Teaching resources

Interactive Platform

Living and learning democracy in schools and at home

Provides resources for democracy and human rights education.

Living-Democracy.com is an educational platform aimed at teachers, school principals, parents, and educators who want to promote democratic values and human rights in schools. It provides comprehensive resources including ready-to-use lesson plans, thematic units, and structured teaching materials for various school levels. The content focuses on key themes such as identity, participation, conflict, rights, responsibilities, and governance. The pedagogical approach emphasizes active and experiential learning—students are encouraged to learn about, through, and for democracy by engaging in dialogue, critical thinking, and real civic action. The platform is available in multiple languages and used across Europe.

Participation · Rights · Identity · Conflict

Interactive platform

Learning Corner – play, teach, discover the European Union

Provides engaging resources for teaching the European Union.

Interactive educational platform aimed at both students and teachers. It offers age-appropriate learning materials for all school levels, including games, quizzes, maps, worksheets, and presentations. Students can explore the European Union in a playful and multimedia-based way. Teachers benefit from ready-to-use resources and opportunities for exchange with educators across Europe. The platform is available in all 24 official EU languages. It covers a wide range of topics such as the EU Green Deal, EU history, and opportunities for study, internships, and volunteering in Europe

EU · Games · Civic Knowledge · Green Deal

Handbook

The Little Big Handbook of Democracy

Provides practical activities for democracy and human rights education.

EWC’s Little Big Handbook of Democracy aims to give young people a tool with concrete and tangible advice and tips that would facilitate effective education for democratic culture and human rights. The activities in the handbook have been developed by the EWC. They are based on and inspired by the activities from the Council of Europe’s manuals for democracy and human rights learning, in addition to our own experiences and expertise. The Handbook is available in English, Polish, Norwegian, and Ukrainian.

Human Rights · Activities · Democratic Culture

Training pack

Teaching controversial issues

Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 2015. 69 pages.

Helps teachers confidently address controversial issues in the classroom.

This resource helps teachers confidently address controversial issues in the classroom through practical strategies and classroom activities. It provides guidance on creating safe learning environments, facilitating respectful dialogue, and fostering critical thinking around challenging topics.

The pack encourages the creation of safe classroom spaces where students can explore different perspectives freely and respectfully. It promotes teaching strategies that foster open dialogue, critical thinking, and democratic discussion.

Recognising that not every issue is suitable for every age group, it argues that controversial issues should be addressed rather than avoided in schools.

Dialogue · Safe Space · Critical Thinking

Guide

Managing controversy – developing a whole-school strategy

Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 2017. 64 pages.

Supports school leaders in managing controversial issues.

A tool for school leaders and senior managers for handling controversy and teaching controversial issues in schools. 
Controversy and controversial issues are at the centre of our democratic societies. This means that learning how to deal with such issues must also be at the heart of an effective education for democratic citizenship and human rights education (EDC/HRE). The publication aims to help strengthen the managing of controversial issues at whole-school level. This will benefit young people and also help contribute to more effective Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education (EDC/HRE), and the protection and strengthening of our democratic societies.

Available in English and French.

Leadership · School Strategy · Controversy

Interactive Platform

European Convention on Human Rights

Provides official resources on the European Convention on Human Rights..

The page on the European Convention on Human Rights provides official texts of the Convention (English and French as binding versions), translations into many languages, background and educational materials explaining its content and development. A particularly important feature is the publication “The European Convention on Human Rights – A living instrument”: It offers a clear and accessible explanation of the Convention, its articles, and how it evolves over time. The document is available in numerous languages (including German, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Turkish, Chinese, and more). Its purpose is to ensure that the Convention can be understood by non-experts and a wide international audience

Human Rights · European Convention · Legal Framework

Handbook

The European Convention on Human Rights in Practice 

Helps teachers bring human rights into the classroom.

The Council of Europe’s 2026 edition of this handbook is a practical guide that helps teachers confidently introduce human rights education in the classroom. It explains the key principles of the European Convention on Human Rights and the role of the Court in a clear and accessible way. Its main value for teachers lies in its practical approach: it offers ready-to-use case studies, activities, and exercises that make abstract concepts tangible and engaging for students. The resource supports the development of critical thinking, democratic values, and active participation, while giving educators flexible tools to design interactive and meaningful lessons.

Human Rights · Critical Thinking · Active Citizenship

Handbook

Addressing hate speech through global citizenship education: a handbook for educators

Supports educators in preventing hate speech.

This UNESCO handbook provides educators with a conceptual framework to understand the definitions, drivers and consequences of hate speech. Additionally, it outlines concrete pedagogical practices, activities, and resources to co-create inclusive learning spaces that promote diversity, cultivate critical thinking, and facilitate the overall modelling of responsible citizenship that prevents hate speech and foster a culture of peace.

Hate Speech · Global Citizenship · Critical Thinking

Handbook

Bookmarks

Provides activities to address hate speech through human rights education.

“Bookmarks – Connexions” is an educational resource by the Council of Europe designed to help teachers address hate speech and promote human rights education.
It offers ready-to-use lesson plans, activities, and guidance for working with young people in both formal and non-formal learning settings. The materials encourage critical thinking, digital citizenship, and respectful online communication. Overall, it supports educators in fostering inclusive, democratic values and empowering students to challenge hate speech.

Available in 23 languages.

Hate speech · Human rights