October 22, 2025
By Sabrina Räpple

Networks and collaboration make a difference, as we saw at this year’s RedeNEC annual meeting. Brazil’s Ministry of Education (MEC) has launched a national programme to foster democratic engagement and participation by integrating civic education into formal curricula.

The achievement is based on a collective effort, starting with conversations about systemic public policies in 2023, followed by national coordination and submission of reference documents to the government in 2024. In 2025, this process culminated in the institutionalisation of the National Programme for Citizenship and Sustainability (Programa Nacional de Educação para a Cidadania e Sustentabilidade). For Brazil, a country shaped by its military dictatorships, a historical milestone has been achieved.

Over two days, teachers, civic educators, civil society organisations, academics and policy makers gathered to recognise and honour the collective success. They discussed the relevance of civic education in strengthening democratic communities and explored strategies for the programmes’ practical implementation. This next step may be the most challenging, given Brazil’s size, variety of regional and cultural contexts, inequality and current threats to democracy.

As Alexsandro Santos, Director of the Ministry of Education, pointed out, the latter is not just a country-related challenge but a global one. Current democracies are fragile, and we are facing a vast and complex period. The discussion underlined the need to build an ecosystem that protects civic education leaders and supports schools that will face resistance. As Alexsandro Santos says, we don’t want to reawaken the past but rather support democracy and those who are protecting it against its objectors.

Even though the implementation of the national programme will be challenging, starting the discourse is of great importance. As one of the panellists rightfully noted, the fight for democracy is never won once and for all; it’s always ongoing.

There is power in participation and collective action, said Cesar Callegari, President of the National Council for Civic Education (CNE), and as a pan-European organisation we, at THE CIVICS, are proud to have strong partnerships such as with RedeNEC, to expand our networks and perspectives and to help shape civic education globally by sharing knowledge and common values around citizenship models. Congratulations on the launch of the Ministry of Education’s first national programme in formal education for citizenship and sustainability education – a milestone for civic education not only in Brazil, but worldwide.

Pictures: © Rede Nacional de Educação Cidadã