The beginning of EUDEC, 2006-2009
2006
July/August: Meetings in Lodz, Poland, and at Sands School in England to discuss the need for networking in the field of democratic education in Europe
October: The Freie Schule Leipzig offers to host and organise the European Democratic Education Conference, in cooperation with the University of Leipzig and the Sudbury Schule Halle-Leipzig
2007
March: First European planning meeting for EUDEC 2008 held in Leipzig, Germany.
July: Seven schools involved in the conference planning receive Comenius grant for a multi-lateral partnership.
October: Second European planning meeting; election of interim council for new European network.
November: First regional conference on democratic education hosted by the Pedagogy Academy in Lodz, Poland.
December: Third European planning meeting in Vienna; meeting of Comenius partner schools.
2008
February: The European Democratic Education Community is founded at the fourth European planning meeting in Leipzig; election of first council. The Phoenix Education Trust (UK) takes the young organisation under its wing, offering start-up funds, organisational support and non-profit status.
March: EUDEC receives recognition as an official project of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.
July/August: The Community’s first conference, EUDEC 2008, attracts more than 400 participants from 25 countries to 10 days of workshops and seminars in Leipzig, Germany.
2009
March: EUDEC is registered as an independent non-profit organisation with headquarters in Leipzig, Germany.
2010
Meeting in Roskilde, Denmark, for an Annual General Meeting, where more than a hundred people from over 15 countries were present! You can have a brief account of what happened here