“New expectations for a tired Europe”: Citizen Journalists of LADDER project raise their voice
Is the European Union still a common plan to be realised, is it just a hope, is it a souvenir? After Brexit we all have questions and opinions about the future of EU. Irene Vivas Laline, Citizen Journalist of LADDER project, gives a message of hope and anticipation in her article.
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“Egoistical nationalism, fascism, racism are old skeletons in the cupboard of Europe that are emerging again. Even though currently we are not the best paradigm, we must remind that the European Union won the Nobel Prize for Peace and, today, this becomes the most important souvenir of the past golden days. The Union gave us the strength to see the similarities among us over the differences and tensions that have caused two of the bloodiest conflicts worldwide” writes Irene in her article, entitled “New expectations for a tired Europe – A citizen perspective”.
In these shaky times, we are proud to give voice to a young activist, who is involved and committed to actions of awareness raising on sustainability, and who strongly believes in a common European soul that belongs to all European citizens, despite the fact of being or not a EU citizen.
The Citizen Journalists’ initiative is an activity within the framework of LADDER project, gathering young citizens interested in raising their voice on topics related to DEAR – Development Education and Awareness Raising – and to the implementation of SDGs – Sustainable Development Goals. ALDA and all the consortium of LADDER project are now working to build the network of Citizen Journalists and provide them with the opportunity to express their ideas, experiences and points of view.
Useful link:
Read the article “New expectations for a tired Europe – A citizen perspective”
Know more about LADDER project
Discover how to be part of the Citizen Journalists network
Is the European Union still a common plan to be realised, is it just a hope, is it a souvenir? After Brexit we all have questions and opinions about the future of EU. Irene Vivas Laline, Citizen Journalist of LADDER project, gives a message of hope and anticipation in her article.
***
“Egoistical nationalism, fascism, racism are old skeletons in the cupboard of Europe that are emerging again. Even though currently we are not the best paradigm, we must remind that the European Union won the Nobel Prize for Peace and, today, this becomes the most important souvenir of the past golden days. The Union gave us the strength to see the similarities among us over the differences and tensions that have caused two of the bloodiest conflicts worldwide” writes Irene in her article, entitled “New expectations for a tired Europe – A citizen perspective”.
In these shaky times, we are proud to give voice to a young activist, who is involved and committed to actions of awareness raising on sustainability, and who strongly believes in a common European soul that belongs to all European citizens, despite the fact of being or not a EU citizen.
The Citizen Journalists’ initiative is an activity within the framework of LADDER project, gathering young citizens interested in raising their voice on topics related to DEAR – Development Education and Awareness Raising – and to the implementation of SDGs – Sustainable Development Goals. ALDA and all the consortium of LADDER project are now working to build the network of Citizen Journalists and provide them with the opportunity to express their ideas, experiences and points of view.
Useful link:
Read the article “New expectations for a tired Europe – A citizen perspective”
Know more about LADDER project
Discover how to be part of the Citizen Journalists network
ALDA at the event "Next steps for a sustainable European future: Reforming Europe - Implementing SDGs"
On 7 July 2016, the event entitled “Next steps for a sustainable European future: Reforming Europe – Implementing SDGs”, took place at the European Economic and Social Committee, with the presence of first Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, and the Senior Adviser for Sustainable Development, Karl Falkenberg.
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ALDA attended the conference & the workshops held, which focused on the different dimensions of SDGs, all very related to the objectives of its LADDER Project.
The first workshop, named “Planet: Sustainable consumption and production”, had to do with the environmental dimension of sustainable development. Issues like how could sustainable consumption and production be accomplished within EU, whether collaborative economy would contribute to a sustainable consumption and questions about how these new practices and eco-friendly products could be adapted and accepted by today’s community were discussed extensively.
In the second workshop, entitled “People: Social Justice and Decent Work”, issues were raised concerning the eradication of poverty, the promotion of decent work and the fight against inequalities and discrimination. In the final conclusions of that Workshop, the need of social protection and social investments aiming to a more qualitative work was stressed, as well as the need of setting employment and environmental standards for succeeding a decent work, the necessity of insuring a policy coherence in terms of implementing SDGs, and finally the need of regaining the trust of European citizens by redefining the aim of SDGs.
The third workshop called “Global Partnership and peace” raised issues concerning the revitalization of Global Partnership for Sustainable Development and the enforcement of global solidarity with the participation of all countries, stakeholders and people. The conversation concluded by emphasizing the need of focusing on the principles of SDGs, paying attention on citizens’ initiatives and fostering the credibility of EU by passing from tokenism to practice.
In the final workshop under the title: “Prosperity-Sustainable business and investment”, issues relevant to economic and financial dimension of sustainable development were discussed. The stimulation of innovative ideas, the technical support and enhancement of conceptual ideas in the business world and some ideas on how could business deliver successfully SDGs, were the main conclusions of that workshop.
At the end of the conference, Mr Falkenberg introduced his report (to be made available in July 2016) on the EU’s strategy for incorporating the sustainable development dimension into all EC’s actions & policies.
On 7 July 2016, the event entitled “Next steps for a sustainable European future: Reforming Europe – Implementing SDGs”, took place at the European Economic and Social Committee, with the presence of first Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, and the Senior Adviser for Sustainable Development, Karl Falkenberg.
***
ALDA attended the conference & the workshops held, which focused on the different dimensions of SDGs, all very related to the objectives of its LADDER Project.
The first workshop, named “Planet: Sustainable consumption and production”, had to do with the environmental dimension of sustainable development. Issues like how could sustainable consumption and production be accomplished within EU, whether collaborative economy would contribute to a sustainable consumption and questions about how these new practices and eco-friendly products could be adapted and accepted by today’s community were discussed extensively.
In the second workshop, entitled “People: Social Justice and Decent Work”, issues were raised concerning the eradication of poverty, the promotion of decent work and the fight against inequalities and discrimination. In the final conclusions of that Workshop, the need of social protection and social investments aiming to a more qualitative work was stressed, as well as the need of setting employment and environmental standards for succeeding a decent work, the necessity of insuring a policy coherence in terms of implementing SDGs, and finally the need of regaining the trust of European citizens by redefining the aim of SDGs.
The third workshop called “Global Partnership and peace” raised issues concerning the revitalization of Global Partnership for Sustainable Development and the enforcement of global solidarity with the participation of all countries, stakeholders and people. The conversation concluded by emphasizing the need of focusing on the principles of SDGs, paying attention on citizens’ initiatives and fostering the credibility of EU by passing from tokenism to practice.
In the final workshop under the title: “Prosperity-Sustainable business and investment”, issues relevant to economic and financial dimension of sustainable development were discussed. The stimulation of innovative ideas, the technical support and enhancement of conceptual ideas in the business world and some ideas on how could business deliver successfully SDGs, were the main conclusions of that workshop.
At the end of the conference, Mr Falkenberg introduced his report (to be made available in July 2016) on the EU’s strategy for incorporating the sustainable development dimension into all EC’s actions & policies.
ALDA promoting active citizenship in the EaP and paving the way for the LDA in Odessa, Ukraine
On 6 and 7 July an event on development of active citizenship as a way to strengthen local democracy in Eastern Partnership countries is taking place in Gdansk, Poland.
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ALDA is represented by its Secretary General, Antonella Valmorbida; its Vice President, Imislawa Gorska; the EaP coordinator and project manager, Nino Tvaltvadze; and the Delegate from LDA of the Dnipropetrovsk Region, Kirill Batalov. A meeting to coordinate the launch of the LDA in Odessa, Ukraine, is part of the agenda, and as part of it, the experience gained by the conational LDA in Dnipropetrovsk will be shared as an example of the activities ALDA network is undertaking in the country.
The event is organized by ALDA, the Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP) and the Municipality of Gdansk.
On 6 and 7 July an event on development of active citizenship as a way to strengthen local democracy in Eastern Partnership countries is taking place in Gdansk, Poland.
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ALDA is represented by its Secretary General, Antonella Valmorbida; its Vice President, Imislawa Gorska; the EaP coordinator and project manager, Nino Tvaltvadze; and the Delegate from LDA of the Dnipropetrovsk Region, Kirill Batalov. A meeting to coordinate the launch of the LDA in Odessa, Ukraine, is part of the agenda, and as part of it, the experience gained by the conational LDA in Dnipropetrovsk will be shared as an example of the activities ALDA network is undertaking in the country.
The event is organized by ALDA, the Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP) and the Municipality of Gdansk.
ALDA at the International Associations Meeting organized by EMI
On Thursday 2nd June, Mr. Mattia Brazzale and Mr. Aleksandar Talic, Assistants to ALDA Secretary General attended “EMI International Associations Meeting”, organized by الحركة الأوروبية الدولية.
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In the morning, the plenary session took place and it was opened by the General Secretary of the European Movement International, Mr. Petros Fassoulas, who expressed his opinion that this meeting is planned to bring common interest in solving the problems. In his opinion, this event was great opportunity to analyze and see in which future actions we can work together.
The representatives of the international networks members of EMI, e.g. AEGEE, ECAS, Euroactiveو و JEF, and some others, had opportunity to discuss about Brexit and the consequences in our future activities. The goal was to express the positions of every organization in the meeting and find commune way how to solve the problem of growing anti-EU wind, by working together.
In the afternoon, the participants were split into three groups: ALDA was in that one about “Policy”: each organization had opportunity to present their actions and main aims for the upcoming months. Mr Mattia Brazzale presented ALDA main actions in the next months, in Europe and in the Neighbourhood.
The meeting was an opportunity to find synergies in the future and to strengthen the cooperation.
On Thursday 2nd June, Mr. Mattia Brazzale and Mr. Aleksandar Talic, Assistants to ALDA Secretary General attended “EMI International Associations Meeting”, organized by الحركة الأوروبية الدولية.
***
In the morning, the plenary session took place and it was opened by the General Secretary of the European Movement International, Mr. Petros Fassoulas, who expressed his opinion that this meeting is planned to bring common interest in solving the problems. In his opinion, this event was great opportunity to analyze and see in which future actions we can work together.
The representatives of the international networks members of EMI, e.g. AEGEE, ECAS, Euroactiveو و JEF, and some others, had opportunity to discuss about Brexit and the consequences in our future activities. The goal was to express the positions of every organization in the meeting and find commune way how to solve the problem of growing anti-EU wind, by working together.
In the afternoon, the participants were split into three groups: ALDA was in that one about “Policy”: each organization had opportunity to present their actions and main aims for the upcoming months. Mr Mattia Brazzale presented ALDA main actions in the next months, in Europe and in the Neighbourhood.
The meeting was an opportunity to find synergies in the future and to strengthen the cooperation.
Patras is launching the 2nd phase implementation of “ARRIVAL CITIES”
ALDA is very proud to announce the launching of the 2nd phase of implementation of ARRIVAL CITIES project of Patras Municipality, member of ALDA, confirming its relevant commitment in supporting the values of democracy and citizen participation.
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Patras ULG met on 30th June 2016 at the premises of ADEP SA being the project partner.
Emphasis was put to the detailed presentation of the milestones of the two-year implementation ending in May 2018. The methodology of the thematic workshops (TW) was explained and attracted the participants, who expressed their interest in obtaining the material of all best practices to be included on all five TWs to be organized, starting with the TW in Dresden (21-23.9.2016). The practices of TWs were regarded as an excellent tank of ideas, networking, exchange and cooperation. “Patras Park of Educational activities” was agreed to be the topic of best practice to be included in the 1st TW and further details on its operation were discussed as well as the “European Anti-racism Week 2016” in Patras, as an initiative to focus on (being an excellent example of synergy benefiting social cohesion).
The concept of the local action plan was further addressed with emphasis on identifying actions that may be tested at a “pilot” phase, through internal means and resources of the members of Patras ULG. This was regarded as a fruitful idea to be taken into account, so that the finally proposed local action plan (LAP) becomes more concrete and “reliable”. Patras ULG members agreed that the conduction of proposals for the LAP would be an on-going process with inspiration and creativity and that the collection of related data on the current situation in Patras would contribute to the quality of the final output.
It is noteworthy that the «ARRIVAL CITIES» project perfectly relates to the activation of Patras in the “Intercultural Cities-ICC” network of the Council of Europe and «ALDA : European Association of Local Democracy» as well as « Forum of Adriatic & Ionian Cities-FAIC» where the city is an active member for many years now, trying to exploit the diversity advantage and also apply democratic values in practice.
Patras will exploit local, regional, national and international on-going networking, so that to achieve a multiplier effect on the dissemination and exploitation of «ARRIVAL CITIES» results.
For more info, please contact: Chrissa GERAGA, «ARRIVAL CITIES» Patras Scientific Coordinator / email: geraga@adep.gr / tel: +30-2610-361743, 746
ALDA is very proud to announce the launching of the 2nd phase of implementation of ARRIVAL CITIES project of Patras Municipality, member of ALDA, confirming its relevant commitment in supporting the values of democracy and citizen participation.
***
Patras ULG met on 30th June 2016 at the premises of ADEP SA being the project partner.
Emphasis was put to the detailed presentation of the milestones of the two-year implementation ending in May 2018. The methodology of the thematic workshops (TW) was explained and attracted the participants, who expressed their interest in obtaining the material of all best practices to be included on all five TWs to be organized, starting with the TW in Dresden (21-23.9.2016). The practices of TWs were regarded as an excellent tank of ideas, networking, exchange and cooperation. “Patras Park of Educational activities” was agreed to be the topic of best practice to be included in the 1st TW and further details on its operation were discussed as well as the “European Anti-racism Week 2016” in Patras, as an initiative to focus on (being an excellent example of synergy benefiting social cohesion).
The concept of the local action plan was further addressed with emphasis on identifying actions that may be tested at a “pilot” phase, through internal means and resources of the members of Patras ULG. This was regarded as a fruitful idea to be taken into account, so that the finally proposed local action plan (LAP) becomes more concrete and “reliable”. Patras ULG members agreed that the conduction of proposals for the LAP would be an on-going process with inspiration and creativity and that the collection of related data on the current situation in Patras would contribute to the quality of the final output.
It is noteworthy that the «ARRIVAL CITIES» project perfectly relates to the activation of Patras in the “Intercultural Cities-ICC” network of the Council of Europe and «ALDA : European Association of Local Democracy» as well as « Forum of Adriatic & Ionian Cities-FAIC» where the city is an active member for many years now, trying to exploit the diversity advantage and also apply democratic values in practice.
Patras will exploit local, regional, national and international on-going networking, so that to achieve a multiplier effect on the dissemination and exploitation of «ARRIVAL CITIES» results.
For more info, please contact: Chrissa GERAGA, «ARRIVAL CITIES» Patras Scientific Coordinator / email: geraga@adep.gr / tel: +30-2610-361743, 746
Press Release : Forum de la Société Civile UE-Balkans!
