The European Wergeland Centres is an international resource centre supporting the implementation of the Council of Europe educational policies, serving all its member states.
Our vision:
To educate for a democratic Europe where all individuals can fully enjoy their human rights
Norway establised the centre in close cooperation with the Council of Europe in 2008, building on their shared values as a joint initiative to promote democracy and human rights across Europe through education.
Our mission:
To strengthen the capacity of children and young people, educators, educational institutions, and educational systems to build and defend a culture of democracy and human rights.
We serve as an international resource centre and a meeting place for people working in education, training and research.
We lift insights from practice, encompassing both formal and non-formal settings, and convey them into the authorities’ policymaking. At the same time, we facilitate the implementation of policy in practice. Via this two-way street, we support human rights and democracy through education in Norway and throughout Europe.
We are also active in research, employing the same two-way approach to contribute our experience to research efforts and convey results back into practice. Fostering networks of engaged professionals, we continually develop quality learning materials that are relevant and freely accessible
As a “privileged partner” of the Council of Europe, we are uniquely positioned to promote systematic changes in education at all levels by working with a broad range of actors, including national and local authorities, teacher education institutions, schools, teachers, students, parents and civil society.
Why Wergeland?
The European Wergeland Centre is named after the Norwegian poet, public educator and civil activist Henrik Wergeland.
Henrik Wergeland (1808–1845), a child of the European Enlightenment, lived during a transformative era after the dissolution of the union between Denmark and Norway. Through his writing, he championed religious tolerance, knowledge as a path to freedom, and equality across nations and classes – driven by deep compassion for humanity.
Driven by a deep belief in human potential, Wergeland saw the urge to learn and serve others as the soul’s highest calling. His life and writing became a passionate fight against injustice, making him one of Norway’s most powerful voices for the oppressed.
“You shall drive your plough with pride; you shall walk behind it as an enlightened, free man, not as an empty-headed slave of darkness who knows nothing more than how to scatter oats in a furrow and then harrow them. (…) You shall learn to prove for yourself what the pastor preaches from the pulpit, judge for yourself what the judge rules from his seat!
Henrik Wergeland
How we work:
We have chosen to focus on five action areas to build and sustain a culture of democracy and human rights through education.
Staff
The European Wergeland Centre is based in Oslo, Norway, with field staff in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Greece and Ukraine. Our Acting Executive Director is Ingrid Aspelund.
Governing Board
The European Wergeland Centre is governed by a Board with members nominated by the Council of Europe and Norway. The Board is appointed by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research.
