Strasbourg, 14–17 April 2026

Report

The Conference of International Non-Governmental Organisations of the Council of Europe convened in Strasbourg for its 2026 Spring Session from 14 to 17 April, with the Spring General Assembly taking place from 15 to 17 April. The session brought together civil society representatives from across Europe to review the work of the Conference, discuss current and future priorities, and adopt a series of important texts and resolutions addressing some of the most pressing democratic and human rights challenges facing the continent today.

This Spring Session was particularly significant in the wider context of the 50th anniversary of the Conference of INGOs. The anniversary provided not only an opportunity to look back on five decades of civil society engagement within the Council of Europe, but also to reflect on the role that organised civil society must continue to play in defending democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in an increasingly complex European landscape.

Children’s rights featured prominently throughout the session. One of the major outcomes was the adoption of a resolution on the rights of the child in Europe, adopted as part of CINGO’s 50th anniversary reflections. The resolution reaffirms the importance of placing children’s rights at the centre of European democratic life and highlights the continued need for strong, coordinated, and rights-based action to protect children, listen to their voices, and ensure that their wellbeing is fully recognised in policy and practice.

In this context, CINGO also reaffirmed the role of its Committee on the Rights of the Child in Europe, extending its mandate until Spring 2027. This decision represents an important continuation of the Conference’s work in the field of children’s rights and confirms the need for sustained civil society engagement on issues affecting children, families, and communities across Europe.

Hermínio Corrêa, member of the Supervisory Board of Parents International, will continue to serve as Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child in Europe. Ruth Allen, representing the International Federation of Social Workers, will continue as Co-Chair. Their renewed mandate provides continuity and strengthens the Committee’s capacity to contribute meaningfully to the work of the Council of Europe and to wider European discussions on children’s rights.

Beyond children’s rights, the Spring Session addressed a broad range of democratic and social challenges. Discussions included hate speech and discrimination, youth participation and employment, migration, gender equality, education for democracy, and the protection of civil society space. These themes reflect the growing importance of ensuring that democratic institutions remain open, inclusive, and responsive to the realities experienced by people and communities across Europe.

The discussions also underlined the essential role of civil society organisations in identifying emerging challenges, bringing lived experience into policy conversations, and helping democratic institutions remain connected to the people they serve. At a time when civic space is under pressure in many contexts, CINGO’s work continues to be a vital reminder that democracy cannot be reduced to institutions alone. It also depends on active participation, public trust, dialogue, accountability, and the organised engagement of citizens through civil society.

The session further strengthened CINGO’s engagement with key Council of Europe bodies, including the Steering Committee for the Rights of the Child, the Lanzarote Committee, and other relevant steering committees. This cooperation is particularly important because it ensures that the voice of civil society contributes to the development, implementation, and monitoring of European standards in human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.

For Parents International, the outcomes of this Spring Session are especially relevant. The strong focus on children’s rights, education for democracy, participation, and civil society engagement closely reflects our own work with parents, families, educators, and communities. It also confirms the importance of recognising parents and families as essential actors within democratic education ecosystems, particularly when the rights, wellbeing, and participation of children are at stake.

The next CINGO General Assembly is scheduled to take place from 28 September to 1 October 2026. This will be another important moment for the Conference, as it will include various ceremonies and activities commemorating the 50th anniversary of CINGO. The anniversary will offer an opportunity to celebrate past achievements, but also to renew the shared commitment of civil society organisations to a democratic Europe grounded in human dignity, participation, and rights for all.

Strasbourg, 17 April 2026
Hermínio Corrêa
Parents International

Key Outcomes from the CINGO Spring 2025 Session in Strasbourg

3 Years ahead: inspiring recognition of Herminio Correa’s dedication to Children’s Rights at CINGO’s Spring Session

Safeguarding Civic Space in Europe: Parents International at the Conference of INGOs Task Force

Shaping Democratic Renewal: Civic Space in Europe 2026

The  Council of Europe Platform on Ethics, Transparency and Integrity in Education (ETINED), together with UNESCO, organised the first ever European workshop on Open School Data on 29 April 2026 in Strasbourg. Parents International was invited to contribute to the discussion in a panel on stakeholder perspectives together with the representatives of school leaders (ESHA), secondary school students (OBESSU) and researchers.

Through our research, especially the engagement in the EFFEct project, we have worked with open school data, a new topic for most education stakeholders. It used to be a territory primarily for statisticians. However, having relevant and reliable data available is not only crucial support for evidence-informed policy making, but also shifts power towards parents and families by making school systems more transparent. Parents International’s main role in this field is to ensure that the relevant questions are asked at data collection and interpretation, but also to ensure that data is understood and well used. So, we do what we always do: research, advocate and train.

In our contribution, we framed open school data in the reality of a growing distrust in school systems by parents, a decreasing relevance of school, a sharp decline of basic skills acquisition in Europe, and the need to educate passionate learners who will continue studying through life.

The basis of the discussion was the very recent 9^th volume of ETINED on Open School Data in European Education Systems. This publication provides detailed information on what kind of data on school is open and for whom in different Council of Europe member countries. Some countries publish league tables, some deliberately don’t. Some countries make information about the qualifications of teachers in any given school publicly available while others keep this close.

Some countries have dedicated portals and/or publications with open school data, in the case of others this information can only be gathered via school websites. Some make raw data available, some provide visualisation, some offer both. The data that is openly available for the general public may be a different set from the data available for school operators. One thing is clear from user data: parents, students, education research and education policy making are all turning to open school data more often than before.

Parents can use open school data to choose a school for their children based on traditional indicators such as academic results, progression rates, class size, teacher qualifications, student-teacher ration, student demographics, or inclusivity indicators. They can also use it to understand quality beyond rankings by checking well-being indicators, dropout and absenteeism rates, extracurricular offers, and support services provided by the school.

It helps asking better questions about the school. Instead of generic impressions, it can help parents figure out how a school supports students who struggle, or what explains results over time. It helps parents to become better advocates of their own children vis-á-vis the school by identifying gaps in support, or comparing what is promised and what actual data shows. It help parental engagement with school more meaningful. Data supports meaningful dialogue instead of emotional or anecdotal discussions.

But for available open school data to be really useful, there is a need for clear explanations (not just raw numbers), context, balance (of academic, well-being and inclusion data), careful and unbiased guidance on interpretation, as well as full transparency about data collection and handling. Without careful design, open school data can mislead, overwhelm, and reinforce inequality. 

The authors used desk research methods to create the publication, and just by looking at the analysis, it became clear that open school data is not always easy to find or easy to interpret. But these are crucial challenges. Open school data is a powerful tool if it is relevant, understandable and easy to compare (in the European context even cross-border). One example that was mentioned several times during the discussion was a piece of data from Lithuania: you can see if a school has its own swimming pool or sports centre, but not whether they have access to one, e.g., operated by the local municipality.

Another key question is the trustworthiness of data. It is only useful for real-life decisions if we believe them. Trust may be missing at the point of collection if parents and students have privacy concerns, but also if the school has an interest in e.g., asking weak students to not participate in a competence assessment. Trust may also be harmed by countries only publishing oversimplified data, but also if they use too much jargon in their publications.

Most people, even very highly educated ones are not data scientists, so phrases like ‘standard deviation’ may make data undecipherable. Trust may also be undermined if what really matters is missing from the available datasets, but important factors such as well-being, supporting creativity and critical thinking, or school climate and relationships are often difficult to measure.

The availability of open school data may also amplify inequalities. More educated or resource-rich parents tend to use data mor effectively, making the benefits disproportionate. Most of the speakers, including ourselves, emphasised that increasing data literacy (of teachers, of school leaders, of parents and of students alike)  in the times of datafication would be of crucial importance. At the same time, we have reminded ourselves and others that open school data is not enough to make the right decision – be it school choice or national education policy ones – without understanding what is behind the numbers, and that requires qualitative research as well as public scrutiny.

Eszter Salamon