From the 12th to the 18th of June 2022, a delegation of high level officials from national and Local Authorities (LAs) from Türkiye, participated in the cross-border study visit on local governance-related issues in Austria and Croatia.

Organized by ALDA +  and UNDP Türkiye, and  within the framework of LAR III Project, this third study visit enabled the participants to deepen their knowledge on local administration capacity of the two-above mentioned EU Member States; benefiting from several meetings with Austrian and Croatian high level representatives from Ministries, Regional and Local Authorities.

The visit began from Vienna. During the first day, the delegation was granted audience with the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Service and Sport. The day after they were welcomed in the beautiful venue of the City of Vienna before moving to Graz.

Within LAR III project, the delegation from Türkiye visited Austria and Croatia institutions

There, for instance, the Turkish delegation had the opportunity to meet representatives of the City of Graz and of the Province of Styria. The latter shared examples of both best practices, and experience in the field of performance management; as well as Austrian lobbying activities in Brussels, while offering a guided tour through the streets of  the medieval old town.

Moreover, to end on a high note, Pula hosted the final meetings with Croatian LAs. Hence, the Director of the Regional Coordinator of the Istrian County for European Programs and Funds and a representative of the Istrian Development Agency welcomed the LAR III Turkish delegation, providing good knowledge and tools on participatory local governance.

Finally, participants traveled to Zagreb where they exchanged experiences with representatives from the Ministry of Justice and Administration, the City of Zagreb and while meeting the President of Croatian-Turkish Friendship Association and visiting the exhibition for 30 years of Cooperation between Türkiye and Croatia.

Overall, it was a in-depth, very useful week and intense … but surely an enriching experience!

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The city of Verona welcomed the Award Ceremony of the “Diventiamo Cittadini Europei” [“Let’s become European Citizens”] students contest, promoted by European Federalist Movement (EFM), on 30^th June 2022, and as for the previous editions, ALDA joined it with enthusiasm.

Professor, G. Anselmi, on behalf of EFM, introduced the overall theoretical framework of the contest, welcoming the students, their families and teachers. “How do you see the European Union in 2050?” a participant at the “Ventotene Seminar” asked to the Italian President – Mr. Mattarella – in August 2019, as recalled by Mr. Anselmi. “I am convinced” – replied the President – “that in 2050 the Union will have achieved, and fully expressed that horizon of freedom as indicated in the Ventotene Manifesto”

On this very same question, the participants of the 2022 “Diventiamo Cittadini Europei” contest based their works. Organised by the European Federalist Movement (EFM) in Verona, together with both public and private partners, the competition is intended to engage young people to get closer to the European Union, and to the policies and issues. On the latter for example, several students analysed and worked on the transport and railway system across Europe.

Award Ceremony of the “Let’s become European Citizens” students contest, promoted by European Federalist Movement (EFM)

Almost 30 students from different schools located in the Veneto Region won the competition, and they will, thus, take part at the summer school in Canazei (Trento), during which they will be able to deepen their knowledge on the Union, while creating solid bonds and engage in peer-to-peer dialogues.

At the Award Ceremony, hold at the “Loggia di Fra’ Giocondo” of the historic halls within the Verona Province Headquarter, the President of the Verona Province, Mr. Scalzotto, congratulated students while sharing his experience during the Erasmus period in Passau (Germany). Similarly,   Prof. Coccia, from Institute “San Pio V” in Rome, gave his compliments to the winners, while  Christian Verzé, from Europe Direct Verona, guided the ceremony showing the work of the centre as well as the papers handled in by the participants. In addition, Mr. Farina, on behalf of the “Rotary Club” – Verona Section, stressed the importance of these moments as occasion on growth and share.

ALDA joined the event, expressing the key aspects of stimulating the culture of dialogue, of traveling and of mutual exchange, as a necessity for growth and development of the democratic realities in which we are living.

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• Youngsters shaping Europe – Federalist seminar in Neumarkt
• Federalist seminar in Neumarkt: youth call for a Federal Europe

Organised by ALDA, Veneto Agricoltura hosted the final event of “Forest Project” in Cansiglio – Italy – on 23rd and 24th June 2022 – at its “Hangar” office. The latter, more specifically, is a beautiful location, built on a dismissed NATO military base. 

More in depth on the event itself, the members of the four European organisations from Slovenia, Romania and Croatia that collaborated on the project attended the event:

• GRM Novo Mesto – center biotehnike in turizma
• Forstliche Ausbildungsstätte Pichl 
• Asociatia Nationala a femeilor din mediul rural 
• Croatian Wood Cluster

The first day was dedicated to the project management meeting, where the partners discussed the results of the project exchanging opinions about the situations in their home countries and talked together about a possible future cooperation.

On the 24th June 2022, the FOREST final public conference started at 10 a.m. in the Hangar in Cansiglio. Almost 40 participants joined the conference, among forest owners, operators and educators.

The event started with a general presentation of the project by Nadia Di Iulio from ALDA and Federico Correale from Veneto Agricoltura, followed by  Alessandra Brigo, Project Manager from ALDA, and Ana Dijan’s, from Croatian Wood Cluster, presentation of the  Booklet “Towards an European standard forestry curricula”, developed within  this project. Hence, as  illustrated by Alessandra Brigo, this document aims to provide a summary of the information and comparative analyses carried out within the project, as well as to suggest some specific reflections on the importance of moving towards a harmonisation of forestry education. 

In addition, Ana Dijan showed and commented on the main results obtained by the comparative analysis run in 5 countries (Italy, Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania).

 FOREST final event:  a great opportunity for everybody to exchange opinions, experiences and different points of view

For instance, the survey results depend on the country, its legislative framework and state-of-art forestry. Although the education and training systems are different in each country, the results show that almost half of the participants (46%) are not satisfied with the organisation of the education system, in particular with the number of hours dedicated to practice during the training period. Approximately 60% of the polled  confirm that they are not familiar with the European chainsaw certificate but at the same time the majority (64%) support the idea of introducing the European chainsaw certificate as a mandatory requirement in the employment process. However, almost two-thirds of respondents (68%) favour experienced workers over holders of European chainsaw certificates when hiring.

Besides, relevant Italian regional representatives also contributed to the conference:

• Isabella Pasutto (Veneto Region) illustrated an overview of the Forestry Training Session in Veneto Region. 
• Valerio Motta Frè (Piedmont Region) and Pierpaolo Brenta (IPLA) followed with the presentation of a national and successful standardisation initiative: “The For.Italy Project: an Experience of standardisation of forestry training on a national scale”. 

Finally, project partners took the floor starting with Martin Krondorfer from Forstliche Ausbildungsstätte Pichl. He talked about Safety in forest work, explaining the tools needed to reduce the of the accidents in the forests such as equipment for the forestry workers. 

Barbara Turk from GRM Novo Mesto – center biotehnike in turizma, Slovenia, showed a presentation related to the legislative framework, certifications and qualifications about every country, explaining the differences between them.

After a coffee break, the meeting continued with two speeches from Ana Vorovenci and Diana Bacircea, from the Asociatia Nationala a femeilor din mediul rural, focused on the woman inclusion in the forestry. The Asociatia underlines how the forest sector is still considered ”a man’s world” and it is one of the most segregated gender activities. Indeed, the goals of this association are encouraging forest women owners’ involvement in forestry entrepreneurship and supporting women in attending forestry training/certification.  Lastly, Ana Dijan from Croatian Wood Cluster intervened to give an overview of sustainability as part of safety on work. 

After the lunch, the partners and conference participants joined a study tour through the Cansiglio forests and visited the botanical garden, guided by Veneto Agricoltura. Concluding, a debate between the participants and the FOREST project partners was a great opportunity for everybody to exchange opinions, experiences and different points of view according to the main topic of the conference.

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The Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova hosted, on 22 June 2022, the third edition of the Civil Society Gala 2022 and the outstanding winners of civil society organizations from the Republic of Moldova, which contributed to the consolidation of democracy, economic and social development.

Civil society organizations, beneficiaries of EU assistance, which have achieved remarkable and tangible results, while promoting European values, democracy, economic and social development, both at national and local level, have been awarded at the event, for the following categories:

• Stronger governance
• Stronger society
• Stronger economy
• Stronger connectivity

Within this framework, ALDA was awarded the European Prize for “Stronger Governance” at the 2022 Civil Society Gala, organized by the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Moldova.

ALDA was awarded the European Prize for “Stronger Governance” at the 2022 Civil Society Gala

Among the remarkable results obtained, the Association managed to transform the central alley “Ștefan cel Mare şi Sfânt” in the city of Cimișlia, into a pleasant and modern public area. With the support of the European Union, the alley now offers 20 benches for passers-by, 20 rubbish bins to keep the area clean and two information panels to keep locals informed of the town hall’s activities.

Additionally, ALDA mobilized the community to restore the beauty of another symbolic recreation place, called “Vatra Cimișliei”, which the local authorities and activists turned into a real tourist gem. The Association also supported the arrangement of several places. playground for children in Cimișlia and an active recreation area for young people – in all these initiatives, local citizens were encouraged to actively participate in cooperation with local authorities.

The European Prize for “Stronger Governance” was awarded for the tangible results achieved through the implementation of the “Activating Government Reform for Improving Development”(AGREED) project, funded by the European Union. Hence, through the projects supported by AGREED, the members of the local communities participated directly in the community development in order to improve their living conditions, through the jointly planned action with the local NGOs and local authorities.

Furthermore, Citizens have increased their own capacities for action in the community, and their skills of responsible participation in ensuring good local governance.

On June 21-22, 2022, ALDA participated in the European Partnership for Democracy Conference 2022 in Brussels. 

The European Partnership for Democracy is an active network, of which ALDA is part, that gathers together regularly in order to discuss democracy and good governance. 

This year’s conference offered a chance to explore the future of European and global democracy during these unprecedented times. 

Nowadays, considering, on the one hand, both the Russian invasion of Ukraine; and the continued democratic backsliding around the world; or, on the other hand, the concerns risen on the issue of  rule of law within the EU, as well as the finalisation of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), it is fundamental for European states to strengthen their coordination and cooperation in defence of democratic principles.

The European Partnership for Democracy is an active network, of which ALDA is part, that gathers together regularly in order to discuss democracy and good governance

From a general perspective, The EPD conference was divided into three panels and into six breakout rooms, each of which tackling the war in Ukraine and the state of democracy worldwide. Antonella Valmorbida, Secretary General of ALDA and President of the EPD Board, intervened during the second panel  “State of Democracy in Europe and looking ahead to the 2024 elections”, where she discussed with other speakers the state of democracy in the run-up to the 2024 European Parliament elections. 

While Alexandru Coica, EaP, Russia and Central Asia coordinator, participated in the breakout session “Democracy support in repressive environments”. 

During the second day of the conference, the partners of the EPD network split up in different working groups in order to exchange ideas, thoughts and engage in constructive dialogues on common challenges, finalising the session with an interesting workshop on data visualization. 

Overall, by joining the EPD Conference 2022, ALDA wanted to highlight the importance of cooperating and creating synergies to support Ukraine and strengthen democracy in Europe and beyond.