Month: May 2021

On the 20^th of May 2021, the project IMPACT -Inclusion Matters! using Performing Arts towards Cohesion and Tolerance has officially closed its virtual doors with the Final Online Conference. The question is now, did we made the IMPACT we were hoping for? The answer is yes, as shown by the projects final outcomes: good practices, guidelines and a video

The final conference had the objective to highlight good practices designed to foster social inclusion by developing art strategies, techniques and methodologies which target refugees and citizens at the local level. The event gathered more than 60 representatives of civil society organizations as well as artistic and other institutions that work on the topic of social inclusion of migrants and refugees.

The project leader presented the project and its outcomes, and the partners presented their work on local level. Also, the conference was the perfect occasion to present the new innovative pedagogical tool developed by the project partners and the video made to illustrate the project activities.

IMPACT guidelines: social integration through performing arts is an innovative methodology resulting from the contribution of artists active in the field of social inclusion through arts coming from seven different countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Italy, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. The aim of the guidelines is to facilitate the design and implementation of workshops for social integration of migrants and local citizens, through the use of theatre and performing arts.

The promotional Video for Digital Education is a visual documentation of what the IMPACT project meant for the refugees and locals on personal level. Furthermore, it intends to show, to interested parties, how the proscribed strategies and pedagogy of methodology from the developed guidelines can be used during workshops.  The aim of the video is to promote cohesion, tolerance and joy to the outside by selling the methodology and showing the results of a self-directed group in a visual way.

The Guidelines and the Video for Digital education are easily accessible on the ALDA webpage and YouTube so the future artists and social workers can get inspired and us this unique methodology in their communities.

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The project IMPACT is funded by the Erasmus+ programme and is implemented by the Coalition of Youth Organizations SEGA in cooperation with VIFIN – Videnscenter for Integration – Denmark, as lead partner, ALDA – France, La Piccionaia – Italy, LDA – Montenegro, LDA – Bosnia & Herzegovina, Association for Developing Voluntary Work – Novo Mesto and the Urban Development Center – Serbia.

It is official: ALDA General Assembly is coming soon and with it a whole week of special events under the banner of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

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ALDA is extremely proud to announce that its General Assembly 2021 is going to happen on Friday, June 25^th, at the end of an eventful week starting on Saturday, June 19^th.

Taking place completely online for the second time in its history (and hopefully the last!), ALDA General Assembly 2021 and its related events will follow a common theme, being ALDA as key stakeholder in stimulating productive dialogue and participation in the Conference on the Future of Europe.

Participation, Involvement, Dialogue, Citizens, Union, Shared Solutions, Democracy: those words are not only ALDA’s main values, but also the pillars of the CoFoE, whose main objective is to encourage citizens to share ideas on the Europe we want to live in and thus shaping our future together.

Within this framework, the General Assembly and the related events will match with the set of topics identified by the CoFoE (i.e. Climate change and environment, digital transformation, migration, European Democracy,…) and will serve to stimulate reflection and discussion on key issues for our future.

Among the twenty or so events scheduled, the ALDA General Assembly will kick off right during the launch of the BUK Festival – the Festival of Small and Medium-sized Publishing, in Modena (Italy), organised by the cultural association Progettarte, member of ALDA and whose President Mr. Francesco Zarzana is also vice-president of the Governing Board.

Discussing “the role of culture in the European Union”, the event fits with the CoFoE’s Education, Culture, European Values topic. Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA Secretary General will be among the keynote speakers with a speech tackling the importance of culture, as a fundamental value for the individual and the community and as a driving force for the construction of a more inclusive and united Europe.

The next events, mainly online, will then bring the attention on one side on migration management and migrants’ inclusion in the labor market, with the contribution of the project LIME – Labor Integration for Migrants Employment. On the other, the theme of digital transformation will be addressed through the project DIGITAL – Supporting Democratic Union and Active Citizenship in Digital Era

Particularly relevant, the General Assembly week will mark the first meeting of ALDA Advisory Board and will see the launch of ALDA Working Groups, with dedicated sessions on June 20^th, 21^st, 22^nd and 23^rd.

As we approach the General Assembly, on Thursday June 24^th ALDA Governing Board members will gather online, accompanying our members and networks in a crescendo up until the General Assembly and the Final Conference on Friday, June 25^th.

Take a look at the Agenda!

Stay tuned and.. save the dates!

On May 19th, ALDA held its 3rd Capacity Building Workshop, entitled: “Coordination mechanisms in the field of migrants’ labour integration: the Italian experience”. The online webinar gathered 61 participants, mainly from Italy, spurring the creation and activation of cluster networks in this country; especially in Rome.

The event, moderated by Dolinda Cavallo from ALDA, was first of all the occasion to present both the LIME project and “CIES Onlus“ –  the lead partner of the project. The event began with the opening speech of Elisabetta Bianca Melandri (CIES’ President), followed by Loredana Gionne’s contribution, focusing on the impact of the Covid-19 on the project as well as on the new challenges they had to face and successfully overcome!

Furthermore, the workshops got through many topics, such as migrants’ in Italy first and  Europe. Hence, Tatiana Esposito  – GD Migration and Integration policies of the Italian Ministry of Labour –  presented the interventions and projects implemented in Italy to foster migrants’ labour inclusion. She focused on the fact that labour integration plays a crucial role when helping migrants and refugees; while insisting on the necessity to ensure close cooperation between the institutions as well as private and public actors at all levels (national and local). Tatiana Esposito particularly emphasised the role of the cities, mentioning Rome as a good example.

Afterwards, Angelique Petrits – Policy Officer at the European Commission – presented the European perspective by showing the Action Plan for Integration; its principles and key figures about employment and skills. In addition, she listed the most important areas of interventions of the Action Plan 2021 – 20217 approved by the European Commission to foster migrants’ inclusion:  education, training, health and housing.

The Action Plan is aimed to:

• Establish a stronger cooperation between labour market actors,
• Give more support to migrant entrepreneurs,
• Increase the participation of migrant women in the labour market, and much more!

Besides, participants had the chance to listen to the voice of the private sector through the presentation of Monia Dardi, Diversity & Inclusion expert at Adecco Foundation. She emphasised the importance of creating networks between the public and private sectors and how it is necessary to set up a systemic approach when it comes to improve the inclusion of migrants into the labour market.

Finally, benefitting from Folco Cimagalli – full professor of Sociology of Migrations at LUMSA University –  Cristiana di Pietro and Marco Mastrodascio – Researchers at LUMSA -, the webinar served as the opportunity to learn more about the MEIC – Migrants Economic Integration Cluster methodology. Based on the case of Rome, they highlighted the first achievements of the pilot project and pointed out the interventions for migrants’ labour integration through the activation and piloting of clusters.

In conclusion, Roberta Petrillo, Senior Migration Expert at CIES Onlus, and Dolinda Cavallo, Project Manager at ALDA, engaged participants in interactive activities to address several questions to the audience. The aim of the discussion was to  collect feedback and opinions from the participants as far as the coordination with other stakeholders in labour inclusion concerns, in order to then develop a MEIC toolkit – containing all tools and guidelines for the set-up of other successful vocation and entrepreneurial cluster initiatives.

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The LIME project  will organise two others events, take note already of the following dates!

• 9th of June, the International Capacity Building Workshop. You can already register HERE.
• 21st of June, the Final Conference of the LIME project. You can already register HERE.

On Saturday, May 8, 2021, the AUTREMENT project “Aménagement Urbain du Territoire pour REinventer les Mobilités et ENgager les Tunisiens” (Urban Planning of the Territory for Reinventing Mobility and Empowering Tunisians)organised its first parade “Nbasklou fel korouane” (Let’s ride a bike in Kairouan) with the support of the municipality and alongside several Kairouanese civil society organisations.
The objective of this bicycle parade was to raise awareness of the use of bicycles as a mode of transport, particularly in the current health context, as well as to inform the general public about the axes of the AUTREMENT project, which are sustainable mobility and citizen participation.

The opening of the parade at Bab El Jeladine, the central square of the city at the gates of the medina, took place in the presence of:

• Mr Radhouen BOUDEN, Mayor of Kairouan, as well as
• Mrs Khaoula HAJJI, municipal councillor in charge of international cooperation projects,

who both participated in the parade. The participants cycled in front of two essential monuments of Kairouan: the great mosque Okba Ibn Nafaa and the Aghlabides’ basins (the fasqiya) before reaching to the end of the city of Kairouan at the Zerbya crossroads and returning to Bab El Jeladine.

The exceptional conditions together with the current health context forced the organisation to limit the number of participants and to cancel the planned activities to encourage exchanges with the inhabitants (stand, exhibition, activities with the public, for example). Other channels of dissemination and exchange with the inhabitants will be developed during the project so that to achieve the same objectives of awareness and citizen mobilisation.

Other bike parades and car-free days are planned within the framework of the project, in Kairouan, but also in Mahdia, in order to raise awareness of the inhabitants to the challenges of sustainable urban mobility, while renewing and perpetuating this kind of event in both cities.

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The AUTREMENT project is a cooperation project, co-financed by the European Union, between the municipalities of Kairouan and Mahdia, the City and Eurometropolis of Strasbourg in France, the CEREMA study centre and the associations ALDA (local democracy) and CODATU (urban mobility).

This year ALDA is very much involved in the framework of the Conference on the Future of Europe (COFOE), which was officially launched last May 9th in the occasion of the “Europe Day” and will land in Strasbourg in 2022.
Besides, ALDA is member of the Civil society Convention for the Conference on the Future of Europe, which is a network of European Civil Society Organizations coordinated by Civil Society Europe. ALDA’s Secretary General Antonella Valmorbida is also an elected member of the Steering Committee, along with representatives from the European Civic Forum, JEF Europe,  Centre for European Volunteering, ECOLISE, SOLIDAR, Green10, the European Citizens Action Service and Volonteurope.

Within the Convention, different thematic clusters have been created around the core topics of the Conference – be they “EU in the world”- “Digital transformation” – “ European democracy”. With ECOLISE, ALDA is co-chairing the cluster on “The Union’s democratic foundations, and how to strengthen democratic processes governing the European Union (including the Rule of law). To make Europe a citizens’ project”. The process of gathering Convention members for the cluster is currently ongoing until the first meeting of the cluster which will take place on May 27^th. The members of the cluster will develop a consultation strategy to gather inputs from their constituencies, networks and other stakeholders.

Based on this strategy, ALDA will coordinate the implementation of this strategy, whereas consultations will be carried out by every cluster members, aiming at elaborating innovative ideas for the EU governance based on citizens dialogue and a democratic participatory approach. The recommendations and proposals will then be presented for the debate to the Convention.

ALDA participates also in the activities of other thematic clusters, namely the one on the fight against climate change and environmental challenges, Europe’s digital transformation and the European Life. Consultations among the members of the NGOs involved in the clusters will be organized soon, stay tuned to know how to contribute to shape a better future for Europe!

In light of this, ALDA will encourage and stimulate its networks and members both at international and global level to actively take part at the Conference on the Future of Europe, by both fully interact with the platform directly; and join all the events that ALDA will organise. Thus, the association is more than glad to guide its partners and friends to fully participate in this great occasion, because #TheFutureIsYours !

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Take a look at the European Commission Platform for COFOE

Read more information on the Civil Society Convention here

On May 18th, from 2 to 3 pm, ALDA Secretary General Ms Antonella Valmorbida was one of the special guest of the 8^th edition of the European Chats, together with Ms Veronika Chmelárová, AEGEE Secretary General. European Chats are online discussion organised by EMI – European Movement International, gathering activists and stakeholders from the EMI network and live-streamed on its main channels.

How does the covid-19 pandemic and its repercussions affect citizens and which impact does it have on the state of democracies around Europe?

This was the main topic Ms Valmorbida addressed during the conversation, moderated by Petros Fassoulas, EMI Secretary General, starting from explaining and giving examples of how the covid-19 has impacted ALDA, its members and which tools ALDA put in place to face such a crisis and support its network.

“What we are bringing with us is that local communities are even more important than before. The role of local governments in sorting out the difficulties with their own civil societies and citizens is the pillar of the recovery” – stated ALDA Secretary General.

Finally, the online discussion ended on a sweet note, addressing the Conference on the Future of Europe, a one-year inclusive process aimed at involving citizens, organisations and local governments in brainstorm together for a boosted and strengthened Europe.

Antonella Valmorbida underlined the fact that this is a “precious moment” for the whole society and ALDA is going to actively join the COFOE with its ALDA network of members and partners, organising events, providing information on the whole mechanisms, and thus stimulating participation.

About the results and hopes we all place in the Conference, Ms Valmorbida is confident that good ideas will emerge from this process, as always results from openness and dialogue, as long as the Member States as well give proof of openness and receptivity .

Watch the full livestream here!

On 13th of March 2021 the conference to present the evaluation report of the pilot projects of the AGREED programme–  Activating Governance Reform for Enhancing Development took place. The event was organised in a hybrid format and participants could join the conversation either online or in presence.

The event was of utmost relevance, since it aimed at presenting the pilot projects implemented thanks to the main AGREED programme and with the support of ALDA, assessing their achievements and results.

The conference was animated by the following keynote speakers:  

• Svetloslav SVILENOV, Project Manager of Public Administration Reform and Anti-Corruption from European Union Delegation from Moldova
• Antonella VALMORBIDA, General Secretary of ALDA
• Alexandru COICA, EaP and Central Asia Coordinator of ALDA
• Victor COTRUTA, EaP Coordinator from ALDA
• Mayors and presidents of the CSO’s which have implemented the grant projects

Participants have highlighted the great results and good cooperation achieved thanks to the projects, expressing their willingness to visit the projects in the field and wishing the best for future actions.

AGREED,  like its pilot projects,  aims to strengthen Moldova’s local authorities capacity to perform a transparent and participatory governance within their communities, focusing on the policy making process related to the upcoming decentralisation reform.

ALDA is glad to have participated in the event and to support such an important project on good governance and local development!

To know more visit AGREED website

ALDA is happy to share this great achievement of the Local Democracy Agency Montenegro. Established in Nikšić since 2001, LDA Montenegro has been working with local communities to promote local democracy, human rights, peace-building, economic development, youth participation and facilitate the European Union integration processes.

This is also an excellent opportunity to remind what they have achieved in the last two decades:

• over 500.000 website visits
• over 10 000 beneficiaries
• over 1000 exchanges
• over 200 partners
• over 100 volunteers and projects

Thanks to the engagement of citizens, volunteers, partners, donors and the support of ALDA, they will continue to develop meaningful actions and partnerships in favour of the local community and the whole region! 

ALDA is pleased to celebrate this great achievement together, while working hand in hand in building a stronger society, in stimulating debates and discussion while encouraging the increase of a democratic reality.

Visit their website and social media to learn more about their work.

Well aware of all the great challenges resulting from the COVID19 health crisis, ALDA’s commitment to support local realities has never failed. Thus, by encouraging a resilient approach to new challenges, by stimulating dialogue and concretely responding to the needs of local communities, ALDA opened a call for participants specifically dedicated to municipalities.

By this call, ALDA has offered its valuable support and knowledge in providing municipalities with new tools and skills useful to overcome those challenges affecting people, while stimulating a reaction to better face the health crisis.

For this specific purpose, selected municipalities will benefit from one-year free membership, while also taking advantage of the already existing opportunities as a member of ALDA, such as:

• Information exchange;
• Participation in international events; 
• Opportunities to join EU consortia and transnational projects and
• Assistance in finding the proper funding opportunities.

During the ALDA Governing Board meeting – on May 17th 2021, the following municipalities have been selected:

1. Municipality of Lushnje  (Albania)
2. Ain sobh nadhour Municipality (Tunisia)
3. Comune di Oristano (Italy)
4. Zagora Municipality (Morocco)
5. Ixelles Municipality (Belgium)
6. Leporano Municipality (Italy)
7. Scafa Municipality  (Italy)
8. Caramanico Terme Municipality (Italy)
9. Perrevia Network (Greece)

ALDA congratulates the shortlisted candidates and looks forward to starting this collaboration, sure that together great achievements can be reached to support local communities!