Ιntroduction
The convergence of global poly-crises – from climate change, global migration, war and conflict, the unforeseen consequences of digital transformation, geopolitical instability, the rise of autocratic regimes, and the spread of disinformation – underscores the pressing need to understand better European youth’s democratic engagement and values (Council of the European Union, 2023, C/2023/1339). CIVIC STAGE sets out to strengthen civic engagement and democratic resilience. It aims at equipping young people with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to become active citizens, and to empower educators, decision makers, and communities to cultivate inclusive and democratic practices anchored in EU values. To achieve this, CIVIC STAGE advances innovative methods that are transdisciplinary, participatory, experiential, and adaptable. Moving beyond siloed and conventional frameworks, the project integrates two complementary approaches: participatory theatre and digital practices.
Project Objectives
The CIVIC STAGE project has four main objectives:
Framework: To elaborate an evidence-based framework for developing and assessing participatory theatre methods to enhance citizenship education for young people aged 15–29.
Methods: To develop and pilot innovative theatre-based methods in both formal and non-formal settings.
Evaluation: To evaluate the positive effects of these methods on young people's civic and democratic engagement.
Rollout: To promote and facilitate the widespread use of these new methodologies for citizenship education in both formal and non-formal settings.
Key Project Themes
The project will develop eight thematic modules, each sharing a short joint introductory panel. The modules will focus on the following key themes:
- Imagining democratic futures: society, values, peace, freedom and participation.
- Voting, trust in institutions, and democratic innovation.
- Global citizenship, transcultural responsibility, and diversity.
- Sustainability, climate action, and civic responsibility.
- Justice, diversity, inclusive participation, tackling inequality and discrimination.
- Migration, refugees, and belonging.
- Media literacy, misinformation, and the Digital Public Sphere (social networks and AI).
- Tackling polarisation, populism, Euroscepticism, and conflicts.
Project Methodology
The project combines innovative participatory theatre and digital methods with evidence-based curriculum development, involving educators, policymakers, and youth (especially marginalised) throughout. Its methodology integrates pragmatic, transcultural, and participatory research approaches, using mixed methods and comparative studies. Eight citizenship education modules, grounded in EU policy, structure the programme, while the Council Recommendation on key competences for lifelong learning (22 May 2018) guide its impact assessment.
The project engages with various academic disciplines such as civic and citizenship education, pedagogy, sociology, anthropology, arts, arts education, psychology, communication studies, media studies, political science, ethics and philosophy. Collaboration between researchers from these fields and involving stakeholders from public authorities, policymaking and school management ensures a comprehensive and nuanced exploration of the project's objectives.
Moreover, the project transcends traditional civic education subject boundaries by interacting with other subject fields such as arts, literature, history, nature and digital technologies.
The process will include the following key stages:
Framework Development: Mapping the needs of young people, educators, and policymakers, and reviewing existing research.
Module Development: Creating the eight innovative training modules, each with a digital, game-based component.
Training of Trainers: Training at least 160 facilitators (teachers, students, youth workers) in at least eight countries to use the new methods.
Pilot Implementation: These trained facilitators will then pilot the methods in the field with at least 3,200 participants.
Evaluation and Impact Assessment: The field tests will be assessed using mixed-method research, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches.
Rollout and Recommendations: The project will create toolboxes and policy recommendations to promote the new methodologies.
Participatory theatre as transdisciplinary, participatory, experiential and adaptable means to enhance citizenship competence development.
In participatory theatre, boundaries between actors and audiences dissolve as citizens, students, and community members actively shape their performance to stimulate social change. As the European Theatre Convention (2021) notes, participatory practices in theatre “require visible citizen influence on control of decisions, resources and outcomes. Therefore, ownership, power and agency are key elements in this democratic understanding of the concept, in order to achieve a full or true participation.” Participatory theatre incorporates elements of theatricality as well as emphasising the process of making. Rehearsing and performing can be educative (building group skills, confidence, and stage presence), and many forms of theatre-making are intended to reach audiences. Participatory theatre combines the elements of drama, theatre and improvisation by allowing young people to build embodied competence skills such as shaping narratives, shifting perspectives, and adaptive collaboration.
CIVIC STAGE draws upon on a broad pool of well-established participatory theatre methods offer approaches that can support civic education.
Debate theatre (Kárpáti, 2019) uses acted scenes to spark audience discussion on controversial issues. A facilitator guides structured debate, with experts embedded in the audience to provide factual input. Unlike formal debate contests, it promotes dialogue and reflection by letting participants even question characters directly.
Forum Theatre (Boal, 2000) invites the audience to intervene in a play’s action by suggesting or performing alternative decisions for characters. This method helps participants practice problem-solving and challenge oppression.
Legislative Theatre (Boal, 1998) turns theatre into a democratic tool, where participants explore civic issues and propose real policy changes through performance. Authorities may then consider the ideas.
Simplified process drama (Bowell & Heap, 2017) uses short, guided role-play activities to make complex topics accessible. Participants collaboratively explore issues through storytelling without needing theatre experience.
Mantle of the Expert (Heathcote & Bolton, 1995) places participants in professional roles, such as scientists or policy advisors, investigating civic challenges. The authority of the role fosters responsibility and engagement.
Björn Magnér's (1978) socio-analytical role play methodology combines improvisation with structured roleplay to link personal experiences to wider social structures. It encourages reflection on power, identity, and civic responsibility.
Devising from stories (Macintosh & McConnell, 2020) lets groups create original theatre by adapting themes from familiar stories. Through improvisation and collaboration, they make connections to civic issues.
Documentary theatre (Martin, 2010) involves communities in creating performances based on real testimonies, records, or events, blending these with dramatic expression to inform and mobilize.
Blending theatre-based participatory methods with digital tools.
CIVIC STAGE methodology will combine participatory theatre with digital tools to foster citizenship education rooted in common European values. A central aim is to reimagine digital and social media spaces as arenas of theatricality and forums for active democratic discussion. Each of the 8 modules will have a digital component going beyond the structure of a traditional gamified experience. A gameful environment can engage learners through the dynamics of narrative, connection, scaffolded learning, challenge and the freedom to fail, and in this respect utilizes similar pedagogical strategies to the participatory theatre components.
Digital processes, platforms, games and methods will be actively used by trained teachers / youth group leaders and end-user young people alike. The digital component will be integrated with the participatory theatre aspects in multiple ways: as an online add-on (such as quizzes), as an amplifier for theatre outcomes, or as the main environment for hybrid or augmented scenarios. Learning may also take place through digital co-creation with students and artists, sometimes experimenting with AI in scriptwriting, idea generation, and editing of video and music for scenes.
CIVIC STAGE will develop a youth-led, digital platform titled Backstage to support and sustain the project’s participatory theatre practices across diverse contexts by connecting the eight modules through a shared, scalable online space. Rather than offering a single game or high-tech solution, the platform will emphasize lightweight tools that leverage youth digital literacy, such as short-form videos and mobile-first collaboration, to encourage civic learning and creative expression. After each module, participants will create digital artefacts like videos, scripts, or teaching prompts, which will be uploaded to a searchable “digital studio” and shared on social media using #CIVICSTAGE hashtag, fostering global peer-to-peer engagement. Fully co-designed and led by youth, Backstage will be based on platforms actually used by young people on an everyday basis (instead of developing new platforms). It will serve as both archive and launchpad, supporting long-term civic co-learning, adaptability across contexts, and sustainability beyond the project's timeline.
Stakeholders and Target Groups
A wide range of stakeholders will be actively involved in the project's development and implementation. The target groups for the project include:
End users: Pupils and students aged 15-29, including disadvantaged groups and youth in highly polarized contexts.
Educators: Teachers and student-teachers in formal settings, as well as youth workers and other educators in non-formal settings.
Decision Makers: Local, national, and European policymakers and managers of educational institutions.
Broader Society: NGOs, research communities, the media, and the general public.
List of Work Packages & Lead partner
1 Evidence-based theoretical and methodological framework Lead: TCD
2 Development of CIVIC STAGE training modules Lead: UOA
3 Training of Trainers Lead: InSite
4 Pilot implementation Lead: REDP
5 Evaluation and impact assessment Lead: RHUL
6 Rollout, pedagogical toolbox and recommendations Lead: IDEA
7 Communication, dissemination, exploitation and sustainability I Lead: TENet-Gr
8 Communication, dissemination, exploitation and sustainability II Lead: TENet-Gr
9 Management I Lead: HVL
10 Management II Lead HVL
(*): The pilots will be implemented by teachers, student teachers and youth group leaders belonging to stakeholder organisations.
Their work is not financed by the project.
GENERAL PROJECT CO-ORDINATION:
Adam Cziboly, Professor, Drama section,Department of Arts Education, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
FOR HELLENIC THEATRE/DRAMA & EDUCATION NETWORK (TENet-Gr)
Project coordinator: Christina Zoniou, University of the Peloponnese, Greece
Coordination Committee: Betty Giannouli, Nikos Govas, Vassilis Klisiaris
Project Manager: Vassia Kossiva