World Forum for Democracy (Strasbourg 7-9 November)

Plenary Session 1: “Learning by doing – From preaching to practicing democracy”

7 November 2016

Statement by Gudrun Mosler-Törnström, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

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My name is Gudrun Mosler-Törnström, I am the new President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.

Since the inception of the Forum, the Congress has been an active partner in its organisation – because local and regional authorities know first-hand the challenges facing our democracies, and have to respond to these challenges on a daily basis in their communities. Indeed, the Forum is an important place to share our experiences and learn from each other.

Active citizens are the driving force of any democratic society, and education for democratic citizenship must underpin our every effort for building pluralist, inclusive and intercultural communities. It rings even more true today, when our societies are blighted by deception in mainstream politics, by a lack of trust in politicians, which prepare the ground for extremism and radicalisation.

We in the Congress are convinced that living in a democracy requires learning about the foundations of democratic society, and understanding the importance of the rule of law and respect for fundamental human rights.

This is why in our recommendation on promoting diversity through intercultural education, and in our Strategy against radicalisation at local level, we have been stressing the need for dialogue between religions.

It has been said that understanding what you have learned comes from using your knowledge in practice. And this democratic practice begins at local level.

This means that we have to introduce more and more participatory elements in representative democracy, and provide for practical ways to engage our citizens directly in democratic governance. We need to allow our citizens both to use their education and knowledge in practice, and to gain new knowledge by practicing democratic participation.

I am confident that the discussions during this Forum will produce many other, new ideas of practical ways and mechanisms for practicing democracy.

Thank you.