Constitution Building for Democracy - A Constitution Building Training Course

International IDEA and the Barcelona International Peace Resource Center are partnering to offer a course on Constitution Building for Democracy, 21-25 November 2011 in Barcelona, Spain.For

Objectives:
This course is aimed at professionals interested in developing their knowledge on how constitution building practices influence the protection of political and other rights and liberties as a means to building democracies that resolve conflicts peacefully.  Participants will be individuals working in political and technical aspects of democratic reform and conflict management within a range of national and international institutions. The interactive methodology aims, through exercises and case studies, to ground the normative aspects into practical realities so that participants of the training will be able to benefit from each others’ experiences and:

• Improve their understanding of and engagement in constitution building processes
• Be able to identify viable constitution building practices that are suited in their own contexts or the contexts in which they work
• Have broader options on how to bridge the sociological divisions on human rights issues
• Use constitution building to solve some of the challenges of building a sustainable democracy

Constitutions do much more than establish government and regulate its relationship to citizens – for many states, they have become tools to manage crisis and conflict, build inclusive democracies and lay the foundation for a culture of human rights. Constitution building is a political process aimed at addressing the challenges that modern democracies are facing.

Constitutional reform has become a characteristic part of intrastate conflict resolution, peace building, democratic reform and equitable economic development. National stakeholders and international professionals who work in these fields must have a competent understanding of the process of constitution building, the challenges and constraints during these processes as well as the realistic opportunities for political and social transformation. This course will address what kind of practices will help citizens, leaders and their supporters build democratic, sustainable constitutions.

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.  Please note that the application process to receive a Schengen visa may take up to 4 weeks. 

This event has now passed. Thank you to all the participants who took part in the training. Please check constitutionnet.org for future training opportunities.