This project aims to raise awareness of EU citizens' fundamental rights through social theatre performances called "Evening with Ombudsman" events in rural areas of 5 EU countries. The project is coordinated by a university in the Czech Republic and involves partners from Slovenia, Romania, Estonia, and Poland. It will analyze rights violations in each country, create theatre scripts based on real cases, hold trainings for actors and workshops, and produce documentaries. The goal is to empower citizens by increasing knowledge of their rights and how to address violations.

1. Adult learning on fundamental
rights through social theatre tools
Evening with the Ombudsman
Empowering rural communities through
knowledge on fundamental rights
Simona Musteata, Romanian Society for Lifelong Learning
7.11.2013
This project has been funded with support from
the European Commission within the
Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme.
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2. About the project
• The project "Evening with Ombudsman" is performed by the
5 partner organisations from 5 EU member countries Czech
Republic, Slovenia, Poland, Estonia and Romania.
• It is primarily oriented in the awareness rising, informing and
educating EU citizens living in remote/rural areas about their
fundamental rights as declared in the Charter of fundamental
rights of the European Union.
• The project is co-financed by the European Commission under
the Fundamental rights and citizenship programme (Grant
Agreement No. JUST/2011/FRAC/AG/2877).
This project has been funded with support from
the European Commission within the
Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme.

3. Partnership
Coordinator:
• Civic Education Center at the Masaryk University, Czech
Republic
Partners:
• University of Ljubljana (Slovenia)
• Romanian Society for Lifelong Learning (Romania)
• Jaan Tõnisson Institute (Estonia)
• Center for Civic Education (Poland)
This project has been funded with support from
the European Commission within the
Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme.

4. Objectives:
•
The general objective of the project is to actively raise the awareness of EU citizens especially those from
remote/rural areas on their fundamental rights stated in the Charter of fundamental rights of the EU.
Furthermore, the objective is also to foster a shared culture of fundamental rights and the rule of law within the
EU and to encourage active participation in European democratic processes.
Specific objectives:
enhancing personal skills of citizens that is important for identifying and addressing violations of rights and
therefore increasing knowledge on appropriate procedures and measures to address violations
informing the public on the central role that the national Ombudsmen and European Ombudsman have in
addressing the fundamental rights violations and in this context the promotion and support of their work
increasing the knowledge about the Charter among various organizations (e.g. NGOs) dealing with fundamental
rights in countries involved
developing and implementing a novel approach (social theatre) based upon the innovative informational and
pedagogical approach for the purposse of raising the awareness and informing citizens on their rights derived
from the Charter
testing the novel approach in different socio-political and cultural contexts by utilising the socio-political and
cultural diversity of partner countries
developing new didactic material for more comprehensive learning about the fundamental rights
developing an overall web platform to effectively share knowledge, good practices and disseminate the novel
approach
This project has been funded with support from
the European Commission within the
Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme.

5. Project activities
•
The aim of research activities - analyses (reports) of most frequent cases of rights violations in the
national contexts, methodology for the social theatre; comparative study of the existing good
practice cases and international study of didactic materials etc., is to provide analyses of the main
areas where fundamental rights of citizens of each involved country were violated.
•
Preparation of scripts of social theatre plays based on real cases of violation of fundamental rights.
•
Organisation of 5-day Summer school training for actors of social theatre group. The Summer
school training is intended for actors of social theatre group to share concepts of the 13 plays.
•
Evening with ombudsman is a central activity that is focusing on the awareness rising about the EU
fundamental rights and builds upon the active participation of EU citizens particulary those living in
remote/rural areas. The central role of Evening with Ombudsman events is also Increasing
knowledge and understanding of individuals and communities from remote/rural areas about the
Charter of Fundamental Rights.
•
Organisation of workshops for the representatives of legal advice centres and other NGO’s for the
purpose of informing and educating those actors about the EU Charter and on the ways of
cooperating with the ombudsman in cases of violation of citizens’ rights.
This project has been funded with support from
the European Commission within the
Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme.

6. Project results
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Report of most frequent cases of rights violations for each involved country.
The methodology for the social theatre will be defined as the key part of the
“Evening with Ombudsman” event.
The comparative study of the existing good practice cases for raising awareness
about fundamental rights of EU citizens.
The international study of didactic materials in the field of adult education for
active citizenship engagement focusing upon fundamental rights.
Workshop for theatre leaders organized in Czech Republic .
Summer school training for social theatre actors in Slovenia.
70 "Evenings with ombudsman" events for awareness
raising, informing, enhancing knowledge and skills of citizens.
5 educational Workshops for representatives of legal advice centres and other
NGOs in each country.
documentary movies which will present a specific real case of the violation of
fundamental rights .
This project has been funded with support from
the European Commission within the
Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme.

7. Project website
Main project website in English:
www.evening-ombudsman.eu
National webpage in Romanian:
www.teatrupentrudrepturi.ro
This project has been funded with support from
the European Commission within the
Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme.

8. Thank you very much for your attention!
This project has been funded with support from
the European Commission within the
Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme.