Fundamental rights are essential safeguards, but they are constantly evolving; their interpretation is refined in the face of contemporary challenges. Beyond standards, they are grounded in a primary requirement: the primacy of life and solidarity. To become effective, they must be understood, appropriated and integrated into a complex legal and social ecosystem.
During the 2026 Learning Planet Festival, two questions guided our discussions with local practitioners.
👉 Human rights: a hollow ideal or a tool for action?
→ An interactive debate on the real scope of human rights today, moderated by the journalist Anne-Claire Delval with a lawyer committed to the democratisation of the law, a facilitator/mediator at the service of people and an advocacy officer from Pollinis.org, vigilante of the living.
Using very concrete examples – violence against children, the conjugal duty, pesticides, biodiversity, citizen mobilisation – the discussion shows how the law can become a powerful lever in the face of feelings of powerlessness, provided it is understood, interpreted and collectively appropriated.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9alpjjVDJc&t=1132s)
👉 The right to education: sacred promise or legal mirage?
→ A critical reflection on the effectiveness of the right to education in the contemporary era with a legal scholar and an editor/essayist from the Research and Reflection Group on Education (grr-education.org).
Transcription of the discussion FR EN DE.
(Replay not available for technical reasons)
To feed the reflection, we have also produced short videos (FR/EN/DE) based on scientific sources, focusing on the birth of hierarchy, human duality, the democratic question, organic learning and the 2026 ruling abolishing the « right of correction » in France.
They are available on the FutureEd playlist of our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@ALLIasbl/playlists
Our discussions within the framework of the project have also enabled us to understand what makes the African Charter on Human Rights so unique. As a lawyer explained to us, it is based on a profoundly collectivist vision inspired by Ubuntu – «I am because we are» – which values social harmony and mutual responsibility. This philosophy is reflected in bold legal choices: the Charter has pioneered restorative justice, notably through the example of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, and it is the only international instrument to explicitly codify the right to resist oppression (Article 20). It is sometimes criticised for prioritising peace over justice, but it embodies an approach where reparation, reconciliation and collective cohesion take precedence over punitive logic. These distinctive features show how Africa has developed a conception of human rights centred on social bonds and shared dignity.
This approach aligns with that of good practice presented by EUDEC.
Restorative justice is a pillar of democratic education: it transforms educational dynamics by focusing on dialogue, accountability and reparation rather than punishment. Here are some VIDEOS to illustrate it (link pending).
To shed light on the antagonism between «individualist» and «collectivist» visions, the philosopher Axel Honneth recalls in The struggle for recognition that the emergence of political demands linked to individual or collective differences can only be durably satisfied by profound cultural transformations, leading to a radical broadening of relations of solidarity. This perspective opens up a fruitful path: moving beyond the opposition between the individual and the collective in order to design institutions capable of recognising everyone while strengthening social cohesion.
The recognition theory continues to evolve and could contribute to this necessary cultural transformation.
A first step consists in returning to the original purpose of the right to education: developing discernment, that capacity to understand the world, to judge with nuance and to choose peace.
👉 Between war, peace and conflicts of interest: what is to be done?
Discernment is first and foremost about understanding. This is what young people are demanding: access to an unbiased understanding of the world in order to become fully active participants in it and contribute to sustainable futures.
Let's put debate back where it belongs leaving our bubbles.
Create spaces where social issues are discussed, divergent viewpoints are examined, and people learn how to argue while respecting others. Let us remember that school neutrality does not consist in avoiding difficult subjects, but in enabling their pluralistic examination.
An approach based on the ethical principles of human rights could serve as an analytical tool — a matrix to be optimised according to contexts, where conflicts of interest are numerous and where the aim is to do one's best.
We applied this exercise to the question of abortion, examining the issues in three very different contexts: wartime rapes in the Tigray region, Japanese society, and parliamentary debates in Luxembourg and France. The aim is not to make a ruling: it is entirely possible to remain neutral, to learn to discern and to build one's own positions by understanding the complexity of situations.
Living solidarity and rejoice in it
In her letters©️ from Ukraine, Kateryna Botvinnik (Katia) tells us in words and pictures about resilience in action at the democratic school she co-founded, One Crazy School.
She shares stories of humanity, imbued with intimacy and authenticity, detailing all the creativity and initiatives emerging to bring relief to these bruised souls and bodies and to overcome difficulties. Over there, there are death doulas. She even offers us numerous practical tips in case we should be confronted with a war, so that we are able to prepare for it. Our EUDEC colleague was also deeply moved by exchanging with the young people from this school in Ukraine. Stepping outside of one's bubble also means having the courage to leave one's comfort zone to dare to look at what one does not want to see.
Nobody is safe from war, but they are the result of a few deranged personalities, and we should not have to suffer them. So let us remember, the right to education was designed to foster peace, and if it has been knocked off course, it is up to us to put it back on the right track and demand that governments respect international law.
Back to the roots...
The 20th of March 2027 will mark the 75th anniversary of the right to education in Europe, an opportunity to recall its foundations and demand its full realisation. This is precisely what the UN Special Rapporteur, Farida Shaheed, points out. The right to education was built on a compromise, and although a certain margin of
manoeuvre has always been recognised in the States. Even if it is considered that the specific choice of subjects to be taught and teaching methods falls within the responsibility of the States, these choices must nevertheless comply with the objectives of education recognised at the international level.
Under Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and key human rights treaties (Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)), States have agreed that education must promote the full development of the human personality and the sense of dignity, strengthen respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and enable everyone to participate effectively in a free society. Education must also promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among nations and among racial, ethnic and religious groups, and support the broader objectives of the United Nations in the maintenance of peace.
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The FutureEd project is a collaboration of ALLI asbl (LU), EUDEC ev (DE) and CollectiveUP (BE) and referenced under nr 2025-1-LU01-KA210-SCH-000351850.
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