The European Wergeland Centre

What The European Wergeland Centre does

The European Wergeland Centre (EWC) is a non-profit resource centre founded in 2008 by the Council of Europe and Norway and headquartered in Oslo. It operates as a 'privileged partner' of the Council of Europe to deliver education for intercultural understanding, human rights, and democratic citizenship across all 46 member states, with field staff in Ukraine, Greece, and Bosnia-Herzegovina and active project work in 22 countries. Its primary customers are teachers, educators, schools, and national/local education authorities, with the Schools for Democracy programme in Ukraine and Moldova representing the most prominent engagement vehicle.

The Centre's core product is a Moodle-based online learning platform (e-learning.theewc.org) hosting Digital Citizenship and Project-Based courses in English, Ukrainian, Romanian, Slovak, and Slovenčina, supplemented by free teaching resources, in-person trainings, publications, and flagship programmes such as the Democracy Workshop for Students and Teachers on Utøya. The platform supports both self-paced open-access courses and facilitated/blended courses, with a recent Ukrainian course integrating generative AI across the learning lifecycle. Approximately 20,000 educators participate in online and in-person trainings annually, and 12 new teaching resources are added each year.

As a non-profit, EWC generates no commercial revenue; all services are free to end users. Operating funding comes from Norway and the Council of Europe as founding institutional supporters, supplemented by the EEA and Norway Grants (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) for project-based funding. The GTM is event-driven and policy-led: reaching educators through ministerial partnerships, teacher training institutions, schools, civil society organizations, and an e-learning distribution channel, rather than through pricing or sales conversion.

Name

The European Wergeland Centre

Legal name

The European Wergeland Centre

Website

https://theewc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The European Wergeland Centre is a non-profit resource centre founded in 2008 by the Council of Europe and Norway, delivering free education, training, and digital resources on democratic citizenship, human rights, and intercultural understanding to teachers, schools, and education authorities across all 46 Council of Europe member states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civic Education and Training Services

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Model UN & Parliamentary Procedure Programs (Oratory-Focused) (EDAMAOAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Virtual/Hybrid International Short-Term Academic Programs (EDAIAIAL), International Student Academic & Personal Support (case management, referrals) (EDALANAE)

Keywords

• Democratic citizenship education
• Human rights education
• Intercultural understanding training
• Teacher professional development
• Digital citizenship courses

Headquarters

HQ city

Oslo

HQ country

Norway

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Foundation Funding: The Centre was established by and receives ongoing support from Norway and the Council of Europe. Activities and services are free and open to all 46 member states of the Council of Europe.
2. EEA and Norway Grants: Funding from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants, which contribute to reducing social and economic disparities and strengthening bilateral relations in Europe. The Grants have become an important donor for EWC and partners.
3. Training Services: Provides training courses, learning materials, and educational resources free of charge to educators across Europe, funded through institutional partnerships and grants.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The European Wergeland Centre is a non-profit resource centre that delivers training courses, online learning programmes, and educational resources focused on intercultural understanding, human rights, and democratic citizenship. It operates a Moodle-based e-learning platform offering digital citizenship and project-based courses in multiple languages, complemented by in-person trainings, workshops (such as the Democracy Workshop for Students and Teachers on Utøya), and free teaching resources for educators across the Council of Europe's 46 member states.

Product overview

The European Wergeland Centre operates as an education resource centre offering a portfolio of products and services focused on democracy, human rights education, and intercultural understanding. The core product is the Online Learning Platform (TheEWC), a Moodle-based e-learning system that delivers Digital Citizenship Courses and Project-Based Courses in multiple languages (English, Ukrainian, Romanian, Slovak). Supporting these is the Schools for Democracy Programme with Ukrainian Online Courses, alongside free Teaching and Learning Resources and in-person Training and Workshops. Annually, around 20,000 teachers and educators participate in their online and in-person trainings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Online Learning Platform (TheEWC)

Quantifiable outcome

• 20,000 teachers and educators trained annually
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

AI capability2 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and strategic.

• Council of EuropecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEWC was established by the Council of Europe and Norway in 2008. As a 'privileged partner', EWC implements Council of Europe educational policies throughout Europe and beyond. The Council of Europe nominates Board members and provides strategic direction for democracy and human rights education.
• Norway (Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNorway established the Centre in close cooperation with the Council of Europe. The Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research appoints the Governing Board. Norway provides ongoing institutional support and funding.
• Utøya (22 July Memorial)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEWC collaborates with Utøya on the Democracy Workshop for Students and Teachers, using the terror attacks of 22 July 2011 as a starting point for democratic citizenship education.
• Romanian Social Development FundmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for the 'Inclusion and Quality Education in Romania' project supported by EEA Norway Financial Mechanism, strengthening inclusive education in Romanian schools.
• Ministry of Education and Science of UkrainemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey government partner for the Schools for Democracy programme supporting democratic reforms in Ukraine's school education system.
• POLIN Museum of the History of Polish JewsstrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerEWC is a key strategic partner in the educational part of the EEA and Norway Grants 'Jewish Cultural Heritage' project in Poland.
• University of AthensmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint Master's Programme combining academic excellence with EWC's expertise in democratic citizenship and human rights education.
• Schools for Democracy Programme Partners (Ukraine)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnerships with Ukrainian education institutions, including Step-by-Step Foundation Ukraine, for implementing democratic education reforms during wartime.
• Maidan MuseumstrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerMUCIT project collaboration exploring opportunities for museum-school partnerships to address complex historical narratives in education.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• UNESCO: UNESCO's education programmes (including Global Citizenship Education and the Associated Schools network) deliver teacher capacity building and curriculum resources globally, overlapping with EWC's mission across a much wider mandate and budget envelope.
• Council of Europe: As EWC's founding partner and a 46-member intergovernmental body, the Council of Europe operates the broader policy and standards-setting apparatus (including the Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship) that EWC's training programmes implement at school level.
• GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit): GIZ implements German government-funded civic education and democratic reform projects in transition countries, frequently partnering with ministries and school systems in the same Eastern European and Western Balkan geographies where EWC is active.
• UNICEF Education: UNICEF's education programmes deliver large-scale teacher training, learning resources and inclusive education interventions in EWC's operating geographies (Ukraine, Moldova, Greece, Bosnia-Herzegovina), with overlapping focus on inclusion and refugee education.

Emerging players

• iCivics: iCivics is a US-based civic education organisation producing digital curricular games and teacher resources for democratic citizenship instruction, sharing EWC's product-led approach to educator capacity building but primarily serving the US market.
• Internews: Internews runs media literacy, disinformation resilience and civic information programmes with strong overlap to EWC's digital citizenship and disinformation curriculum, and works in many of the same Eastern European and Balkan operating geographies.
• Facing History and Ourselves: Facing History and Ourselves provides classroom resources and teacher professional development on democracy, identity and human rights with strong parallels to EWC's resource-library and workshop model, particularly around historical narrative and civic resilience.

Direct peers

• IREX: IREX runs international education, leadership and civil society programmes with grant-funded delivery to educators and schools across Europe and Eurasia, overlapping directly with EWC's Schools for Democracy work in Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkans.
• OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR): ODIHR's Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights programmes operate as the OSCE's intergovernmental counterpart to EWC, training educators and supporting school-level democratic reforms across OSCE participating states with similar pedagogical and policy goals.
• Amnesty International: Amnesty International's human rights education division delivers teacher training, school resources and campaigns on human rights themes globally, sharing EWC's mandate of building rights-based classroom practice and educator capacity.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/schoolsfordemocracy
• Xx.com/TheEWCorg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-european-wergeland-centre

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The European Wergeland Centre