The Portfolio of Competences for Democratic Culture is intended for use in schools to help implement the Council of Europe’s Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (RFCDC). Learners are encouraged to compile documents – such as recordings, texts and images – which demonstrate how they use their competences for democratic culture in diverse situations within and beyond school. The Portfolio supports learners in reflecting critically on their developing competences and in thinking about how they will develop their competences further. The Portfolio also provides evidence of how a learner’s proficiency in the use of these competences is developing. This evidence may be used for formative or summative assessment purposes.

There are two versions of the portfolio: a version for younger learners, that is, children up to approximately the age of 10-11 years; and a standard version, for learners from approximately 10-11 years upwards. Each version is accompanied by a guide for teachers.