The Europe for Citizens Program is an initiative of the European Commission that is trying to promote the active participation of citizens in the democratic life of the EU. To achieve these objectives, understanding between the Union and its citizens is promoted, deepening their awareness of what Europe means and the development of a European sense of identity.

Within the framework of this Program, the City Council of Gijón presented its CITIZEU project last year: The impact of Euroscepticism in the construction of Europe finally approved by the Executive Agency that manage the Program.

This initiative will aim to carry out different activities (MOOC courses, citizen dialogues, online participation platform) focused on the promotion of a citizens' knowledge of basic EU notions (history, operation, etc.); generate a proactive awareness of citizens with respect to the Union (opinion based in favor or against); and analyze the rise of the incipient Euroscepticism that is ravaging Europe (origin, consequences, solutions, etc.)

To achieve these goals, the City Council counts with the collaboration of other partners, such as Nuremberg, Alba Iulia, Genoa, AEKS (NGO from Vääsky), CEPS (think tank from Brussels) and the University of Oviedo together with its Innovation Center, that will carry out the activities of the course in their respective territories.

The first of the activities will be the launch of the MOOC COURSE: 'EUROPE IS YOU: Basic course      about the European Union' (Virtual Campus of UNIOVI), which will try to address, throughout 6 lessons, questions such as what is the EU, what rights do European citizens attend or how does it work and how does it affect to their daily life?

The content, open to any audience, will allow the participant to approach Europe and the European Union, providing a critical and proactive conscience to form an opinion that positions him / her in front of the Union, either for or against, as it is the lack of necessary knowledge (among others) one of the main causes that have sown the embryo of the incipient Euroscepticism that ravages Europe, to the having a clear distancing of the citizens with the European spheres.

The course, created by the Department of European Affairs of the City of Gijón with the active collaboration of professors from the University of Oviedo and its Innovation Center, will has a duration of approximately 6 weeks and will allow at its conclusion to obtain a certificate of participation completely free.

The course is available through the following platform: