The Agrupamento de Escolas de Barcelos is a public educational institution located in Barcelos, a historic city in northern Portugal. Operating within the Portuguese national education system, it functions as a school cluster (agrupamento), bringing together several educational establishments under a single administrative and pedagogical structure. This integrated model promotes continuity in students’ learning pathways and supports coordinated educational practices across different levels of schooling. Type of institution: Public school cluster providing primary, lower secondary, upper secondary, and vocational education.

The Agrupamento de Escolas de Barcelos contributes to DC4Democracy through its strong commitment to developing students’ digital competences and active, informed citizenship. The organisation brings practical experience in digital education across primary, secondary, and vocational education, as well as in piloting innovative approaches to the assessment of digital skills.

Key Contributions
1. Digital Competence Assessment: Contributing expertise to the assessment and development of students’ digital competences.
Curriculum Integration: Supporting the integration of digital skills across different educational levels and subject areas.
2. Piloting & Validation: Testing and validating project frameworks, methodologies, and tools in authentic educational settings.
3. Inclusive & Scalable Practices: Contributing to the development of educational approaches that are inclusive, practical, and adaptable to diverse learning contexts.
4. Teacher & Student Engagement: Involving teachers and students in project activities, collecting feedback, and supporting the refinement of project outputs.
5. Dissemination: Contributing to the dissemination of project results and experiences at local and regional levels.
6. Cross-WP Collaboration: Participating in several Work Packages, with a particular focus on piloting, validation, and implementation, helping ensure that the project’s approaches are relevant and transferable to different educational contexts.