DOCUMENTS

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As the ongoing war against Ukraine continues to be endangered, dreams continue to be broken and days are flowing by, ALDA believes that it is its responsibility to bring the attention to those that are now fighting  to ensure their safeguard of rights and freedoms.

In its commitment  to reinforce the  Local Democracy Agencies, the Association invites the community of Local Authorities and Civil Society Organisations to the  conference entitled “Supporting the Local Democracy Agencies in Ukraine”.  Aimed at giving a reliable update on the situation on the ground in Ukraine, as well as on the activities that ALDA has implemented in order to provide support to civilians and people in need, the conference will also be the occasion to focus on the on-going activities, as well as possible future ones,  that need further support.

The conference will take place on the 22nd June 2022 at 2.30 PM in Brussels at Residence Palace

Thus, ALDA will present the possibilities to further empower the network while explaining the local governance system that is currently in place. Living in a period of uncertainly, Local Democracy Agencies are a powerful instrument for supporting communities affected by crises and by the war. 

Specifically, the conference will take place on the 22nd June 2022 at 14:30 – 17:30 in Brussels, Belgium at Residence Palace, Wetstraat 155, 1040. 

Bruno Julian Hamm – Pütt, Konrad Adenauer foundation Kyiv will give its opening speech, thus preparing the scene for the beginning of the conference. The latter will be designed into two panels, each of which addresses the different aspects of the topic at the centre of the meeting: the Local Democracy Agencies (LDAs). 

Moderated by Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA Secretary General, the first panel will focus not only on the testimonies from the LDAs, but also on the methods undertaken by the latter in terms of democracy promotion and people’s engagement. 

Among the keynote speakers of this first session:

Moving on to the second panel, the last part of the conference will be dedicated to the specific supports and needs of the Agencies. Following the format of the first debate, the second one will be moderated by Alexandru Coica, Regional Coordinator for Eastern Partnership at ALDA’s, having among its keynote speakers:

  • Inna Volkova, Member of Odessa Rayon Council
  • Anzhelika Pylypenko, Delegate of LDA Dnipro, and representative of the municipality
  • Dzenana Dedic, Delegate of LDA Mostar
  • by Olha Oliinyk, head of NGO “Ideas for People” and deputy head of the Secretariat of VOAOMS in Vinnytsia (Ukraine), potential new LDA Host

Overall, ALDA knows that local governance supporters are also willing to commit, by telling the Ukrainian Local Agencies that their courage is a reminder not to take democracy, peace and freedoms  for granted.

✍️ Register here

🔶The conference was a great success! Read more here🔶

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DOCUMENTS

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In the Paris Declaration of 2015, European Ministers of Education have re-announced their commitment for an inclusive education as an important door opener of social inclusion, therefore migrants and refugees shall be helped to ensure their full participation in society, good education and transition to the labour market.

To increase the chances of migrants and refugees to remain within the educational and vocational system of their host country, the 3 STEPS project is aiming to provide them basic skills as well as a stable grounding for further personal achievements.

The practices promoted through the project (Basic education and Tandem Now) aim to standardise a valid and adaptable teaching method in the various countries involved.

3 STEPS Network

The goal is to provide channels through which the necessity of social inclusion of migrants and refugees in terms of education and vocational training increases its visibility and strength in the five countries of implementation (Spain, Turkey, Italy, Greece and France) across different entities, among those Universities, private organisations, social businesses on education, schools that are pursuing an agenda of inclusion and are committed to promote successful methodologies for inclusion.

The expected result is to obtain a well-established network of schools, public authorities, NGOs and volunteer organisations, important influencers and decision makers as well as transnational institutions able to call for policy reform.

Partners believe that joining the 3 STEPS network means having a communicative, trustworthy and empowered relationship with all the people interested in the project, and which we want to maintain until the end of its existence.

Join 3 STEPS Network here!

How to join?

If you are a stakeholder in the field of migration, working at local, national or European level in one of the 5 implementing countries (Spain, Turkey, Italy, Greece and France) to foster inclusion of young disadvantaged refugees and migrants, join the network!

It is easy, you just need to contact the 3 STEPS partners through the website and we will reach out to you: https://3steps.eu/contacts/

DOCUMENTS

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Sending inspiring and universal messages to the community, once again, about 40 youth with disabilities took the stage on May 31th, 2022, in Kairouan, Tunisia and presenting a great variety of performances. The event was organized by the LDA Tunisia within the project “Starting with You” for the rehabilitation of people with disabilities and their inclusion in the society. 

Among the 40 participants, 30 performers were Tunisians from Kairouan city, while 10 were Italians students, part of the  association « Mettiamoci In Gioco », who traveled from Italy to Kairouan specifically to join the show and perform in the event!

The show was designed as follow: 7 different performances from mime and sign language to a fairytale play, and from singing and dancing to corporal expression. The themes varied, yet interrelated through both the Tunisian and the Italian anthems, emphasising the idea of participation, friendship, empathy, inclusion, and the sense of belonging and community. Also, the music was also varied and marvelous that added a wonderful energy and enthusiasm to the scenes.

Aged between 7 and 35 years old, the performers are currently engaged in three local centers, each of which focuses on different characteristics: physical, mental, and auditive. All together, based on the potential and abilities of each participant, one of the dance performance proved how inclusion is possible, while breaking social exclusion. 

This initiative marked a further step in building a bridge for communication, while highlighting the productive, creative, autonomous and confident skills of the performers

Once again, this initiative marked a further step in building a bridge for communication, while highlighting the productive, creative, autonomous and confident skills of the performers.

Hence, the event brought to the fore the need to further reinforce the rights of people with disabilities; especially in a city like Kairouan, which poses several barriers to citizens, being not fully accessible. In light of this, theatre thus became a source of advocacy, while raising a voice and breaking stereotypes.  In the show the people portrayed a novel image where they were delighted, energetic, vivid, and active. They brought movement, energy, art, and wit to the scene. Coming from different backgrounds; local authorities, directors and staff of centers for rehabilitation, ONGs, Tunisian and Italian parents, media, students, youth and artists; the audience, engaged during the whole event, got the vibe and was deeply moved

From a general stand point, the event also emphasized the role of theater as a tool for improvement, capacity building, and personal growth, resulting from a seven-months of theater workshops, where youth actively participated working on their artistic capacities, discovering their abilities and empowering their skills.

Concluding, this event highlights the LDA Tunisia role and contribution to creating an inclusive community and reinforcing citizenship and participation of people especially those who belong to vulnerable groups. It also foregrounds the agency’s commitment to sensitize the stakeholders and the community  about the rights of people with disabilities and contribute to creating a solid ground for communication and participation through artistic expression.

The event was unique and unprecedented in the community which made it standout. The LDA Tunisia team ensured that the event received the deserved public attention and national and local media coverage.
The cultural and artistic event “Theatre for everyone” is the second round and the LDA Tunisia is looking forward to organizing more shows in the future. The agency is the regional responsible for the project in Kairouan, thus it actively seeks an effective, innovative and participatory solutions platform.

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DOCUMENTS

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On 21-22 June 2022, Brussels hosted the European Development Days 2022 (EDD), Europe’s most important forum on international partnership organised by the European Commission. 

Entitled “Global Gateway: building sustainable partnerships for a connected world” this year’s edition was dedicated not only to the European Strategy as such, but also on how to improve and foster it in terms of digital, energy and transport. The latter, especially, was the realm within which ALDA+ will provide its contribution!

Hence, ALDA+ joined this international event by actively participating with a stand addressing “Urban development, smart & interconnected cities. Together for fostering Good Governance at Local and Global Level”. 

Concretely, based on the positive example of AUTREMENT project, currently implemented in the Tunisian cities of Kairouan and Mahdia by the ALDA office in Strasbourg, the stand showcased project’s good practices on sustainable urban mobility, which can be taken as an example for other cities.

ALDA+ joined the European Development Days 2022 by participating with a stand addressing “Urban development, smart & interconnected cities

Despite its paperless format, our stand  engaged participants through digital tools and tricks: not only informative slides presenting ALDA and its spin off ALDA+, but also an interactive quiz on soft mobility and sustainability! Thus, a participation under the banner of sustainability and… discovery!  

Last but not least, theEuropean Development Days aim to bring the “development community together each year to share ideas and experiences in ways that inspire new partnerships and innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges”. 

For this reason we are extremely glad and proud to take active part in such a dynamic and crucial event. More, the EDD2022 were the perfect spot to showcase, once more, ALDA’s flagship initiative the “European Support to Local Democracy”,  since it provides a complete overview on ALDA’s expertises in all target regions and underlines the fundamental role of cooperation.

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Useful links:

Check out the EDD Global Village map

See the EDD2022 Programme 

🇪🇺 Take a closer look at ALDA+ stand at EDD22 🇪🇺

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DOCUMENTS

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On 31 May & 1 June, 2022, the partners of the SMELT project – Skilling Marginalised people to Enter the Labour markeT, gathered together in Nicosia (Cyprus) for their third Transnational Partners Meeting, the first one face-to-face! 

After having worked together for almost two years, the first in-person meeting of the SMELT partners represented a great opportunity both to discuss the achievements of the project obtained so far and to get to know each other. 

The SMELT project, started back in 2020, aims at facing the paradox of business sectors experiencing workforce shortage and the high number of vulnerable people unemployed, by supporting marginalised people in acquiring and developing key competencies, strategical for the labour market. 

The first in-person meeting of SMELT represented a great opportunity both to discuss the achievements of the project and to get to know each other better

The project involved the execution of 3 different Intellectual Outputs  – project activities that result in tangible and meaningful outputs – and, during the meeting, the partners discussed the achievements obtained from the implementation of the first Intellectual Output (IO1) titled “Develop social and entrepreneurial skills” which consisted in the preparation of 150 vulnerable people to face the labour market with a basic knowledge of their rights and possibilities and, to increase their knowledge with regards to job offers, CVs, Job centers, organisations offering employment assistance, etc. 

The IO1 resulted in the creation of an Easy Handbook, which was also an object of discussion during the meeting. 

The gathering ended by establishing the next project goals to be achieved in the following months and by getting acquainted with the interesting Cypriot culture.

DOCUMENTS

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❗️DEADLINE POSTPONED TO 11TH JULY 2022❗️


Are you a Municipality who is sensitive to sustainable food production and consumption patterns and wants to work with young people? You still have a chance to get your activity funded by the Food Wave Project!

The Food Wave Project – co-funded by the EU under the Development Education and Awareness Raising Programme (DEAR) and promoted by the Municipality of Milan together with ActionAid Italia, ACRA, Mani Tese and 25 project partners in 16 countries, including ALDA – will support grass-root initiatives in the field of climate-friendly food consumption behaviors and involve smaller youth organizations interested in joining the action but lacking the necessary means to do so.

The first call for proposals of the Food Wave Project was launched and directed to youth-led small Civil Society Organizations promoting sustainable production and consumption patterns to fight climate change. Now it is time for the second round of the second call addressed to Cities and Municipalities to support grass-root initiatives in the field of climate-friendly food consumption behaviors! 

The Food Wave call: deadline postponed to 11 July 2022 Apply here!

Don’t miss your chance to participate, as at least six Municipalities will be funded thanks to the second round of this year’s call for proposals!

What is the main objective of the call of proposal?

The project will support actions developed by Cities and Municipalities dealing with the topic of sustainable food consumption and production and targeting young people (15-35 years old).

What is the main objective of the call of proposal?

Any submitted proposal must be of max 5.000 EUR. Each applicant will benefit from a financing of 75% of the total of the action up to a maximum of 3.750 Eur. The remaining 25% of the action (a minimum of 1.250 Eur) will be provided by each applicant as co-funding. The financing and co-financing % always remain the same even if the overall cost of the proposed action is lower than 5.000 EUR. The general action carried out by the Applicant can be higher than 5.000 EUR, but in this case the remaining budget of the overall costs of the proposal will be covered with The Applicant’s own financial resources. 

 Which is the thematic focus?

Each proposed action needs to address the nexus between food and climate change! Different types of activities can be eligible for the sub grant: activities with schools, communication activities, promotion and dissemination activities, awareness raising activities, training, art projects and initiatives, initiatives against food waste etc. 

Where can the project be implemented?

Activities must take place in one of the following EU Member States: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK.

How to apply?

Read the full call for proposals to have all the  information about the call and how to apply! The call will be open from May 31st to July 11th 2022 at 23:59. Here is the link to send your application.
❗️DEADLINE POSTPONED TO 11TH JULY 2022

Documents & Resources


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Past events & infos

The applicants will receive support by the Food Wave team during the proposal writing process. The questions have to be sent to the to this email address (click here to send the email)

#CatchTheWave and Lead the Change!

DOCUMENTS

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If you are interested in topics like climate change, sustainability and diversity, and you would like to explore other countries while studying, you should take a look at the Master course in Climate Change and Diversity: Sustainable Territorial Development (CCD- STeDe), within which ALDA has been partners since 2014!

STeDe prepares researchers and professionals to be able to help organisations acting in the territory, be they enterprises, local communities, civil society organisations or public administrations to draft sustainable development policies for adaptation to climate change combining economic, social, environmental, international and intercultural dimensions.

Hence, the Master programme is organised in four semesters, three of which foresee a period of international mobility in several countries all around the world.

For those interested in joining the Master, please check the official website 

Students can choose among four academic paths, which combine different languages and flexible teaching modalities; face-to-face, online and blended. More specifically, the courses are developed as follow:

  • Climate change, sustainability, development at University of Padova and Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar – Sede Ecuador 
  • Regional and local studies at University of Padova and University of Madeira
  • Territorial management at University of Padova and Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo 
  • Environmental Management at University of Padova and University of Johannesburg

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. 

Applications close on June 7, 2022. For those interested in joining the Master, please check the official website 

DOCUMENTS

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Within the GEM IN project, a stakeholder advisory committee was established in France by ALDA in 2022 to provide advice during the piloting and further adaptation of the GEM IN educational programme in formal and non-formal educational environments. The Committee France included 3 members (1 educational stakeholder, 1 non-formal education stakeholder and 1 stakeholder in the field of policy-making) and had for objective to provide inputs and feedbacks on whether the project is reaching its objectives and results and contribute to the development of future exploitation opportunities of the GEM IN educational programme through their direct experience and knowledge.

The first meeting on 8th of February was held online and counted with the participation of representatives from several French actors in the field of cultural and non-formal education. This meeting allowed members to get acquainted with the project and the tools developed, especially the educational framework and the game to be used as an educational resource by all interested parties. An explanation of all the steps that were taken to create the game and its contents, keeping in mind the values and the methodology, was presented in addition to the rules of the game.

Stakeholder advisory committee: established  to provide advice during the piloting and further adaptation of the GEM IN educational programme

During the second meeting on 25th of April 2022, members discussed the results of the piloting phase organised in the five other countries of the project. Following this presentation and the general conclusions from the piloting, a reflection on the method “learning by playing” including example used by ALDA and the members of the Committee was conducted. This resulted in a discussion on the recommendations that were drafted in the operational pack and comments from the members of the Committee, receiving positive feedback, indicating that there was a clear understanding of the current situation of intercultural education and the lack of resources for teachers and educators.

The meeting was concluded by inviting members to attend and participate actively in the Final Conference in Strasbourg on the 5th of May 2022.

→ Discover GEM IN website HERE and follow the project on Facebook HERE

DOCUMENTS

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Are you a Belgian youth association who is sensitive to raising awareness on the effects of climate change and understanding the links with migration? 

We are looking for you! Lead the change and participate in our call for proposals with your project idea!

The Climate of Change project – co-funded by the EU under the Development Education and Awareness Raising Programme (DEAR) and promoted by the italian NGO WeWorld-GVC together with 16 project partners in 13 countries, including ALDA – will support grass-root initiatives in the field of raising awareness on youth role in fighting climate change and involve smaller youth organizations based in France interested in joining the action but lacking the necessary means to do so.

What is the main objective of the call of proposal?

The project will support actions developed by youth organisations in Belgium committed in the field of environmental awareness raising, especially climate change induced migration, and targeting young people (15-35 years old).

What is the main objective of the call of proposal?

Any submitted proposal must be of max 5.000 EUR. Each applicant will benefit from a financing of 70% of the total of the action up to a maximum of 3.500 Eur. The remaining 30% of the action (a minimum of 1.500 Eur) will be provided by each applicant as co-funding. The financing and co-financing % always remain the same even if the overall cost of the proposed action is lower than 5.000 EUR. The general action carried out by the Applicant can be higher than 5.000 EUR, but in this case the remaining budget of the overall costs of the proposal will be covered with the Applicant’s own financial resources.

Sub-granting call will be open until 19 June 2022

Which is the thematic focus?

Each proposed action needs to address the nexus between climate change and induced migration! Different types of activities can be eligible for the sub grant: communication activities, promotion and dissemination activities, awareness raising activities, training and learning-by-doing activities, art projects and initiatives, etc.

One activity will be compulsory  which is the promotion of the Climate of Change petition in all organised activities by the applicant until the end of October 2022 (the end of the petition period).

Where can the project be implemented?

Activities must take place in Belgium.

How to apply?

Read the full call for proposals to have more information about the call and how to apply! The call will be open from May 19th,2022 to June 19th,2022.

Infos

All the questions related to the present call for proposals and the participation modalities have to be addressed to the project manger Célia C.

#ClimateOfChange!

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Call for proposals

Annex A – Application form

Annex B – Budget proposal

Annex C – Frequently asked questions

Annex D – Human economy report (English only)

Annex E – Campaign guide #ClimateOfChange (English only)

DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

WELCOME – Water: Element Linking Cities, Opportunity for Merging Europe – is a project aiming at promoting reflection, debate and action around the element WATER, focusing on its sustainable management in order to improve citizens’ and communities’ well-being in their everyday life.
Through the workshops, implemented with different methods, citizens will acquire new knowledge and will raise their awareness about their role in the community and in Europe and about the topic addressed, producing thus a very positive impact not only at the individual but also at the community and European level.
WELCOME involves partners from six different countries already in relation with each others through existing town twinning agreements: 3 old EU members, 2 new ones and a pre-accession country.
WELCOME is granted by European Commission in the framework of the Europe for Citizens Programme, Action 1 , Measure 1.2 and last 18 months.

OBJECTIVES

The project aims at promoting reflection, debate and action around the element WATER, focusing on its sustainable management in order to improve citizens’ and communities’ well-being in their everyday life. WELCOME aims at promoting citizens participation in the construction of a tighter-knit, democratic, world-oriented and united Europe, focusing on WATER as a linking element to develop active citizenship and sense of ownership of the EU, whilst enhancing tolerance, solidarity and mutual understanding.
The action seeks to have a multiplier effect in Europe, leading to the setting up of a thematic network of twinned towns around WATER.
In specific terms WELCOME aims at developing thematic and long-lasting cooperation between towns, focusing on water as a linking theme. It foresees a process leading to the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding and a joint action plan in the framework of the twinning agreements. It aims at “multiplying” the relations among the involved towns, revitalizing the existing twinning agreements and creating new ones.The action seeks to have a multiplier effect in Europe, leading to the setting up of a thematic network of twinned towns around WATER.

ACTIVITIES

The project foresees the organization of 3 main international events in Italy, Hungary and Croatia involving different target groups as local authorities, CSOs, youth groups, schools, universities and representatives from the economic and political contest sharing best practices on a common theme. The events will focus on 3 different dimensions of WATER:

  1. First International Event – Sacile, Brugnera, Porcia – Italy : WATER, a CULTURAL VALUE – connected aspects are tourism, sport, culture, etc.
  2. Second International Event – Berettyòùjfalu – Hungary : WATER, an ECONOMIC AGENT – connected productive aspects are fishing, energy, consumption, health, etc.
  3. Third International Event – Novigrad-Cittanova – Croatia : WATER, a TERRITORIAL PARTNER – connected aspects are citizenship, sense of belonging to the territory, territory’s shaping and safeguard.

The main objective of the events is to increase the awareness of the need of a sustainable use of WATER in all its dimensions. Moreover they will be an opportunity for drafting and finally sign a Memorandum of Understanding as action plan for future cooperation on common themes.

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DOCUMENTS

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AT A GLANCE

The municipalities of Thiene in Italy and Ijevan in Armenia will together with ALDA implement the project “Citizen Participation and town development: the role of local authorities”. The project is focused on developing the cooperation between Thiene and Ijevan and includes study visits and trainings in both Municipalities.

The project is funded by the Veneto Region under the programme “Iniziativa Diretta 2011- Cooperazione decentrata allo sviluppo” for regional interventions for the promotion of human rights, the culture of peace, development cooperation and solidarity.

OBJECTIVES

The project aims to build inter-municipality relations between the Municipality of Thiene in the Veneto region in Italy and the Municipality of Ijevan in the Tavush region in Armenia.
Furthermore it aims to develop decentralized cooperation between the two towns as a first step and then to increase and strengthen the role of local authorities in the politics and practise of participation in Armenia. A final objective is to support participative urban development.
Although local self-government and citizen participation in Armenia is guaranteed by law there is a lack of mechanisms to implement these provisions and use the principles for citizen participation in practice. This project seeks to provide exchange of good practice to develop these issues in the future.

ACTIVITIES

The three activities that compose the core of the project aim to increase citizens’ participation in Ijevan and give possibilities to study the dialog between local authorities and civil society and the instruments used to facilitate citizen participation.

  • The first activity will be a training session in Ijevan in October or November 2011 by two representatives of Thiene with the local staff in Ijevan for information about participation and the developing methods used by Thiene and to identify topics for the later study visit to Thiene.
  • The second action is a workshop with an expert from ALDA for 30 persons of local authorities and civil society organisations about topics of Active Citizenship, participation and cooperation between local authorities and civil society for urban development.
  • The last action is a study trip to Thiene in Italy in March 2012 where representatives from Ijevan will see concrete examples of the trained methods such as the Urban Centre of Thiene. This study visit will thus help create contacts and a network for the sustainability of the whole project.

The project is funded by the Veneto Region under the programme “Iniziativa Diretta 2011- Cooperazione decentrata allo sviluppo” for regional interventions for the promotion of human rights, the culture of peace, development cooperation and solidarity

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RELATED NEWS

DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

The project “THINKEU – Through Information and Knowledge towards EU” (Action 2 – Active Civil Society in Europe – Europe for Citizens Programme) is conceived to support the Croatian accession to the EU with a strong, deep and sustained dialogue between the civil society actors in Croatia. The objectives of the project are in accordance with the objectives of the programme as well as with the priorities defined for Croatia: enhancing public debate in Croatia on EU membership, informal learning by organising different workshops, informing the public about the EU funded project and more.

OBJECTIVES

The project aims to promote European values such are gender balance, intergenerational solidarity and many others.
One of the focuses will be the organization of workshops with the themes of Volunteering and Civil activism held by the partner NGO – ZUM and abouth the EU values and multiculturality by the ALDA, because only informed citizens can be active European citizens.
The main theme of the workshops will be defining volunteering, volunteer work and values that envolve around volunteering.
The project is promoting and respecting multiculturality as a great EU value.
The new approach used in this project is the inclusion of kindergartner children in the education about EU values.
The access to the project activities and materials will be open to everyone without any aspect of discrimination.
Through the dissemination of the educational and promotional materials at regional national and international level by using the most relevant Medias in terms of coverage and audience, the widest range of population and organizations will be reached by the messages.

ACTIVITIES

Within this project various activities are planned including qualitative expansion of the Euro Info point located in Pula for citizens, education of trainers / volunteers for lectures about EU, opinion polls on the attitudes of Istrian citizens towards the EU, volunteering month, exhibition and public presentations, public discussions for citizens and wider public about the European Union in general, workshops, television show.
A study visit for selected representatives of target groups, students and high school students will be organised in the Italian Region of Veneto with the aim to exchange good practices and know-how with Italian NGOs and institutions on the project’s main topics.
It is foreseen a three-day visit. The first day will be dedicated to the meeting with NGOs while the second and third day will include the visit to institutions that are dealing with Youth issues and EU programmes.

RELATED NEWS

DOCUMENTS

AT A GLANCE

ECRC project is conceived to foster the development of a stimulating environment for increased citizen participation on the national and European level through improved citizen organisations’ capacity and the establishment of effective civil society infrastructures.
The specific aim of the project is to create Citizen Resource Centres that will gradually develop into a common European citizen’s centre. They will have the characteristics of a civic resource centre on European matters, assisting the process of civic capacity building for effective participation in the European policy-making process.

OBJECTIVES

The project aims at achieving the following objectives:

  • Motivation and support for the NGOs and local authorities with regard to planning and strategic management of the project cycle of the “Europe for Citizens” Program;
  • Support the development of Europe-centred profile of functioning resource centres in the 7 EU countries in terms of resources, experience and knowledge, and build synergy among them;
  • Establishment and development of the capacity (knowledge and skills) of citizens, so that they are capable of actively participating in the policy-making;
  • Development of long-terms partnership between the different stakeholders (NGOs, local authorities, research centres) and enhancement of their knowledge of their importance as active civil moderators for the Programme;
  • Promotion of inter-cultural dialogue and European values, such as democracy, active civil society, citizenship, through the application of interactive innovative methods to popularise of the Programme.

ACTIVITIES

The project foresees 7 steps, having impact both at the local and at the European level.

Following the partnership building phase, the process is planned as follows:

  • Training for citizen moderators;
  • Establishment of 7 national and 1 European citizen’s centres and networks;
  • Local workshops under EfC Programme;
  • International meeting for citizens’ centres;
  • Open days at the local level;
  • Production phase;
  • Evaluation and follow-up.

DOCUMENTS

AT A GLANCE

This project aimed at providing an unbiased platform for debate and exchange of experiences and/or best practices on youth employment, young entrepreneurship and creativity by bringing together youth workers, youth leaders and young people. Its main objective was to search for a new way of thinking about work and entrepreneurship, more suitable to present time and to the current economic situation.
The activities carried out within NEW were a seminar in Arzignano, Italy; five National Youth Initiatives, one for each partners’ country, namely Italy, Greece, Malta, France and Czech Republic, and a Trans-National Youth exchange in Pelhrimov, Czech Republic.
All the activities involved about 1350 young people in the 5 countries, but also stakeholders, institutions, local enterprises that actively participated to develop the activities of the project.

OBJECTIVES

NEW envisages to achieve the following objectives:

  • Create an unbiased platform for debate and exchange of experiences;
  • provide best practices on youth employment, young entrepreneurship and creativity by bringing together youth workers, youth leaders and young people;
  • search for a new way of thinking about work and entrepreneurship, more suitable to present time and to the current economic situation, and trust worthier from young people.

ACTIVITIES

  • Seminar in Arzignano

A seminar took place in Arzignano, Italy, from 11 to 16 June 2012, which involved 35 youth leaders and youth workers from the different partner countries. The event provided a platform for reflection, discussion and exchange of good practices, around the topic of entrepreneurship. The Seminar was based on working groups and other non-formal learning activities.
During the seminar, the leader of the different national groups were directly involved in the activities flow: there were short evaluation and check meetings every day to discuss about the proposed activities and they become really an important support to develop and lead them. Every day all national groups were involved to develop simple activities like energizers, but they had also the opportunity to organize national evenings and national workshops about youth entrepreneurship.
Thereafter, each partner organization organized in its territory a youth initiative (between September 2012 and September 2013) to experiment and put in practice the ideas developed during the seminar, to give everyone an opportunity to be directly and actively involved in doing something concrete around the topic.

Round-table agenda

National youth initiatives took also place in the partners countries:

  • The Youth Initiative in Italy: “CreaCult”

A group of five Italian participants to the first phase of the project, the seminar in Arzignano, decided to raise the opportunity offered by the project to realize a local youth initiative about creativity and entrepreneurship. They were supported by the local Municipality (especially the Youth Policies Councillor), a mentor of the “Studio Progetto Social Cooperative” and the Youth Information Office. They helped the group of young people to find out their own personal resources and capacities, discuss about their thoughts and wills, inform themselves about the local context on the selected theme, focus the ideas to develop firstly their main goal and then the activity to be realized, the development phases and the division of tasks among them on the basis of their interests and capacities.
“CreaCult” represents an entrepreneurship experience doubly important for the young people involved: on one hand it fostered the diffusion of art in the everyday life and the visibility for the young artists who exposed their works, on the other hand the project realization itself was a real challenge which permitted to the organizers to prove and develop their personal and professional skills. The initiative ended with a final event which took place on 16 June 2013, where the young artists painted in the main place of the city on a mobile installation together with all the people who wanted to prove themselves in this way, producing spontaneously a common big work on a “false wall”.

  • The Youth Initiative in Greece: Info-point on awareness & networking for entrepreneurship

A group of young people, supported by ADEP SA, organized an info-point at their premises. The main aim was to transmit initial information on the matter of youth entrepreneurship and help those interested in it, to identify programmes they can exploit as well to reach the correct local bodies, so that to continue their effort without losing time and effort.

  • The Youth Initiative in Czech Republic: Active Youth Meeting

Four short seminars were organized about interculturality, youth opportunities and active citizenship.
The programs included various activities, like welcoming, introduction of programme, first block about opportunities for young people, presentation of EVS volunteer about his or her country and culture, group work on a particular topic connected with first presentation, presentations of group work, final discussion and evaluation of the whole event.
All the activities were run with non-formal education methodology, non-formal education methods – energizer, work in groups, evaluation. The partner organization helped the involved young people with all the preparation, realization and evaluation of the local activities, in collaboration with local high schools, internet servers and NGO organizations. The activities then involved young people from 13 till 30 years old.

  • The Youth Initiative in Malta

The Local Councils’ Association hosted a two-day event on the 6th – 7th May 2013 at the IPSE Training Facilities in Marsa.
The participants were carefully selected by the Local Councils’ Association so as to have the right mix for the project. At the end were chosen 18 participants in all to participate with their ages varying from 19 to 24 years of age.
The event featured various presentations and activities by key stakeholders in Malta dealing with youth unemployment and developing of skills.

  • The Youth Initiative in France: StrassTips

The French Youth initiative StrassTips gathered five young persons living in Strasbourg who opened a website with the aim to describe the climate for youth life and employment in Strasbourg and gave tips to interested individuals to establish in the city and develop their activities.
They would like to encourage young people to stay in Europe and support to the young exiled people. The aim of the activity was to inform students, recently degreed, unemployed young people about the opportunities and possibilities of the European market, helping them since the first step in their countries until their arrive in Strasbourg.
It supports the youth people to create more and equal opportunities in education and in the labour market (« employability dimension ») but also to promote the active engagement, social inclusion and solidarity of all young people (« participation dimension »).

  • The Youth Initiative in France: StrassTips

The final phase of the project is represented by a youth exchange (14 – 21 July 2013), which allowed participants to discover and become aware of different social and cultural realities, to promote mutual learning and to develop a entrepreneurial spirit by reinforcing their feeling of being European citizen.
Participants also had the opportunity to interact with the local community, through the town visit and the planned meetings with local stakeholders.
The overall outcome is the creation of a common-thinking platform among the participants and the promotion of an European vision of young people future in work and entrepreneurship.

DOCUMENTS

AT A GLANCE

TIC-TAC gathers 13 project partners and 10 associate partners from Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Macedonia, Malta, Romania, Slovakia and Spain. It is designed to increase awareness about the European Union, the Europe for Citizens Programme and opportunities for increasing citizen participation at local and European level. It promotes the four actions of the Europe for Citizens Programme and encourages quality projects under this programme among ALDA’s members and partners.

OBJECTIVES

The project aims at establishing partnerships between different stakeholders, local authorities, civil society organisations and research centres. It mainly raises their awareness about the importance to act as active citizenship activators and promote a greater sense of ownership of the EU and European values. The project aims also at providing training, information and cooperation opportunities within Europe for Citizens that would contribute to creating new partnerships and networks.

ACTIVITIES

The work-programme foresees the following main activities:

  • An international training course held in Brussels on 29th-31st March 2012 focused on the Europe for Citizens programme;
  • 12 Local Information Days disseminate the Europe for Citizens objectives locally
  1. Bratislava (Slovakia), April 21, 2012 – Event poster – Event agenda
  2. Osijek (Croatia), May 5th, 2012 – questionnaire for citizens, communication with citizens, dissemination of material, processing of feedback from citizens.
  3. Ireland, May 11th, 2012 – event organised by Leafair Community Association.
  4. Rubick (Albania), May 17th, 2012 – The Association of Albanian Municipalities (AAM) organised, in cooperation with the City of Rubick, a one-day event during the Saint « Buemi » Day. The Info-day was dedicated, among others, to the presentation of TIC-TAC and included different activities (workshops, cultural animation) on cultural traditions of the region and the European cultural heritage.
  5. Vejle (Denmark), May 22th, 2012 – event organised by the Municipality
  6. Sofia (Bulgaria), June 1st, 2012 – event organised by the Association of European Partnership in cooperation with the Municipality of Sofia
  7. Gazi Baba (municipality of Skopje) and Valandovo (Macedonia), June 12th and 14th, 2012 – two events organised by the Center for Institutional Development (CIRa). Skopje event agenda – Valandovo event agenda
  • An international 3-day Citizenship Fair, October 29th-31st October 2012 in Malta promoting exchange of good practices among partners and debating about the main challenges faced by local and European stakeholders in the field of democracy and citizen participation.

ASSOCIATE PARTNERS

Beside the project partners, TIC-TAC project benefits from the cooperation of 10 expert associate partners:

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DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

The aim of the project TOYS is to tackle racism and discrimination among youth in sport by promoting social inclusion and integration, volunteering and active citizenship. The topic is particularly relevant due to the recent prevalence of high profile cases of racism and discrimination in the sporting world.
To tackle this issue that is evidently also manifested at the local level, a 5-day seminar encompassing numerous activities, debates, discussions and workshops, as well as indoor and outdoor sport activities, will explore the possibility of using sport in youth activities as a tool to challenge racism and discrimination.
The seminar will promote values such as volunteering, mutual understanding and cultural diversity among youth; core principles of European citizenship. By promoting these activities and values, TOYS hopes to contribute to the fight against discrimination and racism.

OBJECTIVES

TOYS envisages to achieve the following objectives:

  • To promote anti-discrimination and tolerance through sports
  • To highlight the strong relation between sport, healthy habits and active citizenship in a wide sense
  • To foster the European Year of Citizens, using sports as a way for civic engagement
  • To promote the social and personal development of the participants by using not only the critical thinking approach but also participants bodies through sport activities
  • To promote fundamental European values, such as democracy, solidarity, tolerance and respect for human rights
  • To strengthen the bonds between youth organisations with similar objectives in order to development a network of grass-roots sports institutions across Europe united in their stand against discrimination.

ACTIVITIES

The project’s main activity is a 5-day Seminar in Mesagne, Italy.

The seminar is conceived as a platform for discussion and exchange of good practice, based on theoretical and practical inputs on social inclusion, volunteering and active citizenship related to sport.

TOYS will bring together 46 participants from 9 countries such as Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Georgia, Italy, Kosovo and Moldova, taking part in this 8 months project.

The activities foreseen are:

1) Preparation phase

  • Promotion of the project by all partners at local and European level
  • Selection of suitable facilitators and speakers by all the partners
  • ICT tools will be used by facilitators/speakers to get in contact and define the detailed programme and methods of the Seminar; interested young people will also be invited to take part in the « on-line » preparation phase to give their contribution of ideas;
  • Recruitment of participants
  • Definition of accommodation, board, travel details, emergency and communication strategy issues

2) Implementation phase

Workshops, discussions, working groups, indoor and outdoor sport activities; public debates, role plays, intercultural activities, visits to institutions/organisations dealing with the topics of the project.

3) Evaluation and follow-up phase

All participants, together with the professional staff of all partners and facilitators and/or speakers, will define strengths, weaknesses, best practices and appropriate methods.

DOCUMENTS

AT A GLANCE

POPEYE brings together eight partners from six different European countries, namely France, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Croatia and Italy. The aim of the project is to involve disadvantaged youngsters from rural areas in their territories’ life, to provide them with a deep understanding of their areas’ economic and environmental demands and problems and of their potential role in local public life.

At the same time, POPEYE will meet the needs of the communities and youth the project is addressed to, by enhancing rural sustainable development through the promotion of organic farming while educating youngsters in environmental protection and providing them with professional contacts with local organic farmers.

OBJECTIVES

The project aims at achieving the following objectives:

  • The promotion of active participation in society among disadvantaged young people;
  • The enhancement of the sense of belonging to their communities and to Europe among the participants;
  • The raising of the participants’ environmental consciousness;
  • The creation of potentially professional opportunities and contacts around the participants;
  • The promotion of dialogue among young people and their communities and local authorities on relevant social themes and on issues regarding youth.

ACTIVITIES

POPEYE foresees 7 steps, having impact both at local and European level. Most of the activities will be implemented at the local level and through local contacts. ALDA will create a model of development of the activities and set the standards for their implementation, but their concrete management will be a partners’ task.

  1. Preparatory Activity: During Activity 1, each partner will identify and involve 40 economically, culturally or socially disadvantaged young people aged 15-25, living in its geographical area. The participants will be selected by the partner organisations, possibly in collaboration with local authorities so as to better identify the target groups in the areas concerned.
    During this same phase, the partners, in collaboration with local authorities and/or local associations of farmers, will identify and contact organic farmers potentially willing to cooperate with the project.
  2. Educational Activity: During this phase of the project, each local partner will organise a 5-days’ educational event for its participants, consisting in a 2 days of seminar and 3 days of training on ICT and digital mapping. At the end of this phase, each partner will select 10 participants willing to further contribute to the project. They will be the ones who will take part in the following activities.
  3. Digital mapping: During the third phase of the project, the selected participants (10 per partner) will contact the organic farmers of their geographical area and collect data about their geographical position, their features as producers and sellers as well as their characteristics as potential hosts of trainees.
  4. Development of the website: Each group of 10 participants will set up a “national” webpage bringing together all the information collected on the ground. The website, through dedicated filters, will list all the farms “mapped” under several items: country, typology of production and its special characteristics, characteristics of the proposed traineeship, availability of the traineeship in a certain period of time.
  5. Local dissemination events & promotion of the website among potential users: Each group of participants will organise a local event for disseminating the project results within the local community and especially among young people. Activity 5 will also be an occasion for promoting the concrete output of the project, the website, among other young people. Thus, not only the results of the project in terms of higher youth participation and lowered marginalisation will be disseminated, but a concrete tool for bringing young people closer to organic farming will be promoted among potential end users.
  6. Final international event: The event will be held in Strasbourg in February 2014. It will reunite 70 young participants (10 per partner) and 1 representative from each partner organisation. Each national group will be invited to showcase the results obtained during the project, with a particular focus on the involvement of its local community and local authorities in the project, on understanding its relevance and on planning its follow-up.
  7. Evaluation & dissemination: The evaluation activity will involve all the partners and the participants, which will contribute to define the results reached by the project in all its phases.
    The project results and especially its concrete output, the website, will be promoted by the instruments of dissemination provided by ALDA and its partners (organisations’ websites and newsletters and contacts with local and international media).

DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

My EU gathers 14 partners from Albania, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Macedonia, Malta. Its main idea to provide a well structured dialogue among twinned or keen-to-cooperate towns, with specific reference to active participation in political life of specific target groups: women, youngsters and immigrants.

OBJECTIVES

The project aims at increasing specific interests and expectations of citizens about EU political agenda and empower citizens to play a full part in the democratic life of the EU, through public debates that involves citizens, citizens associations and policy makers, therefore stimulating a sense of ownership of European identity through democratic dialogue.

ACTIVITIES

The work-programme foresees the following international events:

  1. Brescia, Italy, 2-3 February 2013, conference “Immigrants and politics” providing opportunities to raise awareness about immigration policies in different European countries, and show the importance of political rights to favour own migrant integration and, in the end, their commitment to policy-making process of their country of residence.
  2. Strasbourg, France, 25-27 June 2013, conference “Youth and politics” which will be the occasion to inform young people about EU institutions and to consider it as a way to take part to civic life in general so as to influence the decision-making process.
  3. Skopje, North Macedonia, 9-11 December 2013, conference “Women and politics” raised awareness about motivations for lack of female participation all over Europe and enhanced motivation to be engaged in politics, as a means to favour gender balance in all life sectors,
  4. Mellieha, Malta, 29-31 January 2014, Final conference which summarized the debates and points raised during the whole project. It helped raising awareness of citizens about their central role in the construction of the European democratic process and, in broader terms, of the power of the bottom up approach to build a policy which is relevant and consistent with citizens needs and priorities.

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