Citizenship, Equity and Democracy: the Role of Civic Competences in Higher Education Innovation Processes

Based on the results of the international project #ShareEU, the paper aims to describe the research activities that have contributed to a better understanding of the democratic social processes at work in higher education in the EU, focusing on the surveys and research products that have focused on the value of civic and citizenship competences as fundamental tools for the renewal of teaching practices for the construction of a future shared responsibility of the European higher education system. Starting from a systematic reflection of the literature on educational and social activities related to citizenship and civic competences in the university context, the paper describes some researches and products carried out by the Italian partner, focusing on the analysis of the objectives, contents and values of a multicultural European identity citizenship as elements of curricular continuity at all levels, contributing to the fight against inequalities and ensuring “civic wellbeing in higher education and professional contexts” in order to stem anti-democratic and extremist cultural drifts of any kind.