CIVIC STAGE – InSite Drama joins a new European project
How can participatory theatre help young people engage more actively with democracy and feel greater sense of ownership over the social processes unfolding around them? This is the question explored by CIVIC STAGE, a three-year European research and development project launching in October 2026, with Insite Drama as one of its partners.
Young people today are simultaneously confronted with the effects of climate change, wars, migration, digitalisation, disinformation, and social polarisation. CIVIS STAGE in based on the idea that simply providing information about these issues is not enough: young people also need situations in which they can explore different perspectives, debate, make decisions, and experience their own capacity to act.
The project therefore combines participatory theatre methods with education for democratic citizenship and digital tools. Over the next three years, the partners will develop eight educational modules, which will be developed and tested in different countries in both formal and non-formal educational settings.
The CIVIC STAGE Horizon project brings together universities, cultural organisations, and educational institutions. InSite Drama contributes its expertise in participatory theatre and education: it will take part in developing the methods, training teachers and facilitators, and piloting the programmes in Hungary.
The educational modules developed during the project will be tested in 11 countries, with 160 groups and approximately 3200 young participants. The accompanying research will examine how the programme affects young people’s civic participation, democratic atitudes, and their sense of being capable of shaping the world around them.
One of the project’s most compelling questions is how theatre can become a space where democracy is not only discussed, but also practised.
