Net4Society Matchmaking Event for 2026 Cluster 2 calls

1 – 2 Jun 2026 | Paris, France

Project cooperationUpdated on 5 May 2026

Expert on controversial topics for citizenship education consortium

Senior Researcher at Research Centre Future-Driven Education @Karel de Grote University of Applied Sciences and Arts

Antwerp, Belgium

About

Research Centre Future-Driven Education at Karel de Grote University College (Antwerp, Belgium), is seeking to join a consortium focused on citizenship education/competences or civic engagement.

We are interested in the following calls:

-          HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-09: Citizenship education as part of lifelong learning

-          HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-01: Advisory support and network for countering and preventing radicalisation, extremism, hate speech and polarization

-          HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-03: Student and family engagement for developing a culture of democratic/civic participation

We conduct practice-oriented, co-creative research, starting from challenges identified by the educational field and developing solutions together with schools, teachers and educational partners, with a strong focus on usable tools for practice.

We offer expertise in:

-          Citizenship education in formal education (also VET), with attention to whole-school approaches, including the role of school leadership and school teams in embedding citizenship education sustainably.

-          Addressing controversial and sensitive societal issues in the classroom, focusing on supporting teachers to confidently facilitate dialogue on polarising topics, create psychologically safe learning environments, and foster respectful discussion and democratic disagreement among students.

-          Formative assessment of citizenship and democratic competences, supporting teachers in evaluating growth without reducing citizenship to normative or summative judgements.

-          The use of innovative digital tools (including VR learning scenario’s and the use of AI chatbots) to strengthen citizenship competences and critical thinking.

The research centre seeks to participate as research and implementation partner, responsible for:

-          Practice-based research and co-creation with schools and educators

-          Development and test of educational tools and interventions

-          Professionalisation of practitioners

Our research centre has previous experience as a partner in a Horizon Europe project and as coordinator and partner in multiple Erasmus+ projects.

Type

  • A consortium to join as partner

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