need for effective civic education approaches that reach young people with fewer opportunities, particularly in the context of increasing anti-democratic tendencies across Europe. The partners involved in this project all work with a specific approach: They combine programmes of civic education with an extraordinary place of learning - the professional football stadium. The so-called CEFS approach (civic education in the football stadium) is being implemented very differently in the partner countries. Partners vary in size and experience, focus on diverse topics or have very different organizational structures. While the CEFS approach has been proven in the respective partner countries as successful at local and national levels, there was a clear need for stronger transnational exchange, mutual learning, and structured cooperation between organizations working in this field. The project responded to the lack of European networking opportunities, especially for smaller or newer organizations without access to peer exchange in their own countries.