The Citizenship Academy Manifesto 7

Citizenship Academy promotes the deepening of democracy, human dignity in all its diversity, multiculturalism, interculturalism, and the building of a universally free, fair, conscious, critical, and solidarity-based society.

We uphold the implementation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and the Portuguese Constitution. We fight for rights such as freedom of expression, association and protest, equity and non-discrimination—acting at local, national, European, and international levels.

Our goal is to foster active citizenship and to help lay the groundwork for a society that is organised around people’s needs, regardless of their background, and that respects the planet’s physical and biodiversity limits.

Our ambition is to empower people and organisations to defend and strengthen democracy, and to address the climate crisis and the multiple social crises affecting the majority of the population.

We promote the empowerment and awareness of communities, civil society organisations, and human and climate justice defenders. We monitor, report, and raise alerts about threats to civic space; engage in dialogue with policymakers; and take part in consultations and campaigns. Our work is rooted in participatory methods inspired by intergenerational non-formal education and participatory action research. We believe politics is about people and communities—and that everyone should be given the tools to engage in it, both individually and collectively.

Building alliances, creating bridges between sectors and territories, and running educational, communication, and cultural activities are how we act. We are driven by the conviction that democracy and citizenship do not end at the ballot box. Social transformation only happens through the participation of organised people—every day and in every area of our lives!

Origin

The motto of Citizenship Academy was launched by the people who organized the “Geração à rasca” (“distressed generation”) protest, which happened on the 12th of March 2011. This initiative opened a new way of citizen participation in Europe by being convened solely through social networks without any political party or union supports. In that day, hundreds of thousands of people went out in the streets in Portugal and around the World, protesting peacefully, irreverently and creatively. This inspired a series of protests and national and international movements under the name of “Indignados” (15-M / Real Democracy Now) that inspired the “Occupy” worldwide protest. After this, a lot of people have joined the Citizenship Academy, sharing their wish to act beyond the protest.

The non-profit association was registered on the 15th of May 2012, it has organized accountancy and social organs.

Principles

The work inside the organization is based on horizontal hierarchy and in sharing responsabilities among participants.

The Citizenship Academy is not and it will not be connected to any political party or religion nor will receive any support from armament industries. This is one of our biggest strenghts but it also implies some restraints, namely financelly and logistically speaking, that we assume as pilars of our own independence as an organization.

Charter of Values

Universal Declaration of the Human Rights (UDHR)

Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFREU)

Constition of the Portuguese Republic  (CPR)

To the Citizenship Academy:

1 – Everyone has the same social dignity and are equal under the law (from art. 13 CPR).

2 – No person shall be discriminated according to their background, gender, race, language, territory of origin, religion, political or ideological beliefs, education, economic situation, social condition or sexual orientation (from art. 21 CFREU).

3 – Equality between men and women shall be guaranteed (from art. 23 CFREU).

4 – Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, consciousness and religion, in public as much as in private (from art 18. UDHR; art. 10 CFREU).

5 – Everyone has the right to be informed (including social media, quality and information independence, public services) and freedom of speech, opinion and information (from art. 19 UDHR; art. 11 CFREU).

6 – Everyone shall have the right to education, as well as access to professional and contínuous training and culture. These must maintain the main goal as not only professional and educational capacitation but also the full expansion of human personality, the reinforcement of human rights and fundamental liberties and also the promotion of the comprehension, tolerance and friendship among all the peoples and all the groups, whether these are social, economic, political, gender oriented, racial, age, ethnical and/or religious (from art. 16, 14 UDHR; art. 14 CFREU; art. 27, 42, 43, 73, 78 CPR).

7 – Everyone shall have the right to freedom of learning and teaching (from art. 43 CPR).

8 – Everyone shall be free to explore their intelectual, artistic or scientific creation and have the right to take part, freely, in their community’s cultural life, to enjoy the arts, to participate in scientifical progress and in the resulting benefits of this process as well as the duty to preserve, defend and value the community’s cultural heritage (from art. 27 UDHR; art. 11, 13 CFREU; art. 42 CPR).

9 – Every child shall have the right to protection and necessary care to their well-being (from art. 24 CFREU).

10 –Every child shall be allowed to freely express their opinion facing all the issues that concern them (from art. 24 CFREU).

11 – All elderly people have the right to a decent and independent existence and to participate in their social and cultural life (from art. 25 CFREU).

12 –Everyone with some kind of disability shall benefit from measures that guarantee their autonomy, their social and professional integration and their participation in their community’s life (from art. 26 CFREU).

13 – Everyone shall have the right to be clarified objectively about State actions and other public instances and to be informed by the Government and other instances regarding the management of public affairs (from art. 41 CFREU).

14 – Everyone shall have the right to gather freely, pacifically and unarmed, even in open spaces open to the general public, without the need of any authorization (from art. 45 CPR).

15 – Everyone shall have the right to demonstrate (from art. 45 CPR).

16 –  Everyone shall have the right to take part in their own country’s political life and respective management of publc affairs, directly or through representatives freely elected (from art. 48 CPR).

17 – Everyone shall have the right to direct and participate in the political sphere, regardless of background, gender, race, language, territory of origin, religion, political or ideological convictions, education, economic situation, social condition or sexual orientation. (from art. 48 CPR)

16 – Everyone shall have the right to political participation (from art. 109 CPR).

17 – Political power belongs to the people and it shall be prosecuted in the terms of the Constitution (from art. 108 CPR).
18 – The direct and active participation of everyone in the political life constitutes the condition and fundamental tool for the strenghtening and deepening of democracy (from art. 109 CPR).