Hub in Active European Citizenship

Dr Emmanuelle Schon-Quinlivan is the project coordinator and Director of the Hub in Active European Citizenship. She also holds a Jean Monnet Chair in Active European Citizenship. The project aims at connecting all levels of education to develop critical thinking on Ireland and the European Union with the view to empower young generations to engage with and impact effectively the EU.

Dr. Philip Murphy is a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Government and Politics, University College Cork (UCC). His research interests include political socialisation, political engagement, youth politics, and research methods. He is the postdoctoral researcher on this project as well as the project manager.

Trish Collier is the principal of Kilmurry National School, a rural school in West Cork. With 15 years experience in the primary level, she is also the co-founder of My Big Friendly Guide to the European Union. She is the team leader of the Primary level advisory board.

Aoife Houlihan is a secondary teacher with 14 years teaching experience both abroad and in Ireland. She is an English teacher and subject co-ordinator for CSPE in Kinsale Community school where she is focused on developing Global Citizenship Education across the curriculum.

Georgia Maneta is a primary school teacher in Greece. She has been an active participant of Teachers4Europe and is an eTwinning Ambassador. She has co-founded the eTwinning project eTwin citizens and is the team leader of the International Advisory Board. 

Aoife Hegarty is our eTwinning project creator, 'Sharing our Stories'. Her research is primarily concerned with education outreach and inclusion. For her PhD research in this area, she co-designed a project between Cork, Ireland and Milan, Italy that connected two primary schools categorised as being in socio-economically deprived areas. This project brought external learning resources into the classrooms as well as connecting the school groups with each other undertaking collaborative research about both of their local cultural heritage. This project was supported by each respective city council.

For the BFGTOEU classes, she has developed a five stage project with resources for students and teachers from across the European Union. This project endeavours to develop further connections for EU based schools to embark on cultural heritage education and understanding. 

Jean Monnet Teacher Training grant - Knowing Me Knowing EU

The Teacher Training grant will focus on delivering training courses to primary and secondary teachers. 

The primary teachers will have access to CPD courses which are EPV approved: one on the BFGTOEU programme and one on the EU values studied through the medium of art. This CPD will be delivered in the Glucksman gallery in UCC. 

The secondary teachers will have access to UCC accredited CPD courses which will be delivered online and face-to-face in UCC and Dublin. 

In April 2023 and 2024, teachers will have the opportunity to go on a funded study trip to Brussels which will be coordinated by Dr Emmanuelle Schön-Quinlivan and the Irish College of Leuven. 

KMKEU governance structure

Jean Monnet Chair in Active European Citizenship

The Jean Monnet Chair focuses on connecting the work of third level students towards engaging secondary level students through social media. Instagram and TikTok posts on the EU will be created in paralell with monthly episodes on European affairs on a new YouTube channel, EU TV +. 

Third level students will also create the script and story board of monthly episodes for EU TV Junior, a channel dedicated to news on the EU under seven monutes for 7 to 12 year olds. 

Don't hesitate to get in touch if you want to participate as a secondary or primary school.

In May 2023 and 2024, we will organise a Europe day festival in Cork City Hall. It will be a family day with arts and craft, music, story telling, debates, videos and students' work exhibited. We hope to see many of you there and to inspire other local authorities to organise such events. 

Our research focuses on citizens’ engagement with the EU. This includes how young people conceive of the EU and how it relates to their political identity. We are particularly interested in the political efficacy of teachers and students. The sense of competence which teachers possess to educate about the EU, and which students possess to understand and act in it. Our research examines what factors impact same, including educational artefacts such as our BFGTOEU and DAB programmes.

In advance of European Parliament elections in 2024, our research will assess the nature of citizens’ engagement with that campaign. Our public events and educational programmes will facilitate a greater understanding of the impact of deliberation and agonism on citizen engagement.

Our research avails of qualitative and quantitative methodologies and techniques. We are quite excited about insights gained from our piloting of creative and drawing techniques to capture young people’s conception of the Union. From an academic perspective, our contributions and dissemination straddle political science, sociology, education, and European studies.