"Social participation is a way core topic to realize solidarity," said Concepción Naval. The director of department of Education of the University of Navarra participated in a roundtable on "The volunteer activities and social participation". Also taking part in the event, programmed for the IV workshop of Solidarity, were professors Ana Marta González and Montserrat Herrero, and the coordinator of social activities of the University, Matías Rodríguez.

Concepción Naval indicated that democratic citizenship refers directly to the active participation of individuals in the system of rights and responsibilities. "It is therefore necessary that the Education is oriented to the training of young people and adults in the exercise of those rights and responsibilities in order to stimulate the participation of citizens," she specified.

Communities of participation', a good antidote to mass society

"One of the beneficial consequences of participation is that it tends to eliminate marginalization and exclusion," said Naval. "There has even been talk of the convenience of fostering 'communities of participation', a good antidote to the mass society and the society of individuals, of isolated subjects, where the social dimension of the person has been losing value as source of meaning for life," he explained.

Concepción Naval emphasized three pillars when it comes to educating for participation. "On the one hand, it is a matter of transmitting a series of knowledge and, on the other hand, promote some values that imply stable dispositions for action," she detailed, adding that "finally, it is necessary to facilitate the acquisition of instrumental competencies and operational skills."