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25-10-04 International Society for Human  |
Thanks for your mail informing us of your FECC project.
Though we are based in Switzerland which is not a full member of the
European Union (EU), we are very much interested in all the activities
at the European regional level, bearing in mind that Switzerland will
eventually become a full member of the EU. As an organization we have
had and continue to have the support (financial, moral and other) of the
European Union as also of the Council of Europe. In addition, I
personally have a particular interest in your proposal because I was
inspired by NFS Grundtvig’s concept of adult education, studied and
taught at a Danish folk high school and, as a member of the Scandinavian
Committee prepared, conducted and taught at the international summer
courses in Denmark, Norway and Sweden for a number of years. Moreover,
the International Society for Human Values and I personally have been
engaged in building a democratic free society, particularly in Europe
with its own cultural and linguistic diversity and an uneven economic
and political development of its member states. The complexity is
aggravated by various immigrant populations who arrive with their own
cultural and attitudinal baggage in many, if not all of the EU member
countries. With this background in mind, we look forward to the
successful evolution and realization of your concept of a European
Community College (in Denmark?).
We have carefully gone through the two basic papers on your web site and
wish to offer the following comments on your Basic Paper 2:
On page 2, under 2) c), it is said “We abstain from authoritatively to
take part in any cultural dimensioning of a European identity”. It is
not clear what this intends to convey. In the first place, if you are
to use the Danish folk high school model, one must remember that the
residential folk high schools for young adults were first founded in
Denmark in the middle of the 19th century to foster a sense of cultural
unity, and they became a powerful instrument of national regeneration
after the country’s defeat by Germany in 1864. At the same time, as we
can see from the new European Constitution, European values are based on
European culture. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine how a
discussion on culture can be avoided in the process of building European
citizenship.
We hereby agree that our organization’s name (International Society for
Human Values) and logo can be used in your web site to signify our
support to the FECC concept.
In due course we may be able to offer some assistance in developing a
European citizenship course.
Hoping to hear from you on the progress in your endeavour and with best
wishes,
Sampat
(R. Sampatkumar, Secretary General, International Society for Human
Values)
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