Lifelong learning: the backbone of our democracy shield
- 6 hours ago
- 1 min read
In 2025, the European Commission launched a strategic package to respond to identified threats linked to Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, rising geopolitical tensions, state-sponsored hybrid and cyberattacks, sabotage targeting critical assets, foreign information manipulation and interference, and electronic warfare, by treating education and training as a key pillar.
The Commission’s strategic package includes the release, in March, of the European Preparedness Union Strategy, and the release, in November, of the European Democracy Shield and of the EU Strategy for Civil Society. Each of these is aiming to boost Europe’s resilience to unexpected crises, while also considering democratic values and civil society as foundations for ensuring safeguarding the EU model.
Yet, across the strategies, the Commission has placed education and training as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself. The result has been a failure to safeguard article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - ‘Everyone has the right to education’. Though all people will resoundingly agree, the caveat is that universal human rights are not achieved until truly accessible to all. Learning is a social process connecting everyone, as learners together form a fully functioning body. As soon as one part suffers, the whole is in danger. In this sense, education and training is built on solidarity. Does the current situation worldwide allow us to say that article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is met?
