DOCUMENTS

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Starting from the local to promote and encourage democratic development, while placing citizens and members at the center. This was the guiding light for the ALDA Staff Meeting 2023!

Hence, from 24 to 26 January 2023, ALDA colleagues met in Vicenza, for three-days full immersion discussing together the milestone of the Association, getting to know each other better, and strengthening the sense of community.

From North Macedonia to Tunisia, from Belgium to Moldova via France and Italy: our heterogeneous and intercultural team of 50 people seized the occasion to see each other again, and as stressed by Abdelaziz Bousleh – Head of the Tunis Office “despite the distance, it is the best opportunity to feel the scope of the activities and the crucial effort behind”. Exactly this: behind the scenes, ALDA is more than an Association: it is people, it is ideas and commitment. It is a one single team that shares together values and energy to make a change, to act locally while thinking globally.

Thus, as also recalled by Antonella Valmorbida, our Secretary General, it is about “working in concert with members, with partners to promote a sustainable agenda, which aims to give impetus to initiatives with a broad European, Eastern Neighborhood, Balkan and Mediterranean scope ».

Staff Meeting 2023: working in concert with members, with partners to promote a sustainable agenda

Aiming at engaging in such a wide area represents, to some extent, the expertise of ALDA on decentralised cooperation, while stimulating citizens’ engagement for a sustainable and locally developed democracy. Similarly, being active in different areas allow the Association to continuously implement its mission, starting from the various necessities that each community is facing. Furthermore, thanks to its partnership extended in more than 40 countries, ALDA has been able to empower realities to express themselves and concretize essential projects, encouraging a collaboration with local authorities, as also explained by Maddalena Alberti, from the Association of LDA Zavidovici.

Stimulated by several exchanges with partners and stakeholders, working in unison to put into practice both the guidelines of the European Union and the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, different Thematic Hubs have been designed to maximize the impact on specific areas: be they – environment, youth, inclusion and gender issues together with migration. The latter was also the core aspect of the speech delivered by Andrea Rilievo, representative of the ALDA Governing Board. Thus, the Association not only has already implemented a series of initiatives targeting the phenomenon, but it is also working on a specific agenda, fully dedicated to migration.

To conclude on a positive note, a very first outcome of this new approach based in hubs, is already available: the Gender, Equality and Anti-Discrimination Policy has been released and presented during the staff meeting. ALDA will be in first line to make sure that the policy will be followed, and it will work together with members and stakeholders to further progress on this topic.

We thank every colleague who joined the meeting, together we can reach the impossible! Happy “Staff Meeting 2023” everyone!

DOCUMENTS

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On the 19th and 20th January in Bologna, Italy, the Final Symposium of the “PERCEPTIONS – Understanding the Impact of Narratives and Perceptions of Europe on Migration and Providing Practices, Tools and Guides for Practitioners” project took place. The partners met to discuss the results achieved during this last three and a half years of fieldwork research and development.

The aim of the project was to examine how Europe and the European Union are seen by people who have migrated there or intend to do so. The research conducted investigated what perceptions and images of Europe exist among migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, how they are formed, whether they correspond to reality and what role they play in influencing migration decisions. The project also examined how the flow of information could be distorted and created toolkits of creative and innovative measures to counteract on distorted information, considering social, societal and structural aspects.

The objective of the project was to investigate the different perceptions of Europe, as well as the problems that are caused when expectation and reality do not match.

The final event of the project was open to the general public and brought together policymakers, academics, law enforcement agents, migrants, asylum seekers, NGOs, international organizations, and civil society organizations to discuss the project findings and the future research and practice opportunities.

During the first day of conference the participants had the chance to share their perspectives and experience the materials and resources developed throughout the course of the project. After an enlightening Roundtable on Perceptions’ knowledge and results, the general public had the opportunity to attend a R.E.D Carpet Exhibition, which included a live drawing and poetry reading session, and which concluded the day.

The second and last day of conference, on the other hand, focused on Perceptions’ future, highlighting how the project results open the way for new practices and research opportunities to explore in the future.

The event concluded with greetings from the team members of the University of Bologna, host of the event, and the screening of the film ‘Dystopia’. The participants had also the chance to take part in the ‘Bologna Migrantour’ which took place in the afternoon, after the end of the conference.

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DOCUMENTS

AT A GLANCE

There are many practical obstacles that EU citizens face when deciding to move with their families to another EU country: poor administrative services, social inclusion, schooling insertion, additional requirements to register to vote/stand as a candidate in the European Parliament or in the municipal elections. All of this can be reduced to an overall communication problem that affects all aspects of EU citizens’ inclusion.

The project will focus its attention on three important aspects of EU Mobile Citizens (EUMCs) inclusion:

  • Access to voting system
  • Kids schooling enrolment
  • EUMCs’ active participation in civic life.

The project encompasses relevant horizontal priorities:

  • The overall improvement of internal and external communication concerning EU mobility.
  • Training of municipal staff: English training and awareness raising concerning EU mobile citizens’ rights. A great majority of EU citizens that decide to move abroad speaks English, at least at B1 level, it is therefore important that civil servants based in the selected municipalities can use this language to share information concerning bureaucratic aspects and services for EUMCs.
  • Training of EU mobile citizens concerning their rights when moving to another EU country and about procedures to facilitate their access to local services (especially vote, schooling, decision making).

It is important to notice that the important result of the project won’t be the IT tools themselves and its use by EUMCs during the project, but the awareness raising processes that will be generated through the project activities, especially through the focus groups, the awareness raising training section, etc. Indeed, the fact that these tools will be co-developed with civil servants’ and EUMCs’ active contribution will enhance the awareness raising process towards EU mobile citizens’ free movement rights.

OBJECTIVES

  • facilitate the circulation of information and guidelines to promote the effective exercise of free movement rights of EUMCs living elsewhere in Europe and future mobile EU citizens
  • study the challenges faced by local authorities when welcoming EUMCs
  • propose efficient solutions regarding these challenges

These objectives will be realised with the help of various tools. Hence, the project will:

  • Form a strong consortium mixing EU small-medium-large size municipalities;
  • Establish new direct communication channels between EUMCs and Municipalities, by involving already existing expats’ networks;
  • Assess the efficiency of provided services and existing challenges faced by each local authority when welcoming EUMCs;
  • Exchange best practices;
  • Develop a digital ecosystem (APP, online platform, community management, social media engagement) based on the relevant information collected during the first phase, which gathers step-by-step guidelines to facilitate EU mobile citizens’ involvement in community decision making;
  • Conduct a final assessment of the impact and effectiveness of the digital ecosystem developed;
  • Train local authorities and EUMC on the use and promotion of the APP;
  • Disseminate the project results (APP, platform, best practices, needs) at European level
  • Promote EU active citizenship

Partnership

Besides the project partners, APProach also benefits from the expertise and support of the following associate partners:

  • Municipality of Warsaw – Poland
  • Municipality of Amsterdam – Netherlands
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DOCUMENTS

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The Master course in Climate Change and Diversity: Sustainable Territorial Development (CCD- STeDe), an Erasmus+ Project, has been complimented for its successful implementation, creating a stable partnership network with real involvement of associated and industrial partners, which was also of a benefit for the students. 

ALDA has been a partner within the Master course CCD- STeDe since 2014, closely collaborating with University of Padova. 

CCD-STeDe is a world leading programme in the field of sustainable territorial development in the context of climate justice. This Master course is aimed at training researchers and professionals to support organisations acting in the territory and to draft sustainable development and climate adaptation policies for economic, social, environmental, international and intercultural management.

STeDe project scored 93/100 in the EACEA evaluation and is riconfirmed as good practice at EU level.

Thanks to its excellent work in the field of sustainable development, the University of Padova managed to influence and be a leader and to address most of the challenges of the European Higher Education Area, as stated by the EACEA.

The Joint master programme has been attractive, not only to the students, but also beneficial for all partners, as it increased their visibility and internationalisation.

What has been appreciated are also the innovative approaches, flexibility and adaptability shown during the pandemic period, in order to efficiently re-adapt the study programme to the sensitive period we lived in, thus showing the consortium a strong commitment toward the students.

This positive evaluation by the EACEA reflects the work and commitment of all partners to this project. 

On these positive notes, the new Erasmus Mundus Joint Master CCD-STeDe has opened the 1st call for applications: this is the only call with the possibility of being selected for an Erasmus Mundus scholarship!

The Master has four academic paths to choose from: 

  • Climate change, sustainability and development at Università degli Studi di Padova and Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar – Ecuador
  • Regional and Local Studies at University of Padova and Universidade da Madeira
  • Territorial Management at University of Padova and Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo
  • Environmental Management at University of Padova and University of Johannesburg

The deadline for the first round of applications is 10th March 2023.

Read about the programme and apply here! 

DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

The FAIR EU stands for Fostering Awareness, Inclusion and Recognition of EU Mobile Citizens’ Political Rights. The project aims at fostering the successful inclusion of EU mobile citizens in their host country’s civic and political life through the provision of a holistic approach to tackling obstacles they face when exercising their rights.
Activities include research into obstacles to free movement and political rights, evidence-based recommendations to inform local election campaigns in Belgium in 2018, and an EU-wide campaign targeting local, as well as national and EU level, authorities and stakeholders prior to the European elections in 2019. A citizen-oriented outreach component, based on ICT, will crowdsource citizens’ input on problems and possible solutions, and a digital public-awareness campaign will be carried out.

OBJECTIVES

The first objective of the project is to identify the main obstacles to free movement rights in all 28 countries and provide a detailed analysis of the links between free movement rights and political participation in 6 EUMS with the highest number of EU citizens through focus groups. The focus groups will identify the links between free movement rights and political rights, but also any good practices, problem resolution mechanisms offered by national public authorities.

Another objective is to identify institutional obstacles and facilitators for the participation of EU citizens residing outside their Member States in local and EP elections. The goals are to:

  • identify and promote best practices in Member States;
  • establish existing partners of participation by mobile EU citizens in the electoral process of their countries of residence;
  • foster their awareness of the conditions under which they can politically participate;
  • strengthen the implementation and enforcement of political participation rights;
  • provide resources to activists and organisations campaigning for EU voter registration and participation.

ACTIVITIES

Activity 1: Management, coordination of the project, partners, evaluation, quality control and reporting. The objective of this activity is to ensure that the partners carry out the work jointly in accordance with the project contract and best to their abilities. Partners will hold regular phone conferences and will meet three times during the project to discuss project development at key stages of the project corresponding to specific milestones.

Activity 2: Research into tackling obstacles to EU citizens’ freedom of movement rights and understanding their influence on political participation. The desk research and focus groups will be conducted by the Your Europe Advice experts who are qualified legal experts and lawyers dealing with questions concerning free movement rights of mobile EU citizens in their countries.

Activity 3: Research into electoral dimension: implementation, enforcement and uptake of European electoral rights. European University Institute will commission a new set of 28 country reports written by its national experts on electoral rights. The Malmo University will focus on enhancing the knowledge of registration, turnout and political engagement amongst EU citizens living in other EU states.

Activity 4: Designing and implementing a campaign in the run up to Belgian municipal election and dissemination of research results to local authorities across the EU. The CSOs and EU mobile citizens will be engaged at local level in Brussels (4 communes) to raise awareness of their political rights and increase voter registration and turnout. At the same time, the research results will be disseminated to the local authorities at a EU conference in Brussels.

Activity 5: Developing European campaign, dissemination and outreach. Among several disseminating activities, citizens’ opinions on obstacles to free movement and to political rights will be crowdsourced as well as their suggestions for solutions. They will be compiled in a crowdsourcing report.

RESULTS

  • Increased knowledge of the obstacles to free movement of EU mobile citizens and the reasons for their low turnout in European and local elections,
  • Increased synergies and collaboration among the partners, and with local, national and European stakeholders dealing with different aspects of EU citizenship,
  • Innovative citizen engagement through crowdsourcing,
  • Enhances awareness of EU citizens’ rights through a digital campaign.

DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

The project aims to implement and promote comprehensive integration model for migrant/refugee women. In this order, it will implement direct interventions in women populations through experience-sharing among partners. Social, cultural, educational and professional aspects of inclusion will be addressed a high level of active participation will be reached.

OBJECTIVES

Implement and promote a comprehensive integration model for migrant/refugee women. The long term impact is to empower migrant/refugee women to participate actively and competently in the host societies’ sociocultural life. The objective is to promote social inclusion of migrant and refugee women of all ages.

ACTIVITIES

Activity 1: Creation of a Good practice guide. Each partner will identify 20 good practices. The expected results are to create this guide and then disseminate it to stakeholders and provide them with the necessary information to replicate in their countries.

Activity 2: Community development and awareness raising. Each partner will identify 40-60 MRW to participate in the project activities. Creation of a Dissemination Plan. All of the partners will have to disseminate and raise awareness about these issues through activities (interviews, press releases, leaflets…).

Activity 3: Training sessions for the MRW. 80 hours of training per group and two groups in each country. The expected results are to develop participants’ skills and are crucial for inclusion.

Activity 4: Empowerment and monitoring. Empowerment sessions (at least 24 hours per country) for 40-60 MRW. Implementation of mentoring sessions of expert counselling and peer learning (at least 6-8 sessions individually or in groups) for 20-40 MRW.

Activity 5: Implementation of 3 workshops of 16 hours each for 40-60 MRW and 30-50 women from the host society country. 2-day exhibition workshop outcomes and products per country. Collection of testimonials, at least 25 per country.

Activity 6: Peer learning platform to gather and disseminate all of the materials of the first five Work Packages.

DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

The European Migrant Entrepreneurship Network (EMEN) project has been set up by a consortium of European partners well aware that the promotion of migrant entrepreneurship is a challenge in all Northern, Southern and Eastern/Central European countries, to share approaches and lessons learnt on migrant entrepreneurship across and between public administrations, business development support and financial organisations, social enterprises, non-profit organisations, educational institutions and other public and private organisations supporting migrant entrepreneurship at all levels: cities, regions and countries. The aim is to develop, share and promote support schemes not only for individual migrant entrepreneurs but also for social and inclusive enterprises benefitting migrants. Ultimately the knowledge gained will be of use for those developing and promoting support schemes for migrant entrepreneurs, leading to a more inclusive society.

OBJECTIVES

The project will thus “identify and promote the quick implementation of best practices in the fields of outreach to and support for potential entrepreneurs in migrant communities already within the EU, who may not be reached by traditional business start-up support services

  • A focus on improving access to the three key factors for the successful support of migrant entrepreneurs: finance, coaching and mentoring, and migrant-friendly mainstream business support;
  • A 360-degree partnership including migrant entrepreneurs themselves as well as mainstream business support services (chambers of commerce), high-level experienced coaches, advisers and finance professionals, social partners and social enterprises
  • Networking and dissemination capacity via a dense network of regional member organisations covering the whole of the EU as well as through a web portal;
  • Solid technical experience in structuring and managing multicultural EU-level projects, in animating mutual learning networks, in organising international events, in building and operating websites and in publishing learning resources and reports.

DOCUMENTS

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AT A GLANCE

The project is designed to provide innovative responses for youth employment challenges in the European Union, through the promotion of cooperative entrepreneurship.
It will involve all key stakeholders on this issue in the process and the activities of the project, i.e. academic institutions, cooperatives, social economy networks and public authorities. It will start by an identification of needs and constraints in the selected countries for the implementation of training sessions (Malta, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus), where the cooperative movement is less developed.
Then, the partners located in countries where the cooperative movement is well established (France, Italy and Spain) will design appropriate solutions (practical training models and an online course) based on the most adequate approach and methods. The replication’s potential of the outcomes of the preliminary phases of the projects will be tested at the occasion of six training sessions in the above-mentioned selected countries. In the meantime, communication and dissemination actions will pursue the core objective of leaving a lasting legacy for the project, thus raising awareness on the cooperative model, and transferring entrepreneurship knowledge, skills and attitude to trainers and young people.

OBJECTIVES

Reuniting three academic institutions, four social economy actors, two European networks and two public bodies, this proposal’s main objective is to promote efficiently the cooperative model throughout education and training, across EU Member States.

Objective 1: Research and assessment of the ecosystem for cooperatives and entrepreneurship in the host countries for the pilot project.

Objective 2: Following the drafting of the reports, academic and cooperative partners will together create or adapt courses and methods to offer appropriate solutions to targeted countries.

Objective 3: In order to re-use on a wider scale the deliverables, knowledge and skills will be transferred to target groups.

DOCUMENTS

AT A GLANCE

Education and career paths are often guided by gender-based stereotypes from the first stages. It demonstrates an important cultural gap not only within the society as a whole but also in the professional figures which play important role for the individuals in transition periods and especially for those young who might be easily influenced. These, for their professional role, need to increase their skills and competences on gender equality and to become able to raise awareness on gender stereotypes at the workplace.
The main priority of the project is to address the stereotyping of educational and career choices and to promote gender equality in education, training, career guidance and at the workplace. GET UP intends to launch a capacity building process for the professionals who intervene in transition phases along the education-training-labour market chain by developing and delivering a training on gender equality based on a common European Minimum Standard of Competences to be defined.

OBJECTIVES

To respond to this above priority the specific objectives of the project are to:

  • define an European Minimum Standard of Competences on Gender Equality (EMSC) for those responsible of Human Resources at the workplace (directors, employers, trade unions), Career Guidance professionals and Teachers supporting training and employment choices in order to guide, promote, recruit and retain individuals by overcoming gender stereotypes and taking into consideration their skills, competences and interests;
  • strengthen the skills and competences of the above mentioned professionals of both private and public organisations and companies on European and national legislation, practices and behaviours aimed at overcoming gender stereotypes;
  • raise awareness on gender equality among partner organisations and their members, as well as the whole public, thus promoting also at European level the benefits delivering from the equal participation in society of men and women.

ACTIVITIES

GET UP foresees 9 steps, having impact both at the local and at the European level:

  • Comparison and analysis of existing training offers on gender balance issues for the different professional profiles involved in the project, considering also that EIGE is going to provide one through its online platform;
  • Focus Groups for Assessment of knowledge, skills and behaviours that the partners organisations and their members and networks have over the issues of gender equality and the acceptance of the “other” as a basic factor of the organisations working in a non-discriminatory manner;
  • Definition of the knowledge and competences needs;
  • Definition of the EMSC that the professionals involved should achieve on the issues of gender equality, non-discrimination and promotion of equality in education and at the workplace.
  • Design and definition of a standard for the Training aimed at the achievement of the EMSC, both in person and online;
  • Implementation of the Training Offer on an experimental basis within the partners organisations and their members;
  • Uploading and dissemination of the project results
  • Raising awareness Campaign;
  • Monitoring and evaluation of the achieved results and impacts.

Results

« A Gender Story” is the serious game GET UP project has developed in order to embark on a true gender journey. This is the journey through the lives of the protagonists (Anna or Tom). The game articulates itself into 3 chapters, representing each one a different life-phase, so that you the player will have to deal with real-like obstacles and challenges, thus perceiving the impact of gender stereotypes on the everyday life of people.

Play « A Gender Story« 

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DOCUMENTS

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AT A GLANCE

The project aims at promoting the empowerment and the socio-economic integration of vulnerable women in the Tiddas region of Morocco by establishing a close collaboration with the banking system.
The 100 women selected for this project benefit from a training that allows the setting up of 5 Village Associations of Savings and Loans (AVEC, according to its acronym in French). These women are trained by two field workers to create and manage Income Generating Activities in order to develop small profitable and enduring businesses.

OBJECTIVES

The global objective of the project is to promote the empowerment and economic and social integration of vulnerable women through the institutionalisation of a new form of mutual assistance adapted to households, the Villages Associations of Savings and Loans (AVEC).

In particular it envisages to achieve the following:

  • Targeted women participate in key decisions taken in their households;
  • Targeted women have access to micro-credit and control the resources generated by their Income Generating Activities.
  • The perceptions of the target populations evolves in favor of greater equality between men and women as a consequence of the creation of the AVECs;
  • The AVEC methodology is acknowledge by the project stakeholders (public authorities, development associations and women’s associations).

ACTIVITIES

Activity 1: Meetings with local authorities and civil society organisations to provide support to the project.
Objectives: Public authorities and civil society are made aware of the creation of the AVECs and their legitimacy.

Activity 2: Implementation of the AVECs through the training on the savings and loan system.
Objectives:

  • Women become autonomous in the management of the AVECs. Five of them are founded in the region of Tiddas.
  • Economic empowerment of vulnerable women through the investment in profitable economic initiatives (60% of AVEC members have increased and / or diversified their sources of income at the end of the project).

Activity 3: Training on the creation and management of Income Generating Activities
Objectives:

  • Two field agents are trained to deliver training on the creation and management of Income Generating Activities;
  • 100 vulnerable women have followed the training on the creation and management of Income Generating Activities.

Activity 4: Administrative support is made available for women to benefit from medical insurance (RAMED).
Objectives:

  • 100 vulnerable women are informed and made aware of RAMED.
  • Social protection for vulnerable women is improved (80% of targeted women are covered by solidarity-based medical insurance).

Activity 5: Advocacy to local authorities for the recognition of the AVEC methodology.
Objectives: Dialogue initiated with the public authorities for the institutionalisation of the AVEC methodology. If officially recognised, the future AVEC projects will be able to receive public funding.

Activity 6: Awareness-raising sessions on formal banking
Objectives: Women are aware of the methods, processes and institutions of formal banking.

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DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

2023 certainly begins in a climate of uncertainty due to the economic and geopolitical situation in Europe and in the World. On another note, 2023 also marks an important anniversary for ALDA, the LDAs and the whole network.

It was exactly 30 years ago when it all started, with the establishment of the first LDAs in the Balkans.

Even though ALDA was born at the end of the 90s, our work and commitment started back in 1993, when the first LDAs were created at the initiative of the Council of Europe, with the mission to support civil society and peaceful co-existence in the states of former Yugoslavia in the aftermath of the conflict.

The very first LDA was founded in 1993 in Subotica, in Serbia, with the title of Local Democracy Embassy* (LDE) Subotica, shortly followed by the LDE Osijek, in Croatia, in the same year.

30 years later, the situation has profoundly changed. Year by year, the Local Democracy Agencies proved to be a successful tool and are now a network of 16 LDAs spread in the European Neighbourhood, with 3 Operational Partners (OPs) in Croatia.

It was exactly 30 years ago when it all started, with the establishment of the first LDAs in the Balkans

Thus, together with their mission, also the geographical scope of the LDAs has progressed. Today, LDAs can be found in other countries than the Balkans, but that is where we have preserved, in our everyday activities, the memory and the essence of the long journey we went through.

2023 will thus be marked by a series of events aimed at celebrating the everyday activity of the LDAs and their delegates, the achievements of ALDA and the LDAs through the years.

Public events will be organised throughout the Balkans, where it all started – thus setting a path recalling the milestones of the development of our activity in the Balkans and beyond;

A publication will be released which, in the form of a collection of anecdotes, pictures and testimonies, will recall the history of our first 30 years.

A video-documentary will be produced to revive the most important moments through images of places and people that have marked our history.

The anniversary will then culminate during the ALDA General Assembly, which will likely take place in June 2023 (more information coming in the following months!) with colleagues, members and delegates together to celebrate and reflect on the future development of the LDAs network.

Then, we will approach the end of the year with a crucial event in Strasbourg, in October 2023, where ALDA and LDAs will be hopefully present at the Congress’ premises.

These are just the milestone of an eventful 2023, with many more initiatives to de disclosed in the following weeks and months, aimed to celebrate our first 30 years of local democracy in the Balkans, from where it all started to the present day… and who knows how many more evolutions lie ahead!

Let the Anniversary begin!

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*Only in 1998 the LDAs has started being called as we know them today, switching from Local Democracy Embassies to Local Democracy Agencies.

Link to the LDAs report of activities of all the years

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DOCUMENTS

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For several years now, ALDA has been one of the beneficiaries of the operating grant of the “Europe for Citizens” programme of the EACEA – Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Union.

Thus, we are thrilled to announce that, again this year, ALDA has been confirmed beneficiary of the operating grant of the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV) of the European Union!

The CERV stems from the fusion of the previous programmes “Europe for Citizens” and “Rights, Equality and Citizens Programme”, and aims to protect and promote rights and values as layed down in the EU Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights in particular by supporting civil society organisations active at local, regional, national and transnational level.

This grant proves the effectiveness of ALDA’s actions for the promotion of democracy and citizens participation in Europe and beyond

The recently awarded operating grant is specifically designated for networks, organisations, or think tanks that contribute to achieving programme objectives. This includes activities such as training, capacity building, conferences, mutual learning, cooperation, awareness-raising, communication, and dissemination efforts.

The entire ALDA community is proud to once again be among the select recipients, underscoring the effectiveness of ALDA’s endeavors in advancing democracy and citizen participation throughout Europe.

This presents both a significant opportunity and a profound responsibility. ALDA is prepared to step up as a catalyst for participation, democracy, and European values more than ever before, making a substantial contribution to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Agenda 2030.

DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

The project PAL aims to improve the situation of Roma in Belgium, Czech Republic, Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Romania, Spain, Hungary and France. It addresses primarily promotion of Roma integration, supporting the implementation of national Roma inclusion strategies or integrated sets of policy measures and the Council Recommendation on Roma integration. The concept of the project was developed by the four universities involved in the PAL project, based on their research on the current situation of the exclusion of the vulnerable social groups and especially Roma people. The PAL project contribution will be realised through promoting common democratic values, strengthening fundamental rights, consolidating the rule of law in the selected countries with special attention to combat discrimination and racism, and promoting tolerance and multi-cultural awareness. The sectors of Education and Employment will be specifically targeted by the project activities.

OBJECTIVES

The project PAL is aiming to develop a comprehensive approach and endorse a number of goals in education and employment in order to speed up Roma integration and support the implementation of national Roma inclusion strategies and the Council Recommendation of Roma integration.
The project aims to support Roma youth participation on different levels, by gathering qualitative data about approaches and practices of Roma youth and supporting initiatives where Roma participation is key to long-term change.

Specific objectives:

  • Fighting discrimination and anti-Gypsyism;
  • Enhancing multi-stakeholder cooperation;
  • Promoting common democratic values, strengthening fundamental rights and consolidating the rule of law are horizontal concerns for the participant countries;
  • Debating the way forward for the European network for Roma social Incusion;
  • To develop capacities for Roma participation at regional and local level;
  • To develop data and information on forms, approaches, challenges of Roma participation;
  • To raise awareness among relevant stakeholders concerning the need to assure access to education and employment;
  • To train and transfer skills on desegregation to trainers and other stakeholders at grassroots levels in order to achieve Roma children and youth integration in education and employment process.

ACTIVITIES

Activities related to education:

  • Integrated approach for the current situation and the possibilities of specific and adapted educational programme for second chance education;
  • Awareness Raising International Roma Integration Campaign “It’s not late” for popularisation of the benefits of education;
  • Online training Courses for teachers (320 trained);
  • Push education Training consisted of Children Socialisation exercises and Group Building days with 1220 participants.

Activities related to employment:

  • Integrated approach for the current situation and the possibilities of specific and adapted employment for Roma people in EU;
  • Awareness Raising International Roma Integration Campaign “Employ Me!” for popularisation of the equal opportunities in employment services in EU;
  • Training of trainers online with 360 trained people;
  • Push Employment Opportunities Events about the employment rights and possibilities with 1800 participants.

Common activities:

  • Promotion activities at local level (Info days), newsletters, press release, posters, brochures;
  • Preparation and presentation of anti-discrimination model based on best practices and community prevention policy for Roma in EU.

DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

Re. Cri. Re: Between the representation of crisis and the crisis of representation. How crisis changed the symbolic background of European societies and identities. Implication for policies and policy making.

The project aims to understand what kind of social identity change is going on within European societies. For policy-making, the analysis of social identity is highly valuable because the social identity moderates the impact of policies. And this is particularly true in the time of crisis.

OBJECTIVES

The project aims at:

  • verifying whether the symbolic universes grounding in social identities has undergone a major change within European societies as a consequence of economic crisis;
  • drawing strategic and methodological implications for policy-making from previous stage analysis.

ACTIVITIES

To reach this goal the project will be organised in 4 scientific packages with tasks shared among the partners
Flagship outcomes:

  • Creation of web-portal as a tool for internal and external communication and as interoperable and open database;
  • Final Publication (White book) with detailed summaries, including scientific methodology , analysis of EU context in time of crisis and the results;
  • Policy guidelines for local and national policy-makers and other stakeholders;
  • Local conferences referring to 5 macro-Regions involved
  • International conference providing opportunities to present to an international and expert audience the results of the project;
  • Reports on the case studies
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DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

Innovative projects and initiatives made Barcelona becoming the very first European Capital of Democracy (ECoD), standing on the highest step of the podium before Brussels and Braga.

“Decidim”, the digital citizen participation platform, developed already in 2016; and “Superblock” which aims at transforming daily city life, decreasing the usage of cars caught the attention of the jury, allowing the city to be nominated, in 18 January 2023,  the first winner of this initiative.

« Participation is part of their DNA » – Ms. Valmorbida at the award ceremony in Barcelona

“We loved the projects and were excited to discuss about them all: They aim to include the general population, minority groups, and disadvantaged citizens. It sometimes seems that participation is even part of their DNA. Co-creation, co-production, and inclusion of other sectors are embedded and welcomed by all stakeholders we spoke to” stated Ms. Valmorbida – ALDA Secretary General and ECoD Chair of the Jury.

Barcelona will now deliver a full year programme, from September 2023 to September 2014, to further strengthen democracy in Europe; while other cities can apply to become the next Capital of Democracy

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Read Ms. Valmorbida full speech here

DOCUMENTS

AT A GLANCE

TIE aims at creating the grounds for collaboration between the public institutions, judges, civil society and the academic world in identifying and promoting the best ways to undermine the profitability of crime by means of the aggression to criminal assets.

OBJECTIVES

The general objectives of the project are:

  • to gather and share information on the best methods to fight financial and economic crime;
  • to identify and diffuse the best practices in the investigation, confiscation and recovery of criminal assets.

Its specific objectives are:

  • to promote the best practices on the re-use of confiscated assets;
  • to develop partnerships and collaboration between the civil society, the academic world and the institutions; to transfer civil society’s experience to public actors, in order to assist them in the re-use of confiscated assets.
  • The best practices in the field will be analysed and implemented by experts in the form of a Document of Recommendations, assessed against real-world scenarios.
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DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

ALDA  Secretary General, Antonella Valmorbida, was in Brussels with colleagues to meet the Municipality of Etterbeek, in order to relaunch the strategic partnership that was established in 2017 and aiming at strengthening the links between the association and the municipality, notably in the field of citizens participation.

This meeting occurred in a very timely moment as ALDA just received the news that we won an Erasmus+ project in partnership with Etterbeek, called MEDIUM (Municipalities Experimenting Digital Innovation, Upskilling and the Metaverse). 

The goal is to support the public sector digital transition educating on the uses of virtual reality and the metaverse to improve accessibility to public services.

ALDA is supporting the digital transition at local level, through EU guidelines. 

At the meeting David Dubois, the head of cabinet of the mayor, Marie-Charlotte Heldenbergh, in charge of citizens participation, and Jean-François Maljean, head of projects were present. 

Together with Ms. Valmorbida, they  discussed possible cooperation around ALDA 2023 priorities, including the collaboration with LDAs in Ukraine, which are locally registered associations, gathering local authorities and CSOs, to promote sustainable development projects and good governance.

At the local level, they have been instrumental in addressing the challenges of the war and in the cooperation between civil society and municipalities, providing strengthened resilience.

At the same time, recalling the successful APProach project, Ms. Heldenbergh pointed out at the commitment of Etterbeek in terms of citizens participation. Implemented hand in hand with ALDA and the consortium partners, APProach increased  participation of foreigners in local life, ensuring that all citizens have a say in the local decision making process. Hence, considering that 49% of Etterbeek residents were non-Belgian this initiatives was a key actions   for the inclusion of EU Mobile Citizens, 

The team was also very happy to discover the new building of the municipality, for which Etterbeek received architectural success awards; it’s a natural building, and part of it is dedicated to social housing. 

Finally, to conclude on a positive note the meeting agenda, other points discussed were ALDA General Assembly, which will take place in June 2023 in Brussels, and possible future activities to raise awareness about EP elections. 

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DOCUMENTS

AT A GLANCE

The general objective of the Project is to identify and exchange good practices regarding the policies and actions in the sector of personal and household services as a way to define a Policies and Actions Proposal to encourage the efficiency of these services and to contribute through the creation of new jobs to the objectives of European 2020 Strategy. The good practices identified will deal specially with productivity gains, the introduction of new technologies and the development of new work organisations. The project will define a Policies and Actions Proposal to be carried out by governments in order to improve the efficiency of the PHS Sector. The results of the research and analysis will be gathered in the publication PHS Research and Proposals Guide.

OBJECTIVES

  • identify and exchange Good Practices regarding the policies and actions in the sector of Personal and Household Services
  • encourage new forms of collaboration through partnerships between public and private actors in the labour market
  • identify relevant actor working in the field of PHS to involve in the project
  • create a partnership that includes public actors, non-profit organisations, private employment services and SMEs
  • identity effective implementation measures, good practices and innovative approaches of policies and actions
  • design a Good Practices Guide to be used by policy makers, experts and stakeholders
  • design a PHS Research and Proposals Guide to be adopted to promote efficiency in the PHS sector
  • transfer the results at European level, through formal and informal national and international networks.