European Identity - Individual, Group and Society - HumanitarianNet

14.The Construction of the European Identityin the School as a Learning CommunityYves BeernaertHead of the European Projects Consultancy Unit of the KHLeuvenKatholieke Hogeschool Leuven, BelgiumIntroductionLearning communities are powerful elements to contribute to theconstruction of a European or even global identity if they respond tosome basic characteristics. European identity doesn’t exist or doesn’t existby itself but it could be said to be an evolutionary concept which is builton the identity of the peoples, countries and regions of which Europe iscomposed. It is in constant development but has some core elementswhich have characterized them for centuries. Learning communities are atool which can help to strengthen the awareness of the richness of thedifferent identities in Europe and can help create links between them.As identity is a process of constant creation, the contribution of thelearning communities to the bringing about of a European identity isalso to be embedded into a lifelong learning concept closely linked toactive citizenship through which our identity, amongst others, expressesitself.Lifelong education and training is being encouraged more and moreas a way of contributing to the education of active citizenship on theone hand and to the employability of young people in their civic andprofessional careers on the other. The two elements of active citizenshipand employability are closely connected and are complementary. Theywere mentioned as the key elements in the Memoradum on lifelonglearning 1 of the Commission published in 2000 subsequently to the1Commission of the European communities; A Memorandum on lifelong learning,Brussels 2000; SEC (2000) 1832.