Nearly a year after the launch of the Conference on the Future of Europe and the related online platform, this ambitious experiment has officially reached its end, all in all in a successful and satisfactory way.

On Monday, May 9th 2022, Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA Secretary General, together with colleagues from the Strasbourg Office were pleased to be invited to the closing ceremony of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

Indeed ALDA, in the person of Ms Valmorbida and many other colleagues, actively joined this bottom-up approach, by being fully engaged in the Civil Society Convention on the Conference on the Future of Europe, both as Member of the Steering Committee, and as Chair of the Democracy Cluster.

Generally speaking, during the last 12 months, European randomly selected citizens were invited to give their opinion on the future of the European Union, to discuss the improvement and issues that the EU will have to tackle in the coming years.


Ms Valmorbida and many other colleagues, actively joined this bottom-up approach to ensure citizens’ participation, to reduce the gap between institutions and people for the Europe of the future


This debate and collaboration among citizens and politicians culminated in a report centered around 49 proposals that include concrete objectives and more than 320 recommendations for the EU institutions to follow up, based on nine topics: climate change and the environment; health; a stronger economy, social justice and jobs; EU in the world; values and rights, rule of law, security, digital transformation, European democracy, migration, education, culture, youth and sport.

In a closing ceremony, President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, President Emmanuel Macron on behalf of the Council Presidency and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen received the above-mentioned report.

Yet, one question remains: how will institutions now follow up effectively on these proposals, each within their own spheres of competence and in accordance with the Treaties? First answers and feedbacks will be delivered during a dedicated event, which will take place to update citizens in autumn 2022.

ALDA together with other Civil Society Organisations, and European partners will keep its commitment to closely follow the process, willing to ensure citizens’ participation, while reducing the gap between institutions and people.


Ukrainian flags, rag-dolls wearing traditional clothes, pictures of Ukrainian cities: this is the image that each of the participants got when entering the “Aubette” Hall – Place Klebert, in Strasbourg, on Friday 6 May 2022 in the occasion of ALDA General Assembly.

Dozens of people were there just for one single reason: peace. Young people, children, old ladies and men concealed pain and suffering behind smiles and greetings. Nobody could ever imagine such a terrific reality for the Country of Kiev. Nobody.

Discussing, sharing and showing concrete support to Ukrainian citizens is a daily commitment for ALDA, which, together with the Young European Federalist (JEF) and within the Strasbourg Summit, organised the event “Solidarity with Ukraine: Testimonies of war”.


“Solidarity with Ukraine: Testimonies of war” to urge institutions, other organisations, single citizens to call for immediate peace and end of war


Right at the eve of the closing of the Conference on the Future of Europe, and the Europe Day, the two organisations urged institutions, other organisations, single citizens to call for immediate peace and end of war. 

Testimonies came from different realities, yet all aiming at the same goal: Tetiana Lomakina, from LDA Mariupol gave her opening speech, showed a sadly well-know brutal situation in her Country, in which people are suffering, yet very much committed to speak up for their freedoms in her city and all over Ukraine. Mariupol, one of the most attacked area, as recalled by Antonella Valmorbida, was, and still is, the hometown of one of the two Local Democracy Agency, which is a place of democracy, a place of positive change, a place which today is facing an unjust war.

Marta Siciarek, from Gdansk Region and Partner of EPIC Project, stressed the solidarity actions expressed from Poland towards Ukraine: the red and white Country is thus welcoming hundreds of hundreds of refugees. Similarly Christelle Savall, Vice-President of JEF Europe, underlined the need of welcoming Ukraine as a candidate Country to join the Union.

Future hopes, needs and actions which have to be taken to support the Country of ​​blue sky above the yellow field of wheat, as expressed by Andriy Sadovyi, Mayor of Lviv. At the same time Iryna Orel, from Promote Ukriane, underlined the need to design a quality information space showing real events taking place in Ukraine. Similarly, in a gentle and powerful voice Inna Volkova, from the Odessa Regional Council, after having showed pictures of bombing, hanging the demaged flag of Ukraine, she called for “Slava Ukrainii”.

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AT A GLANCE

It is essential nowadays to develop and improve our intercultural competence with emphasis on intercultural sensitiveness because we don’t have to travel to another country to face with different culture, different cultures come to us, and different cultures are around us. That is a really positive change nevertheless we have to learn to handle our fears and learn to understand, tolerate and accept each other and to learn to live together. Youth workers have to be prepared for that and provide support for young people they work with to become interculturally sensitive for each other and go through the phases of intercultural sensitiveness and understand their and others’ reactions.
Milton J. Bennett made a fantastic theory called “Developmental model of intercultural sensitiveness” which can be used in youth work and put it in practice in everyday lives and work of youth workers. The academic model can be adapted to youth work activities which gives opportunity for youth workers to support young people to understand each others and improve their abilities to function together even they represent a Muslim and a Jewish family.

OBJECTIVES

  • Getting acquainted with the theory of Milton J. Bennett: Developmental model of intercultural sensitiveness;
  • Develop and improve intercultural competence through the model as recognising phases of the model: Ambiguity; Getting to know other culture; understand other culture; Tolerance of differences; Acceptance of differences; Appreciation of diversity; Adaptation; Ability to function in other culture.
  • How youth workers, youth leaders, teachers and social workers can put the theory into practice can be used in practice in the daily work with young people with fewer opportunities
  • Invent new Key Action 1 Mobility projects for young people and youth workers to further spread the practice

ACTIVITIES

The project will be built on a capacity building seminar is aimed at putting the Developmental model of intercultural sensitiveness into local and European youth work practice.

The specific objectives of the project will be:

  • To be acquainted on the Developmental model of intercultural sensitiveness made by Milton J. Bennett;
  • To adapt the academic model to youth work reality through self –assessment and dialogue space;

AT A GLANCE

Consisting of a training course, transnational youth initiatives, and a final seminar, CHARM focused on helping – through non-formal learning actions – young people from 5 different countries to improve their skills and actively participate in the life of their communities. Beyond the form of art expression, music is used as a tool for non-formal learning and youth development: music-related activities focuses on such themes as self-entrepreneurship, promotion of good relationships, and prevention of bad behaviours. The project also plans to disseminate this “new idea” of music, as well as raising awareness on the importance of youth working and youth policies.

OBJECTIVES

CHARM aims to achieve the following objectives:

  • stimulate the involvement of Arzignano municipality and other municipalities and partners in European youth and non-formal education activities;
  • promote youth active citizenship and to develop youth skills and competencies, also for facilitating their entrance in the labour market;
  • share a common way of thinking about the use of music as a tool for promoting non-formal learning in Europe, and to develop a long-term network focused on this topic;
  • exchange best practices among partners and learn from one another’s experience.

ACTIVITIES

Three main activities will take place during the 18-month life-span of the project.
In May 2014, a 6-day training course involving 40 people will be organized in Arzignano (Italy), serving as a platform for discussion and exchange of good practices related to music as a tool for education. It will be followed by transnational youth initiatives to be hosted in Italy and Bulgaria to give participants the opportunity to be directly, actively involved in the process of developing music as a tool for non-formal learning. Finally, a seminar will be organized in Strasbourg in Spring 2015 so as to draw conclusions and summarize all the ideas and approaches developed during the course of the project.
Overall, at least 150 persons from various counties are expected to be directly involved in the project.

AT A GLANCE

DECIDE is designed to develop, through the establishment of a thematic network of towns and by adopting a bottom-up approach, a democratic compact, namely a set of measures that are needed in Europe to increase the quality of democracy and citizen participation.

These measures will be identified, exchanged, further elaborated and tested by all the project partners. The partnership is composed of 24 partners from 14 countries: 4 countries from the so-called “EU15”, 6 countries accessing the EU between 2004 and 2007 and 4 IPA countries. This will allow an enriching exchange among partners with different track record in the European Union and will contribute to develop a sense of belonging to a common “house”.
The main final outcomes of DECIDE will be:

  1. the establishment of a thematic network of towns committed to increase the quality of democracy and citizen participation in the enlarged Europe
  2. the democratic compact, a set of measures which have been tested and that can be further disseminated and implemented.

OBJECTIVES

DECIDE achieved the following objectives:

  • Empowering citizens to play a full part in the democratic life of the EU;
  • Developing a sense of European identity, based on common values, history and culture;
  • Fostering a sense of ownership of the European Union among its citizens;
  • Promoting intercultural dialogue;
  • Fostering citizens’ participation through volunteering;
  • Promoting equal opportunities;
  • Developing a thematic and long-lasting cooperation between towns;
  • Raising awareness, reflection and debate on the relevance and implications of EU policies on citizens’ daily lives

ACTIVITIES

DECIDE foresees 6 steps, having impact both at the local and at the European level.
Activity 1: Launching International Event
Objectives: promote and launch the project; promote the first exchange among the partners on the addressed topics; define and agree on standard methodological tools; strengthen partners’ and participants’ ownership of the project; promote peer-to-peer multiplying effects (through participants).

Activity 2: Identification: collection of measures to be included in the “democratic compact”
Objectives: create and share on line country based lists of proposed measures for the democratic compact; launch open polls: related results collected and systematised; strengthen communities and partners’ ownership of the project; activate networks of citizens (peer-to-peer multipliers) at the local level; promote and valorise citizens’ role in the construction of a better governance (at the local and at the EU level)

Activity 3: Mid-term International Seminar
Objectives: exchange and debate the proposed measures for the democratic compact; create a first draft of the “democratic compact”; define a concrete action plan and subdivision of roles for the testing phase; exchange, define and agree testing methods and standard tools; enhance partners’ competencies on participatory mechanisms; launch and promote pilot testing phase; strengthen synergies and partnerships with other stakeholders.

Activity 4: Pilot Testing Phase – Local Implementation Processes
Objectives: test the measures included in the democratic compact at national level; draft and share reports on the impact of each tested measure; enhance partners’ competencies and skills in managing and measuring participatory actions; draft and disseminate the updated version of the democratic compact; strengthen the cooperation among partners (through the mobility of the observers)

Activity 5: Final International Seminar
Objectives: assess the testing phase; draft the final version of the democratic compact; promote and disseminate the democratic compact; strengthen the involvement of decision makers in the process; create the basis for the development of the DECIDE network; widely promote the final overall outcomes of the project; enhance partners’ skills and role as actors promoting democracy and citizen participation (also as implementers of EU policies).

Activity 6: Evaluation and Follow-up
Objectives: agree upon and formalise a follow-up action plan; enlarge and strengthen the DECIDE network; elaborate project drafts; activate fund-raising campaigns; foster partners’ – and other stakeholders’ – sense of belonging to the network DECIDE.

AT A GLANCE

P.L.A.Y is a project designed to improve the sense of creativity and entrepreneurship of young unemployed people through arts and sports.
The project foresees a thematic seminar based on non–formal educational methods which support young people to explore their talents meanwhile they discover their own cultures.

OBJECTIVES

  • To get acquainted with priorities of Health and Well Being and Culture and Creativity of the European Youth Strategy “Investing and empowering young people”;
  • To explore key competences with special focus on sense of initiative and entrepreneurship;
  • To practice non – formal educational methods as education through sports in order to discover traditional sports and games, and education through arts in order to discover music, dance, paintings, architecture.
  • To invent self – assessment tools in order to support young people to recognise their talents during non – formal educational methods and identify their learning outcomes;
  • To make a link between learning outcomes and entrepreneurship;
  • To make proposals for local and European youth projects
  • To make solid partnerships for KA1 and KA 2 youth projects according to the proposals of Erasmus + programme.

ACTIVITIES

P.L.A.Y foresees a 9 days Partnership Building Seminar that will be held in the city of Recoaro Terme, Italy.
The participants will get familiar with the European Commission’s European Youth Strategy, will share methods of non-formal education based on arts and sport and create a triple T Strategy: Talents, Traditions, Together – a strategy for initiation and entrepreneurship in local and European level.
They will build up strong partnerships for realisation of the Strategy and invent new projects to implement it locally and at European level.

AT A GLANCE

T-TRUST is a project designed to contribute to prevent early school leaving during the transition from the Middle to the High School. The project foresees a thematic seminar specifically targeting educators who deal with activities for/about/with students from 11 to 17 years of age.
The participants will have the opportunity to interact with different professional figures as well as to learn new educational and relational methods and skills from different cultures.

OBJECTIVES

  • Support to the professional development of those working in education, training and youth with a view to innovation and improvement of the quality of youth activities across Europe;
  • Integration of best practices and new methods in daily activities;
  • Open synergies with organisations active in different social, educational and employment fields;
  • Improve competences, linked to the participants’ professional profile;
  • Disseminate knowledge of practices, policies and systems in education, training or youth across countries;
  • Increase understanding of interconnections between formal and non-formal education;
  • Improve the ability to address the needs of the disadvantaged;

ACTIVITIES

T-TRUST is structured as follows:
1. Online steering committee – preparation phase presents a first overview of all partners. The partners’ representatives will agree on the methods and possible activities to be implemented, according to the specific features and/or bounds of everyone – both of economic, professional and cultural origin.
2. Seminar for educators. The seminar will cover 5 working days and will be held in the Italian city of Sandrigo from 23-27 June
3. Follow-up activities – to be carried out online in the months following the seminar with all partner organizations. The goal is to share the impact of the training done, good practices implemented and / or limitations encountered when returning to the country of origin.

From 6th to 8th of May 2022, ALDA joined the BUK Festival in Modena.  Dedicated to small and medium publishing and directed by Francesco Zarzana, vice-president of ALDA, this 2022 edition marked the XV anniversary of the Festival!

Considering the current circumstances and the already fragile moment for democracy both in the EU and in the whole world, the event “Europe of rights” reflected on the Russian invasion in Ukraine, and the necessity of supporting citizens’ participation to protect human rights.

ALDA colleague, Khrystyna Kvartsiana delivered the presentation “Human rights during wartime”, focusing on the violations of rights currently happening in Ukraine, and in relation to the European Convention on Human Rights.


The event “Human rights during wartime”, focusing on the violations of rights currently happening in Ukraine, and in relation to the European Convention on Human Rights took place at the BUK Festival


“The massacres of civilians in Irpin, Butcha, Borodianka, Izium and many other Ukrainian cities revealed the inhuman nature of the Russian soldiers. In my country, in 2022, they kill children, destroy residential buildings, rape women and kids, and vanish entire cities from the surface. What Russians are doing now in Ukraine undermines the very idea of fundamental human rights, let alone the Geneva convention for humanitarian treatment in war”, said Khrystyna.

Such testimonies need no further explanation. Yet, a great moment of sharing started among organisers and participants, together calling for an immediate stop to this war.

Besides, this festival served as moment of discussion also on other projects, within which the Association is engaged: from the European Platform of Integrating Cities aims to improve the integration of migrants at local level as aimed within EPIC; to the co-designing and co-development processes between young artists coming from different European countries, as proposed by BRAVO BRAVISSIMO; and to the improvement of citizens and youths’ awareness on the social, economic, and environmental implications of the CAP, final goal of CAPPERI.

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ALDA colleagues and speakers at BUK Festival:

  • Khrystyna Kvartsiana, ALDA Programmes Development Officer – ALDA and Researcher IIG (UA)
  • Alessandra Brigo, ALDA Project Manager – Gender, Inclusion and Human rights
  • Nadia di Iulio, ALDA Project Manager – Community Engagement

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AT A GLANCE

Over the last decades, public intervention to address collective problems has been enlarged, challenged by the emergence of new needs, demands, and socio-economic risks. In front of new challenges and unsolved old problems, policy-making and public service delivery have also been gradually evolving towards more inclusive governance models. On the other hand, the European Institutions have encouraged the promotion of participatory approaches in the delivery of public policies, in particular in the field of ESI funds.
In this context, the project was designed to generate and disseminate shared, structured, and constructive knowledge on participatory governance in the field of sustainable energy, through an intense process of dialogue and communication among policymakers, civil society actors and practitioners.

OBJECTIVES

  • Explore existing models of participatory governance in the field of sustainable energy, by drawing together theoretical knowledge and on-the-ground experiences;
  • Deliberate on the main critical points for boosting participatory governance to achieve better outcomes in the field of sustainable energy;
  • Produce an interactive knowledge tool on participatory governance in sustainable energy for raising awareness among public administrators about different alternative participatory approaches, methodologies and tools;
  • Communicate and disseminate shared knowledge on participatory governance in sustainable energy.

STAY CONNECTED

Get updates on the project on the dedicated channels:

AT A GLANCE

Education and career paths are often guided by gender-based stereotypes from the first stages. It demonstrates an important cultural gap not only within the society as a whole but also in the prominent professional role models, which play an important role for individuals who are going through a transition phase, especially for young people who could easily be influenced.
The project’s priority is to address the stereotyping of educational and career choices and promoted gender equality in education, training, career guidance and at the workplace. GET UP launched a capacity building process for the professionals who intervene in transition phases along the education-training-labour market chain by developing and delivering training on gender equality!

OBJECTIVES

To respond to the above-mentioned priority, the specific objectives of the project are to:

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

ACTIVITIES

  • GET UP foresees 9 steps, having impact both at the local and at the European level:
  • Comparison and analysis of existing training offers on gender balance issues for the different professional profiles involved in the project, considering also that EIGE is going to provide one through its online platform;
  • Focus Groups for Assessment of knowledge, skills and behaviours that the partners organizations and their members and networks have over the issues of gender equality and the acceptance of the “other” as a basic factor of the organizations working in a non-discriminatory manner;
  • Definition of the knowledge and competences needs;
  • Definition of the EMSC that the professionals involved should achieve on the issues of gender equality, non-discrimination and promotion of equality in education and at the workplace.
  • Design and definition of a standard for the Training aimed at the achievement of the EMSC, both in person and online;
  • Implementation of the Training Offer on an experimental basis within the partners organizations and their members;
  • Uploading and dissemination of the project results
  • Raising awareness Campaign;
  • Monitoring and evaluation of the achieved results and impacts.

STAY CONNECTED

Get updates on the project on the dedicated channels:

social media, website and # icons ?

On May 6th, ALDA had the opportunity to discuss climate change, as well as the role of young people within this issue and what the community is doing with the project Climate of Change, to improve the situation we are living in.

In the beautiful location of Villa Schutzenberger in the city centre of Strasbourg, during the ALDA General Assembly and the Strasbourg Summit, the Association organised a workshop, with the participation of the French Young European Federalist.

This workshop was the ideal situation for the dissemination of the project and the results of the research carried out during the implementation with a presentation of the case studies report, the Human economy report and IPSOS survey.

The project, the campaign and the petition (signed by many!) were promoted and used as the basis for the panel discussion. The panellists were representatives of youth from France, engaged in the fight against climate change and the migration nexus.


Youth’s concerns about the environment and knowledge of climate-induced migration at the core of the debate


Participants and organisers were able to discuss various topics, moderated by the Climate of Change team from ALDA, and to launch a dialogue on the themes tackled by the project, especially the 4 points promoted by the petition which were at the core of the conversation and showed the interest of youngsters in this topic.

Furthermore, ALDA created a moment of exchange thanks to which the importance of youth’s involvement, and their role within this framework came to surface. Hence, there is a lot of awareness among young people on the environment and environmental issues.

More into depth, ALDA asked to the three panelists several questions on young people’s concerns about the environment and knowledge of climate-induced migration, thus opening very interesting debates in which the audience, mainly composed of high schools and university students took part, showed not only their perplexities and fears about it but also suggested different models of management of these topics, showing awareness and interest.

What did emerge from the climate of change workshop?

ALDA realised that among younger generations there is a desire to get involved in the change-making processes for the future of our planet. Once again, thanks to this workshop, partners and audience further understand how important it is to give voice to young people and give space to their initiatives. Listening to their requests is the first step to start a #Climateofchange.

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After almost 3 years of hard work, the partners of GEM IN “ Game to EMbrace INtercultural education” – finally had the opportunity to gather together for the Final Conference of the project, which took place on May 5, 2022, in Strasbourg. 

During this event, the partners underlined how GEM IN exceeded the purpose of providing  operational policy recommendations in the field of education and training by fostering social inclusion, cross-cultural dialogue and active citizenship and by creating a space in the field of education where formality and informality go hand in hand. 

In a period where education experienced a moment of closure, GEM IN created an educational community to share culture and promote critical thinking. 

As a demonstration of this, the partners presented to the attendees the GEM IN game, a colorful pedagogical kit aimed at teachers/educators as much as youngsters, containing several questions on different topics, such as technology, Europe and social values. The aim of the game was to create an environment where knowledge could be built and accepted, and where the main goal “was not to know the answer, but to be open to understand the answer” as stated by Giovanni Barbieri, project manager at CESIE and coordinator of GEM IN. 


GEM IN created an educational community to share culture and promote critical thinking


The conference continued with a presentation of partners’ experiences when conducting the pilots in their own country. They highlighted how during this phase, the sharing of ideas and the exchange of feedback among partners was constant and constructive, giving life to a whole community. This session was followed by a panel discussion on the benefits of the method “learning by playing”. 

The event ended in a very emotional way, with the hope that the GEM IN game and its community will continue to live beyond the boundaries of the project.

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AT A GLANCE

The project addresses the challenges of sustainable urban mobility and planning in the Tunisian cities of Kairouan and Mahdia. To do so, the project works along the following main areas: capacity building by providing municipalities of both cities with training in the field of local governance; public space design and planning through several micro-projects (7 in Kairouan and 3 in Mahdia) to renovate and better develop both cities; mobilization and awareness-raising activities among citizens to help engage them in their city.

OBJECTIVES

The project aims to promote, on the one hand, a greater citizen participation in local governance and a sustainable urban development. On the other, it fosters soft mobility especially by encouraging biking, in both Tunisian cities of Kairouan and Mahdia. Hence the project intent to improve their economic and tourist attractiveness as well as the daily lives of their citizens.

STAY CONNECTED

Get updates on the project on the dedicated channels:

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The first week of May 2022 was the chance for EPIC partners to meet again, share their experience and their progresses on the project and participate in a side event on the Russian war to Ukraine.

On the 5th of May, EPIC partners gathered in Strasbourg for the 7th Steering committee of the project. The Steering committee (SC) was organised at the same time of the Strasbourg summit, a summit which anticipates the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) where NGOs, CSOs and citizens had the chance to share their expectations on the future of the EU.



During the steering committee partners discussed on the achievements of the project and on the future goals



The Steering committee of the EPIC project was a great chance for partners to meet again after 2 years of online meetings and events, however it was a hybrid event to allow everyone to participate. During the SC, partners discussed on the achievements of the project and on the future goals. Everyone shares their experience on how they are implementing the pilot projects and on how they will divulgate it to the local community, listening carefully to other partners’ opinions. Moreover, during the event partners discussed together on the strategies for the next activities and on how to advocate for more inclusive EU policies.

Eventually, the following day, within the framework of the ALDA General Assembly, the EPIC project, ALDA and the Young European Federalists (JEF) presented an event called “Solidarity with Ukraine: Testimonies of the war”, in which panelists talked about the current situation in Ukraine. Among them: Andriy Sadovi, the Mayor of Lviv, Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA Secretary General, and Marta Siciarek, representing the Gdansk metropolitan region, as well as member of EPIC.

The event was very powerful and emotional, and a good occasion for almost one hundred participants to listen to direct experiences.

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The Headquarters of the Region Grand Est in Strasbourg hosted the Governing Board (GB) meeting on May 5, 2022. Right before the General Assembly, and the Strasbourg Summit, all the members of the Board gathered together in Alsace to discuss several key aspects within which ALDA is involved.

It comes without saying that considering both the location and the time being, the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) and the situation in Ukraine are at the core of this Governing Board meeting.

Specifically, concerning the CoFoE, the GB delivered a position on the CoFoE in relation to the Western Balkans, while the Association has been fully engaged in a multitude of ways; such as: promoting and sharing events on the multi language platform; animating the Working Groups within its network; and joining the Civil Society Convention on the CoFoE. Once again, the Governing Board reaffirmed the role of ALDA as a bridge between civil society and institutions, working for the best of Europe.



Considering both the location and the time being, the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) and the situation in Ukraine are at the core of this Governing Board meeting.



Nowadays, being engaged in European dynamics, being committed to promote democracy and good governance also means to keep supporting Ukrainian citizens in safeguarding their democracy and freedom. Hence, as already expressed in the previous meeting, here in Strasbourg the Board stressed its willingness to provide concrete support to Ukrainian people, friends and colleagues.

Two Local Democracy Agencies (LDAs) within the ALDA’s network, in fact, are based in Ukraine and are now facing terrible and unjust pain. In light of this, the Governing Board, together with the Secretary General, and other delegates from the LDAs have already started to join forces to further help people and colleagues in Mariupol and Dnipro.

Overall, the Governing Board in Strasbourg was essential in order to highlight the key steps that the Association will follow, always for the best of democracy and people’s freedoms

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As part of the PART-Y project, ALDA has created a Toolkit to Build a Communication Campaign for a Young and Inclusive Placemaking. It provides guidance but also examples and ready-to-use templates.

It contains :

  • A handbook explaining how to involve young people in placemaking actions, whether you are a young person or a municipality
  • A toolbox, where you can find all the practical tools to make your own communication campaign.


ALDA has created a Toolkit to Build a Communication Campaign for a Young and Inclusive Placemaking



The Toolkit has been developed on the basis of both desk research and questionnaires filled in by young people during local activities in Trieste and Koper.

In order to make it more inclusive, we also created a handbook adapted for people with cognitive or visual impairment.

The Toolkit is available for free here

Do not miss the next activities of the PART-Y project by following us on social media

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Are you a French 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 France 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. 



Subgranting call will be open until 12 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 France.

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 April 14th,2022 to June 12th ,2022. 

Info: All the questions related to the present call for proposals and the participation modalities have to be addressed to the following email address: Célia C. 

#ClimateOfChange!

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Call for proposals [UPDATED FRENCH]

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)

Open government is a broad concept that involves multiple dimensions, and it is easily declined in a variety of definitions. The OECD defines it as “a culture of governance based on innovative and sustainable public policies and practices inspired by the principles of transparency, accountability, and participation that fosters democracy and inclusive growth”.

Generally speaking, new technologies and digital transformation are key aspects leading to open government, boosting data and information availability, while fostering new ways of shared decision making. In light of this, the AVATAR Project, a partnership between 12 medium and small size towns committed to open government, has been established to promote the culture of open-data and spread the use of digital public services among citizens. By overcoming the traditional administrative boundaries, the 24 month project has seen an intense collaboration among each municipality acting as a “smart community” aimed at fostering the digital culture for citizens, firms and civil society



Register to the international event: “Open Government and smart communities ” on 24-27 May in Schio (Italy)



ALDA, through its operative branch ALDA+ has participated in AVATAR organizing more than 100 events in the target area and coordinating the project in collaboration with local authorities, civil society organization and a variety of stakeholders from different sectors: school and education, ICT firms, and informal group of citizens.

Now it is time to bring AVATAR on another level: join the international event on 24-27 May in Schio (Italy), to learn, to share experiences and practices, hopefully leading to greater coordination and harmonization of activities and practices, while benefitting not only the implementation of the project per se, but also the involvement of citizens of small and medium sized cities.

Hence, partners think that AVATAR will gain great value with the contribution and commitment of EU

actors who believe in the powerful opportunity of digitalization as a mean to:

  • improve, reinforce and enlarge participation in local self-government;
  • promote a consistent, transparent and efficient relationship between citizens, civil society organization, local stakeholders and public administrations, according to the Council of Europe 12 principles of Good Governance.

Take a look at the 3-day agenda

Discover the International Conference’s agenda

Register to the event here