DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS AT SCHOOL
START WITH US
Comic strip competition:
For the first time ever…
The Pilot Project Scheme “Human Rights and Democracy in Action” supported by the European
Commission and the Council of Europe is pleased to announce a comic strip competition on the theme
of “Democracy and human rights at school” open to students up to secondary school leaving age.
The competition gives students a chance to express their views of democracy and human rights as they
see it in their daily lives at school. Selection will be done through on-line consultation. The winning
entries will then be integrated in one or several short animated film(s) on this specific subject.
The comic strip should tell a story. It may include written messages and/or dialogues, with a maximum
of 8 frames (within max. one page). It will be presented in pdf format, through files not exceeding 1
Megabyte each. More than one entry may be submitted per student(s). Entries may be in English,
French or German. Any other official European language is, of course, welcome, with a translation in one
of these three languages.
The project should be simple, giving a clear and direct message about one or several basic principles of
the Charter on Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education in the context of schools, e.g.
participation in decision-making, value of diversity, peace, respect for human dignity, equal chances and
opportunities.
The submitted project should be an original work, i.e. resulting from the student(s)’s own personal
creative work in all respects.
The winning projects will receive great media visibility and on-line exposure in the Internet sites of the
European institutions, the Council of Europe and the partners in our many networks. The ten top entries
will be celebrated as a major contribution to Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights
Education and will be included in one or several short-film(s)/animation(s) which will be commissioned
afterwards.
Background information:
The Pilot Project Scheme “Human Rights and Democracy in Action” in the context of which this
competition is organised, was launched in 2013. Its purpose is to collect data, to facilitate exchange and
cooperation, and to contribute to the development of sustainable mechanisms for the promotion of
citizenship and human rights education in the participating countries.
“Education for democratic citizenship and human rights education” means education, training,
awareness raising, information, practices and activities which aim, by equipping learners with
knowledge, skills and understanding and by developing their attitudes and behavior in order to
empower them:
– Not only to exercise and defend their rights, to value diversity and to play an active part in
democratic life,
– But also to contribute to the building and defense of a universal culture of human rights.
The “Charter for all” available at:
http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/edc/Source/Resources/Charter%20for%20all%20august01_3.pdf
illustrates in a very comprehensive and concrete way how the principles of the Charter on Education for
democratic citizenship and human rights education are embedded in the daily life of students.
Submission details
Deadline for submitting the entries: 24 December 2013 – Pdf files should be mailed to the following
address comicstrip.competition@coe.int
The comic strip should not have any sign identifying its authors, so as to allow for neutral online
appraisal by the general public.
In addition to his/her submittal, the participating student(s) will supply a brief explanatory note
complete with the designer’s name, e-mail address, telephone number, as well as the data of the
institution (school) where the participants are registered. Incomplete identification will be a cause of
ineligibility in the context of the competition.
The participant transfers to the Council of Europe the worldwide rights to reproduce and publish the
manuscript bmitted for this competition by any means and in all media, including multimedia (CD
Rom , CD-I, etc..) and networks (internet, intranet), in all languages and all countries. The Council
reserves the right to decide whether or not to reproduce, publish and display these texts.
Unless otherwise agreed, the publication will contain the participant’s name. The participant shall
guarantee that reproduction and/or publication of texts/images by the Council of Europe will not result
in any infringement of third party rights. However, in cases where the liability of the Council of Europe
would become involved as a result of such violation, the participant would indemnify the Council of
Europe for any consequential damage.
Selection method
The comic strip competition will be widely announced on all the websites of the Council of Europe
partners, associates and networks active in the field of citizenship and human rights education.
The public in the European civil society will be invited to visit the website http://EDCHRE-Pilot-Projects
eu.coe.int and to vote online for comic strip(s) which they most like. The final selection will reflect both
the votes from the public and the votes from an Ad Hoc Selection Committee ensuring the best entries
do reflect the values and philosophy of education for citizenship and human rights.
The entries will be appreciated according to the following criteria:
* Compliance with what is requested as content for the comic strip.
* Relevance of the messages with respect to democracy and human rights at school.
* Creativity and originality of the proposal.
* The evocative nature of the work and its aesthetic value.