ICONS responds to the skills gap between professionals and non-professionals involved in the implementation of the Building Information Modeling (BIM), by empowering the latter in understanding BIM-designed projects through specific training modules and the support of a specifically designed APP.
ICONS’ action plan includes the consolidation of strategic and operational cooperation between actors within the construction sector, as well as the maximiSation of communication flow between designers, site managers and blue collar workers.
OBJECTIVES
ICONS aims to improve the working quality in the construction sector by increasing the workers’ digital skills and BIM knowledge and, consequently, to promote the productivity and sustainability of the construction sector in Europe.
Specifically, the goal of the project is to create a tailor-made training course and a digital APP, in order to translate the highly technical and complex set of information that is contained in a BIM structure into a modality which can be read, understood and easily processed by non-professionals.
The two-day conference, entitled “Co-creating rural futures”, marked a key moment to present the work undertaken by the SHERPA project partners during 2022, and discuss their contribution to the European Union Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas (LTVRA).
More on a technical note, the conference focused on the role of Multi-Actor Platforms (MAPs) and multi-stakeholder governance in delivering the LTVRA and reflected upon the sustainability of SHERPA MAPs after the project’s end. Yet, how far can citizens contribute on that, and how the society can benefit from it?
Didier Duboisset (External Observer of ALDA and representative of the GAL Pays Vichy Auvergne) and Valeria Fantini (project manager and head of the “environment” hub in ALDA) attended the conference, thus bringing the perspective of a Civil Society Organisation especially in the breakout session “Governance and membership of the Multi-Actor Platforms”. Hence, governance plays the main role within the last MAPs cycle (empowering rural areas in multi-level governance processes), underlining the added value of ALDA in contributing to this specific aspect of the project.
Finally, the annual conference has been the occasion to present highlights from the SHERPA and MAPs Position Papers on the social dimension of rural areas, sustainable and resilient value chains, climate change and land use, and digitalisation.
*** The 3rd Annual Conference “CO-CREATING RURAL FUTURES” of the SHERPA project took place in Montpellier (France) on 31 January and 1 February 2023
About the project SHERPA:
Sustainable Hub to Engage into Rural Policies with Actors (SHERPA) is a four-year project (2019-2023) with 17 partners funded by the Horizon 2020 programme. It aims to gather knowledge that contributes to the formulation of recommendations for future policies relevant to EU rural areas, by creating a science-society-policy interface which provides a hub for knowledge and policy.
This nine- month project has been designed as a collaborative initiative of the members (seven Local Democracy Agencies -LDA and ALDA Skopje) of the newly created thematic CSO network – Balkan Network for Local Democracy (BNLD with its main office in Skopje).
The main objective of this project is to help create preconditions for new tourism product development to increase youth employment and income generating activities through engaging micro-localities, youth greeters and vloggers in regional co-operation programme.
All the activities are intended to contribute to the overall objective with specific focus on activities designed to engage youth from local communities in regional intercultural exchange programme to work together on a new tourist product development.
ACTIVITIES
The project forsees capacity building for LDA greeters and vloggers, professional tour guide skills development exercise, field visit and learning by doing approach.
Innovative IT technologies, creation of the regional online platform containing audio, visual and written narratives of the WW2 monuments, social community theatre approach in creating storytelling are all incorporated in the three main project component in order to develop youth friendly innovative promotional actions to provide orientation and publicise the narrative of the nine magnificent monuments from the WW2.
Creation of LDAs regional network of young greeters and vloggers who will explore and valorise cultural, recreational, craftsmanship and culinary heritage in micro-localities and create youth friendly online platform: (Balkan) Monumental 9 is primarily intended to help increase attractiveness for tourist development and income generating activities at micro-localities included in this action
According to most climate models, Southern Europe, and the especially the Mediterranean basin, is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Due both to expected increase of peak flow of the Olona and Seveso rivers and to the runoff generated by the not permeable urban fabric, Milan Metropolitan City (CMM) is prone to flood risk and extreme weather events like heat waves. Local governments are in a unique position to engage local stakeholders and draw punctual responses to local climate related vulnerabilities and risks. At the same time, individual municipalities do not have the necessary resources (scientific knowledge, administrative competences, funding, etc.) to deal climate problems.
It is for this reason that Metro Adapt aims at fostering the creation of a common well-structured governance related to climate change adaptation among the local authorities of the Metropolitan Area of Milan and produce tools that allow local authorities to implement cost-effective climate change adaptation strategies and policies adapted to the local context. The project will also pay high attention to the sharing and dissemination of the project’s tools and good practices with the other Italian and EU metropolitan areas.
OBJECTIVES
Mainstream the adaptation strategies and measures in the elaboration process of the CMM Territorial Plan and in the planning and building rules of the 134 CMM municipalities through an innovative approach identifying intermediate entities of governance (the 7 CMM Homogenous Areas);
Establish and promote Nature Based Solutions (NBS) according to a multi-objectives approach (flood risk and heat-island reduction, together with regeneration of neglected urban space) that enhance the technical knowledge required for their design and implementation of NBS at local level;
Enhance bottom up initiatives increasing citizens’ awareness and engagement on climate change adaptation strategies;
Make available disaggregated meteorological and territorial monitoring data and tools that contribute to the development of accurate vulnerability analysis of the 7 Homogenous Areas of CMM;
Develop a network of Italian and European metropolitan areas enhancing the mainstreaming of adaptation policies and measures and supporting the implementation of Nature Based Solutions.
ACTIVITIES
Assessment of the present situation concerning the mainstreaming of adaptation policies and measures in the CMM territorial plans
Providing municipalities with a set of simple and standardised tools and rules on resilient measures to be integrated in their urban plans and regulations;
Development of a “METRO ADAPT Platform” on the implementation of Nature Based Solutions
Drafting of technical standards and feasibility studies and organising training workshops for municipal technician for the development of NBS;
Organisation of local events to raise citizens awareness on the climate change issue and to trigger behavioural changes to combat its effects;
Realisation of two demonstrative NBS facilities;
Improving and complementing the existing spatial and meteorological data and information on the CMM
Realisation of an e-learning platform on CMM web portal delivering training on vulnerability analysis to municipalities;
Fostering an Italian and European network of metropolitan areas.
Words are not enough to express this important achievement, which is the demonstration of the ALDA’s fruitful first insight: believe in the power of citizens as change makers and democracy promoters. Changing people’s lives for better is the goal behind every single action; thus, easing the conditions in which people are living in, and supporting a democratic outcome of every initiative.
Yet, the world has posed several challenges since the very beginning: fundamental values are at stake and extreme behaviours are spreading all around. What can we do? How can Civil Society Organisation act and counterbalance this anti-democratic drift?
There is a necessity of investing in the democratic culture, in the participatory mechanisms and in the empowerment of future generations: ALDA’s 500 projects do that
By localising actions, by engaging with local communities and by creating a space of dialogue among institutions and citizens. There is a necessity of investing in the democratic culture, in the participatory mechanisms and in the empowerment of future generations: ALDA’s 500 projects do that.
On the one hand, having a consortium of different stakeholders within each project favours an intercultural exchange and cooperation; on the other, it increases mutual knowledge and the sense of community, thus encouraging the development of a collective approach to common matters.
With its projects, ALDA is addressing the above-mentions issues through decentralised cooperation and participatory mechanisms, enabling people with new tools to react and face problems. The Rude Awakening project, for example, developed an interactive videogame taking place during the WWI. Aimed at raising awareness on European historical and cultural heritage, while stressing new educational and emotional perspective on war and peace, through this output the project not only stimulate the reflection on the present situation, but also it firmly underlines the importance of peace and the necessity of its safeguard.
More on a scientific note, but still having the well-being of people at the centre and still focusing on the necessity of local community, the LIFE Beware project addresses climate change and the consequence of it in the urban and rural areas. It calls for experts and CSOs to collaborate to reach a common strategy for climate adaptation, especially on flooding risks.
Last but not least, leading an international membership, made of 300 realities, and being in its turn member of several global network, all ALDA’s projects have a world-wide ranging, and meet one or more Sustainable Development Goals, thus localising the latter and cooperating to the achievements of the UN AGENDA 2030
BEWARE focuses on the achievement of a global strategy for climate adaptation to flood risk increasing water infiltration and storage in urban and rural areas and involving the local communities actively. BEWARE project aims at increasing knowledge, benefit and real implementation of NWRM (Natural Water Retention Measures) both in the territory of Comune di Santorso and Comune di Marano Vicentino (Vicenza, IT) and other EU municipalities thanks to demonstrative interventions fully coordinated with activities of information, communication and education.
OBJECTIVES
The project aims at:
Promoting a participative approach to implement local initiatives and measures on water-retention actions facing the climate change’s challenge;
Establishing a local administrative, financial and technical context favourable to the diffuse employment of NWRM;
Enhancing the link between European policies and local contexts actively involving citizens and key-stakeholders on the EU goals on climate change;
Demonstrating that small diffused works and implementation of best practices can guarantee hydraulic safety and face climate-change consequences effectively;
Encouraging the replication of the actions proposed in other geographic areas of Italy and Europe.
ACTIVITIES
Start a participatory process with the aim of defining some best practices for the project area;
New version of the Municipality’s building code (deal with NWRM) and voluntary Mayors’ agreement in line with the Mayors’ Adapt Strategy;
Settle a stakeholders’ network for the entire Northern Vicenza province to increase the awareness toward the topics of the project toward Mayors Adapt Initiative;
Involve farmers, manufactures and artisans to implement some of these techniques in their firms;
Involve actively the citizens thanks to cultural events, workshops, seminaries;
Disseminate the EU policies by the information’s activities;
Implementing concrete actions for water retention in different contexts:
Monitor the impact of concrete actions on the hydraulic system, environment and socioeconomic context;
with wide communications actions for citizens, schools, technicians and land planners/managers;
Develop wide communication and replicability initiatives on water retention;
Start a network activity aiming at exchanging knowledge with similar EU projects;
Settle a real team to refer at regional and national level concerning the topics of sustainable water retention policy/practice.
The breeding range of the lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) in the central-eastern Mediterranean area is shifting northwards due to climate change. LIFE FALKON is fostering resilience by improving the conservation status of the population at the north-eastern edge of its breeding range in Italy and Greece. The project will provide increased nesting opportunities, including nest boxes and towers, promote favourable rural development and building renovation practices, and establish a network of conservationists focused on populations crucial for the species’ northward breeding expansion.
OBJECTIVES
The project aims at:
Improve foraging and nesting habitat quality in farmland areas and Natura 2000 sites (SPAs) where the species breeds in the project areas;
Establish a collaborative international network to support the implementation of conservation actions, population monitoring programmes and knowledge sharing across the central-eastern Mediterranean region, and foster replicability and transferability of project actions in south-eastern Europe;
Promote public awareness concerning the lesser kestrel and biodiversity conservation in the north-eastern margins of its breeding range, with an emphasis on environmental education;
Obtain an accurate assessment of the conservation status of those populations that are considered crucial for the species’ northward breeding expansion.
Europe needs new safeguards to guarantee transparency in digital political advertising that allow regulators to oversee who is funding what online. The self-regulatory Code of Practice that the European Commission adopted with tech companies is an important first step. Yet, the Code does not foresee clear enforcement or sanction mechanisms. This project aims to strengthen European level policy so as to guarantee transparency in digital political advertising.
The Virtual Insanity project aims at strengthening European level policy that guarantees transparency in digital political advertising. This will be done through research and multi-stakeholder policy dialogue at the national and European
OBJECTIVES
The project aims to identify and understand the narratives and (mis)perceptions of the EU abroad, assess potential issues related with the border and external security in order to allow better planning and outline reactions and countermeasures. For that purpose, the project will conduct research on the narratives and the myths that are circulating about the EU in three countries of migrants’ origin (as well as transit) (Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia) and four Mediterranean countries of arrival (Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Spain), as well as two countries of transit to Europe (Bulgaria and Kosovo), representing three routes into Europe (Western, Central, and Eastern Mediterranean) (Forin & Healy 2018).
The research will be conducted in cooperation with local and international partners in order to find out how the EU is perceived in social media, local newspapers and by the general public. These perceptions might vary and they might cover the scope for example from the EU as the “paradise” to the EU as the “seminary of vice” and “evil”.
A comprehensive approach combining quantitative and qualitative research methods will clarify the picture for the exemplary selection of research sites. The outcomes will be analysed against the background of the scientific literature.
Based on the research insights, the consortium will develop a PERCEPTIONS framework model including policy recommendations, action plans and a policy strategy – aligned with the ethical principles of the EU –addressing these challenges through foreign policy on different levels (from bilateral contacts to high level working groups). Furthermore, this framework will contain validated new methods for practitioners and civil-society organisations in order to support them to present a realistic picture of the EU in these countries.
The journey of the SMELT project – Skilling Marginalised people to Enter the Labour market, started back in 2020, came to an end.
After two years of hard work, on January 16, 2023, the Final Conference of the project took place in Schio (Italy) within the framework of the fifth and last Transnational Partners Meeting.
During the Final Conference, the project partners presented to the audience, composed of Local Authorities, Civil Society Organisations, Associations and professionals working in the field of social inclusion, the achievements and results of the project.
After a brief but in-depth introduction made by Cooperativa Samarcanda Onlus, leader of the project, the three Intellectual Outputs were showcased.
The first one led to the creation of a manual, so-called ‘Easy Handbook’, aimed at bringing marginalised people closer to the labour market. The Easy Handbook is composed of two different parts, one addressed to operators/staff working in NGOs, VET Institutions or other entities entitled of delivering the training to facilitate access to the labour market of vulnerable groups, and another part directly targeting vulnerable people.
Despite the formal end of the SMELT project, the tools achieved by its implementation are timeless
The second Intellectual Output resulted in the production of a ‘Training Manual’, a guide that includes basic knowledge on how to look for a job in the welding sector. It contains the labour regulatory frameworks of the countries involved in the project, it explores the different steps foreseen during the application procedure (e.g. how to write a CV, how to manage an interview etc.) and the soft skills needed to succeed in the recruitment process.
Finally, the partners presented the Intellectual Output 3, a collection of projects addressed to the ‘people on the move’ (refugees, migrants etc.).
Each partner conducted this third and last phase in a very different way, according to the tools and expertise at their disposal. During the Final Conference, the prototypes of Cooperativa Samarcanda, which conducted a Hackathon with more than 50 participants, were showcased.
The Final Conference represented a great conclusion for a successful project which exceeded the expectations of the partners, who not only shared professionalism and good practices but also humanity and empathy, values that characterised SMELT from the beginning to the very end.
The project partners will continue, with their daily work, promoting the insertion of vulnerable people into the society, through employment and other means. Despite the formal end of the project, the tools achieved by its implementation are timeless.
Taking place on 1st February 2023 and chaired by Mr. Bianco; the 16th CIVEX Commission fully addresses the Eastern Partnership, with special reference to the local and regional perspective; together with the Enlargement Package and the Media Freedom Act while discussing the involvement of local and regional Authorities to strengthen the European Democracy.
Being the CIVEX addressed to European civil society actors, ALDA is a key player in the discussion, representing in turn a network of 300 stakeholders
The latter represents a key milestone in the conduct of ALDA, stressing once again the crucial position of the Association: bridging people and networking with institution to achieve a common goal: building a democratic society in Europe and beyond.
Thus, in light of a long-lasting partnership and in line with the mission of ALDA, our Secretary General Antonella Valmorbida was present at the CIVEX Commission. Indeed, being the CIVEX addressed to European civil society actors, from local and regional authorities to NGOs and civil society organisations, ALDA represents a key player in the discussion, representing in turn a network of 300 stakeholders among local authorities and associations across the Enlarged Europe.
On this note, Ms. Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, Mayor of Gdanks (Poland) and member of ALDA, was also present as CIVEX as Chair of the CoR Working Group on Ukraine, underlying in her speech the essential role of ALDA as a change maker, driving policies into actions.
Overall, considering the multiple stimuli and challenges that Europe is now facing, this 16th CIVEX Commission represents a high moment within ALDA’s agenda, allowing the Association to further increase its expertise and addressing its activities to meet the European priorities as well as the civil society necessitates.
Period:
01/05/2019 - 30/06/2020
Countries involved:
Belgium Czech Republic France Italy Netherlands Spain
Europe needs new safeguards to guarantee transparency in digital political advertising that allow regulators to oversee who is funding what online. The self-regulatory Code of Practice that the European Commission adopted with tech companies is an important first step. Yet, the Code does not foresee clear enforcement or sanction mechanisms. This project aims to strengthen European level policy so as to guarantee transparency in digital political advertising.
The Virtual Insanity project aims at strengthening European level policy that guarantees transparency in digital political advertising. This will be done through research and multi-stakeholder policy dialogue at the national and European
ACTIVITIES
Country-level research During the European Parliament elections, experts will conduct research on political advertising in Italy, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. The research findings will be discussed at country level workshops with all relevant stakeholders.
Multi-stakeholder policy dialogue events At the national policy dialogues, policy makers and stakeholders reflect upon the research findings. At the EU level, the project will conduct a dynamic mapping of the relevant stakeholders and national policy and reform debates on digital political advertising, linking the national level up to the EU level. Events will be organised in Brussels to discuss the findings and possible EU measures to address the issue.
Coalition-based monitoring and advocacy Following many exchanges with stakeholders in Brussels, the project will draft a Roadmap for Policy Change. This will be the action plan that paves the way for future advocacy efforts towards strengthening EU measures that guarantee transparency in digital political advertising. To reach the objectives of the Roadmap, a Joint Advocacy Plan will be drafted and implemented.
PARTNERSHIP
Besides the project partners, Virtual Insanity benefits from the cooperation and expertise of the following research partners:
While AVEC allowed women to develop leadership and initiative skills and to create collective income-generating activities (5 cooperatives were created as a result of AVEC project), The project “Socio-economic empowerment of rural women through integration into solidarity, social and environmental economy circuit” (so-called AVEC 2) aims to go further, by providing women beneficiaries with a training programme that enables them to consolidate their leadership skills and an ongoing support, both in identifying the needs of each cooperative, the implementation of an action plan, capacity building for cooperatives and women as well as in raising awareness among local actors.
OBJECTIVES
Address the issues encountered by women in Morocco to initiate income-generating activities, especially in rural areas
Promote equal opportunities for women and men to access and control natural resources regarding local products
Support the 5 cooperatives already created to improve techniques for the valuation and marketing of products and capitalise on best practices to develop new income-generating activities
Promote the preservation of local products and raise awareness among women in cooperatives of the overexploitation of natural local resources
Results
The principal outcomes of the project are:
5 cooperatives are autonomous and master the tools and mechanisms of good governance. These 5 cooperatives have access to public funding and in particular to the NHRI funds, a Moroccan national fund providing subsidies to cooperatives with a concrete project as well as a local impact
Beneficiaries have developed their leadership and needs formulation capacities, and continue to play a stronger role in their homes and communities, including by participating in key decision-making processes and regularly attending community centres in the region
Women inspire others to follow the example of the 5 cooperatives by creating new ones
An efficient management of migrant integration requires clear understanding of migrants’ personal and family situation, including their legal status, origin, cultural background, skills, language skills, health information, etc. Once such information is available to public authorities, it can improve societal outcomes to the benefit of both host countries and migrants.
MIICT – ICT Enabled Public Services for Migration, is conceived with the goal of designing, developing and deploying tools that address the challenge of migrant integration through the co-creation of improved ICT-enabled services with migrants/refugees, public sector services, NGOs (Non-Governmental-Organisations) and other interest groups.
MIICT addresses the need to improve and customise the interfaces used to access key public services so that they better address the requirements of migrants and refugees. In service of this goal, MIICT proposes the development of “IMMERSE” (Integration of Migrants MatchER SErvice), a database system that captures the specific socio-cultural, economic and legal contexts of migrants that is shared with public authorities. In order to promote inclusion and reduce the potential for discrimination and bias, the system acts as a firewall, meaning only information pertinent to the specific task of the public authority is visible, removing elements such as gender, ethnicity and age in circumstances where they have no relevance.
The project will take place in three broad phases; inspiration, ideation and implementation, within the wider concept of a human-centred design approach that aims to put the projects implicated actors at the centre of the design and development process, unleashing the creativity of the consortiums multidisciplinary experts to deliver tangible, applied and innovative solutions. MIICT will be implemented across three primary pilot locations during the project. Cyprus, Spain and Italy, using different public services as use cases in each location.
OBJECTIVES
MIICT will address the following specific objectives:
Co-design ICTs to assist in the integration of refugee and migrant populations through the provision of customised access to key public services.
Develop an adaptive ‘plug-and-play’ integration framework for the incorporation of new ICTs into existing public service infrastructure.
Improve migrant integration management by providing a job and skills matching decision support tool – IMMERSE.
Deepen societal understanding of the factors that impact upon refugee and migrant populations’ ability to access key public services.
Produce a repeatable and proven open consolidated methodology for co-designing ICTs for public sector service transformation.
Integrate, demonstrate and rigorously test a number of co-designed ICTs that streamline access to public services and ease the integration of refugee communities.
Activity
MIICT is wholly grounded on the principles of co-design, through the participation of multi-disciplinary stakeholders in the design, development and deployment process to ensure the identification of needs and requirements from both the perspectives of migrants, public sector services and NGOs, the collaboration of cross-disciplinary expertise from academia, industry and the private-sector in the development of digital-services, and the realisation of improved service delivery via a thorough and rigorous piloting and evaluation process. Therefore, MIICT will design, develop and deploy bespoke solutions, building on the existing capacity and tools of its constituent R&D partners that address a) the management of migrant integration, b) the customisation of service to match migrants’ needs, and c) the need for sustained and improved inclusion of migrants.
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 Policyhas 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!
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.
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:
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.
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.
