The aim of the project was to promote understanding of the importance of democracy and human rights for maintaining peace and cohesion in the European Union, and to develop methods of teaching democracy and human rights to teachers, youth workers, artists and other interested parties throughout Europe.

The project enabled young Europeans between the ages of 13 and 16 to creatively explore the issues of democracy and human rights and their importance for freedom and equality.

• For this purpose, they learned about the thematic background in school lessons and explored their personal environment in the further course of the project.
• They processed the insights gained in short puppet theatre performances, which they performed in official buildings in front of their families, peer group, politicians and other interested parties.

The artistic methods of puppet theatre helped them to express controversial issues, to get to the heart of what is difficult to say and to bring relationships into new contexts.

The methods for the topic-related work with the young people were taught to the participating teachers and artists by Zentrum polis and developed together with the participants. For this purpose, a workshop lasting several days was held in Vienna with representatives of the participating partners from four countries. The project took place in Budapest, Belgrade, Ravne na Koroskem and Vienna. Due to the broad mix of participating schools, students from different social backgrounds were reached.

The teaching methods developed in the project are available for further use free of charge after the end of the project. They are passed on through the networks of all participants and thus find wide dissemination.

Documentation and results

• polis aktuell 2022/07: Democracy & Puppetry. Special issue of the magazine polis aktuell with detailed project documentation.
• Project website: www.democracyandpuppetry.eu