How are you, DEAR? EU DEAR funding increasingly important amid government cut-backs

Action for Development Education and Awareness Raising, or DEAR, is being squeezed across Europe. Funding cuts and government caps are at odds with growing public engagement in social issues like climate change and equality, especially among young Europeans. This changing landscape combines to make EU funding for the DEAR Programme increasingly important, according to a new report. 

“In recent years, in most of the reviewed countries state financial and/or policy support for DEAR has declined or has not improved,” states the report, DEAR Projects 2020: projects at half-time. “As a result, DEAR initiatives rely more on EU financial support than before.” 

The European Union’s DEAR Programme funds up to 30 projects at any one time that campaign, advocate or use global learning approaches to raise awareness on the biggest social issues of the day among EU citizens. Issues like climate change, migration or the EU and EU citizens’ role in achieving the globally agreed Sustainable Development Goals. 

Established DEAR countries like Czech Republic, Italy and the Netherlands are suffering from state budget cuts. At the same time, DEAR is failing to get off the ground in burgeoning DEAR countries amid a rise in right-leaning and populist governments. This squeeze on funding appears out of kilter with the sentiments of European citizens.

“The [European] public is often more interested in the issues/receptive to the principles of DEAR than government policies and policy decision makers,” write report authors, Harm-Jan Fricke and Kerstin Wittig-Fergeson. “This is particularly the case when that public is approached at local (community or education) levels.” 

The report draws on country studies carried out in 2020 in Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain.

The study highlights the fact that awareness of DEAR-issues – like understanding of the SDGs – varies greatly among and within EU Member States, proving a challenge for DEAR projects operating in multiple countries. In addition, polarised public perception of issues like migration, within countries and across the EU, make it difficult for DEAR projects to challenge stereotypes and give voice to marginalised groups like migrants, refugees or asylum seekers.

The full report is published and available for download here.

/end