Democracy, the rule of law, and human rights are among the fundamental values of the European Union (EU). However, not every European citizen is aware of these, especially the youngers, and thus, the need to empower young people about key legal concepts and structures is emerging.

The Law in Everyday Life Project contributes to citizens' common values, civic engagement and participation by aspiring to basic legal literacy and its promotion in education and other educational settings as a prerequisite for a quality democratic system in the EU and member states. In this way, it becomes straightforward to identify the main targets of the project: students and teachers – both in their roles as learners and as bridges and catalysts of knowledge for their students.

To meet these needs a series of materials were developed, namely:
(1) a Legal Literacy Competence Framework (CF),
(2) a Students' Textbook,
(3) a Teachers' Manual and
(4) a MOOC for students.

To produce these results, a participatory methodology was adopted, starting the journey with the development of a questionnaire to identify key legal concepts and terms a 14 and 18-year-old should know, with contributions from university law professors, lawyers and judges specialized in work with youth. Students and teachers were also active contributors in this initial phase, through participation in focus groups and interviews, respectively. All these contributions gave rise to the CF, which served as the basis and foundation for the subsequent development of the Manual for Teachers, Textbook for Students, and MOOC.

The learning materials were tested in four different European countries – Portugal, Croatia, Italy, and France – with approximately 155 teachers and 210 students between 14 and 18 years old having the opportunity to explore the materials, and even develop a series of projects and dynamics within the scope of legal literacy. Available in English and translated into the 4 partnership languages, all materials are available online, providing explanations defined by the Competence Framework with appropriate examples from history, basic legal concepts, principles, structures, and terms vividly connected to everyday life, lesson plans and recommendations for implementation for teachers, and a set of infographics, activities and games, podcasts, and handouts, all available in the MOOC for students.

If we want the younger generation to adhere to the EU values of democracy, human rights, human dignity, freedom, equality, and the rule of law, it is imperative to make the law accessible and understandable – and that’s why The Law in Everyday Life is changing legal literacy education around Europe.

Keywords: Citizenship Education, Human Rights, Legal Literacy, Law, Democratic Participation.