CLADES – Critical Language awareness, democratic engagement & sustainability

WHAT IS THE PROJECT ABOUT?

CLADES (Critical Language Awareness, Democratic Engagement and Sustainability) is an Erasmus+ funded project running from October 2024 to August 2027 which aims to increase civic engagement and sustainability literacy through Critical Language Awareness (CLA). The project’s consortium is composed of 5 partner organisations: SOLIDAR Foundation (Belgium), The Comenius University (Slovakia), the University of Ghent (Belgium), the University of Gloucestershire (UK) & the University of Groningen (Netherlands; coordinators).

The main objectives of CLADES are (1) to develop understanding of language’s societal impact, targeting different educational contexts, (2) to enhance analytical skills for critical language evaluation as a means to increase media and visual literacy and critical, (3) to promote the use of one’s own voice and ethical communication to foster positive societal change.

WHY?

A lack of civic engagement and trust in political institutions, along with difficulties in evaluating information and the rise of populist and extremist discourses, pose major challenges to the health of a democracy. Here, educating future generations plays a crucial role and is a strategic priority in many education systems in Europe.

While citizenship education currently focuses a lot on teaching skills, not enough attention is paid to the role of communication in the democratic process and building a sustainable society. This is essential because important social issues and our knowledge about them are shaped by language and visual communication.Unfortunately, future professionals are often unaware of the power of language as a social practice. Therefore, there is a need for greater awareness of the role of language as a force shaping social reality. This project’s main goal is to increase participants’ critical language awareness so that their voices become stronger and they become aware of their capacity for transformation.

HOW?

CLADES will do so by:

1. Increasing awareness of CLA and integrate into educational frameworks addressing democratic citizenship skills.

• CLADES will develop and widely disseminate educational resources and ready-to-use materials: a university course and two online courses, “CLA for Educators” and “Econarrative and Ethical Leadership”. These courses will provide educators and students with the tools to understand and apply the principles of CLA in various subjects, such as teacher training, sciences, and business.

• Project partners will organise two staff training events focusing on CLA application in teaching practices. These sessions aim to test educational materials, solicit feedback and equip educators with innovative pedagogical strategies.

2. Empower students to translate knowledge into action and encourage the use of ‘own voice’ responsibly

• Project partners will organise three congresses involving students, colleagues and wider community, designed to include sessions for story elicitation/focus group sessions as avenues for input. Guided by the principles of appreciative enquiry, students will receive feedback based on the analyses of their input.

• CLADES will create opportunities for students to express their voices and share their stories.

3. Enable educators to include CLA activities in their teaching.

Don’t miss out on the project’s developments and keep an eye on our website for more updates!