On 28 May 2024, the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the Ministry of National Education (MoNE), organised an Award Ceremony for the Podcast Contest which was carried out in the scope of Pilot Project on Digital Citizenship Education in Türkiye, under the EU-CoE Joint Programme Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Türkiye.
The aim of the Podcast Contest was to encourage young students to produce using digital tools while building their capacity in acquiring respective competencies and will contribute to the realisation of the project outputs. More specifically, children had the space to discuss the competencies such as valuing human dignity and human rights, empathy, respect, and responsibility in relation to the DCE areas while working on the podcast production.
The event was organised during the week of celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Council of Europe and the 20th Anniversary of the Council of Europe Programme Office in Ankara, with 10 winner students and their teachers from four pilot provinces, Mardin, Kars, Çanakkale and Aydın. The event also included participants from the MoNE and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Opening the event, Mr NEUKIRCH, Council of Europe Director of Programme Co-ordination, explained the objectives and ongoing activities of the Project on Digital Citizenship Education in Türkiye, which aims to ensure the active participation of young individuals in democratic life by acquiring competencies of digital citizenship. He also underlined the new education strategy of the Council of Europe (2024-30).
Addressing the participants at the opening ceremony, Mr Sedat ABDULHAKİMOĞULLARI, Head of Department for Research and Development and Projects, General Directorate of Basic Education of MoNE emphasised the importance of children being able to make their voices heard in the digital world.
Following the presentation of the awarded podcasts, the winners received their awards from the representatives of the Ministry of National Education and the Council of Europe. The winner students continued their programmes with a half-day city tour in Ankara, with visits to Anıtkabir, Digital Zoo and the old Parliament buildings.
Pilot Project on Digital Citizenship Education in Türkiye is co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe, within the scope of EU - CoE Joint Programme Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Türkiye.
