ALDA at BUK Festival in Modena: come and visit us!
After the great experience of last year, ALDA will join the BUK Festival on May 2022 in Modena.
Dedicated to small and medium publishing and directed by Francesco Zarzana, vice-president of ALDA, this 2022 edition marks the XV anniversary of the Festival! Focusing on the importance of culture and the literature, this initiative represents not only an opportunity for hundreds of people to meet authors and writers; but also to understand how culture is an essential element when it comes to idea sharing and rights.
ALDA at BUK: join the debate entitled " Europe of rights", on Saturday 7 May at 10.30-12.00 at "Sala Leccio"
Hence, by experiencing a fragile moment for democracy both at EU and global level, ALDA, based on the knowledge and gathered through its projects, will conduct a debate entitled ” Europe of rights”, on Saturday 7 may at 10.30-12.00 at “Sala Leccio”
Starting from the reflections on the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine and the importance of citizen participation for the protection of human rights, while considering the attack on the fundamental principles of the European project, peace and security, the event will investigate the new challenges posed to a Europe of solidarity. In addition, exchanging good practices of active citizenship will be at the centre of a workshop, taking place right after the debate.
Enfin, le ALDA will be present with a stand dedicated to the projects ATTEINDRE, BRAVO BRAVISSIMO, CAPPERI, EPIC, EUscepticOBS.
Gouvernement ouvert et communautés intelligentes - Inscrivez-vous à l'événement international !
Le gouvernement ouvert est un concept large qui implique de multiples dimensions, et il se décline facilement en une variété de définitions. L'OCDE le définit comme "une culture de la gouvernance fondée sur l'innovation et la transparence". des politiques et pratiques publiques durables inspirées par les principes de transparence, de responsabilité et de participation qui favorisent la démocratie et la croissance inclusive".
De manière générale, les nouvelles technologies et la transformation numérique sont des aspects clés conduisant à un gouvernement ouvert, stimulant la disponibilité des données et des informations, tout en favorisant de nouveaux modes de prise de décision partagée. Dans cette optique, le projet AVATAR, un partenariat entre 12 villes de taille moyenne et petite engagées dans le gouvernement ouvert, a été mis en place pour promouvoir la culture des données ouvertes et répandre l'utilisation des services publics numériques parmi les citoyens. En dépassant les frontières administratives traditionnelles, le projet de 24 mois a vu une collaboration intense entre chaque municipalité agissant comme une "communauté intelligente" visant à encourager la culture numérique pour les citoyens, les entreprises et les organisations de la société civile.
L'ALDA, par le biais de sa branche opérationnelle ALDA+, a participé à AVATAR en organisant plus de 100 événements dans la zone cible et en coordonnant le projet en collaboration avec les autorités locales, les organisations de la société civile et une variété de parties prenantes de différents secteurs : école et éducation, entreprises de TIC et groupes informels de citoyens.
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.
Les partenaires pensent donc qu' AVATAR gagnera beaucoup en valeur grâce à la contribution et à l'engagement de l'UE.
Des acteurs qui croient en la puissante opportunité de la digitalisation comme moyen de :
- améliorer, renforcer et élargir la participation à l'autonomie locale ;
- promouvoir une relation cohérente, transparente et efficace entre les citoyens, les organisations de la société civile, les acteurs locaux et les administrations publiques, conformément aux 12 principes de bonne gouvernance du Conseil de l'Europe.
Take a look at the 3-day agenda
ALDA awarded with the accreditation to implement ELoGE
The commitment to good governance
The European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA) has invested its energy, knowledge and expertise in promoting democracy and good governance at local level. Following the establishment of the Local Democracy Agencies (LDAs) in the Balkan area, on the initiative of the Council of Europe ALDA has been created to coordinate and further implement the work of the LDAs. Hence, since its foundation in 2000 ALDA’s mission is based on core elements, be they: citizens participation, decentralised cooperation, people and local authorities’ empowerment.
In light of this, it comes with itself the strong bond that the Association has with the overall European context, as well as the values promoted by the Council. With the idea of sharing its know-how, while concretely working on the promotion and realization of the distinguishing European principles, ALDA has been awarded the accreditation to implement the “European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE)” in several municipalities in Croatia, Kosovo* and North Macedonia.
#ALDAforELoGE in a nutshell
ELoGE at a glance
From a general perspective, CoE created different toolkits to measure good governance, and “The European Label of Governance Excellence” is, thus, one of them. More in concrete, ELoGE relies on a partnership between the Council of Europe and an existing reputable regional, national or transnational entity or an ad hoc platform with a substantive know-how, expertise or experience in the field of good governance, especially at the local level.
Hence, the ELoGE programme offers tools to local authorities to measure how they comply with the 12 Principles of Good democratic Governance, which are:
1) Participation, representation, correct conduct of the elections; 2) Responsiveness; 3)Efficiency and effectiveness; 4) Openness and transparency; 5) Rule of law; 6) Ethical conduct; 7) Competence and capacity; 8) Innovation and openness to change; 9) Sustainability and long-term vision; 10) Sound financial management; 11) Human rights, cultural diversity and social cohesion; 12) Accountability
This compliance can be measured through the implementation of the benchmark for the European Label of Governance Excellence, which is also an excellent learning opportunity for the municipalities to improve their daily work.
At the end of the ELoGE Programme, a crystal dodecahedron – the symbol of ELoGE – is awarded to the municipalities which have demonstrated compliance with the principles of good governance, measured against a national benchmark.
ALDA for ELoGE in practice
The tasks that the Association is called to fulfill may be summarized in four main aspects, consisting of:
- Support to LDAs in terms of organisation of workshop organized for the subscribing municipalities so to analyse and scrutinise all technical aspects and to prepare the implementation at local level
- Benchmark: prepare the technical files and guidelines to implement it
- Questionnaires, available on an online platform, are prepared by ALDA. The latter supports the local dissemination, as well as he analysis of the data collected
- Final evaluation consists, among others, in the definition of guidelines for evaluation methodology; and the creation of Evaluation committee
#ALDAforELoGE
Check the campaign of ALDA’s social media, to get weekly updates on the 12 principles!
Le récit d'un système basé sur l'humain pour accueillir les réfugiés d'Ukraine
On 13th April, EPIC partners and external actors gathered together for the 3rd EPIC webinar “From emergency reception to an inclusive and sustainable response: the narrative of a human-based system to welcome refugees from Ukraine”. During the webinar, participants listened and talked to activists in a safe space, discussing the impact of harmful narratives and on the need for a sustainable reception.
Kateryna Rusetska, artist and activist from Dnipro, who works closely with our EPIC partner Kitev, talked about the importance of using the right word when discussing the current Ukrainian circumstances. Hence, she stressed the importance of calling this situation as what is is: As she said: “it’s not a conflict, it’s not Putin’s war, it is a real war”. She emotionally continued by expressing Ukrainians’ pain and suffering, alongside with anger.
Furthermore, Yulia Krichiv, Ukrainian activist living in Poland, focused as well on the choice of the right vocabulary. This war, she said, it’s an “imperial and colonial war”, as happened, she continued, to the so-called “post-soviet countries [that] are actually post-colonial countries”.
"Il nous manque un récit pour nous sentir puissants en temps de paix" - Hania Hakiel
Hania Hakiel, psychothérapeute et superviseur travaillant dans le domaine du traumatisme des réfugiés, a clôturé le tour des panélistes. Selon elle, il nous manque un récit pour nous sentir puissants en temps de paix, et nous ne parlons donc des réfugiés qu'à travers un récit d'urgence. Elle a également analysé l'attitude psychologique des personnes qui aident les réfugiés et la façon dont elles s'attendent à ce que les réfugiés soient toujours reconnaissants, sans se rendre compte qu'en agissant ainsi, un lien déséquilibré entre les personnes peut être créé.
After the guests’ speeches, EPIC partners intervened explaining how they are managing the arrival of new comers, how states and institutions are lacking of cooperation and mutual support, thus leaving the management to private and no-profit organisations. In addition, they reflected on how Ukrainians have been promised to reach western Europe and easily access the labour market, while finding accommodations, and on how all this narrative became problematic to help them settling in a new country. Having that in mind, EPIC partners are constantly working to ensure that Ukrainians feel safe and have access to essential public services, but in order to do so, the right narrative is needed.
Le webinaire s'est terminé par une séance de questions-réponses avec le public et les partenaires. Comme convenu, il n'y a pas eu de conclusion sur le sujet, car il est impossible d'en avoir une pour le moment. Néanmoins, ce webinaire a illustré une nouvelle fois l'importance de considérer un système plus humain lorsqu'il s'agit d'accueillir des réfugiés.
Échange de la société civile : bonne gouvernance et participation numérique pour la société civile turque et européenne
Last month (March 2022) marked the conclusion of the TEAM4TEAM program supported by MitOst within the framework of the Civil Society Exchange Partnership Program 2020-2022. This program, implemented by ALDA and its Turkish partner MEDAR – Media Research Association aimed to foster a democratic discourse, to strengthen the capacity of grassroots media actors to function as drivers of democracy and to empower civil society in being actively engaged in public affairs and expressing/reporting their views.
À cette fin, 12 organisations de la société civile turques et européennes ont été sélectionnées pour bénéficier d'une série de sessions de formation sur des sujets clés qui leur permettront de renforcer leurs méthodes de fonctionnement et d'apprendre les unes des autres, ainsi que d'une opportunité de financement permettant à chaque organisation bénéficiaire de se jumeler avec un homologue européen ou turc pour échanger les meilleures pratiques.
During this past year, the program has allowed a real bridging and bonding of these beneficiaries, who have worked together on topics such as fundraising for media and democracy projects, good governance, news verification, digital security, digitization, social media and third-party tools, data analysis and media, with the support of ALDA and MEDAR, and developed bilateral exchanges on this basis, resulting in the creation of a real community of mutual support and the development of new local practices while promoting EU-Turkish international cooperation.
Création d'une véritable communauté de soutien mutuel et développement de nouvelles pratiques locales, tout en promouvant la coopération internationale UE-Turquie.
Cette communauté a finalement pu se réunir en personne à la fin du programme TEAM4TEAM en mars 2022, avec la dernière activité du programme : une école de printemps qui a consisté en une semaine de sessions en face à face pour partager les nouveaux outils et les expériences du programme et qui a été organisée avec le soutien du programme Erasmus+ à travers le projet Youth News. L'école de printemps a rassemblé tous les bénéficiaires à Tarragone, en Espagne, ainsi que d'autres experts internationaux et locaux, et se voulait aussi interactive que possible. Tout en restant axée sur les thèmes du programme précédemment abordés, l'approche hors ligne a permis de mettre en place de nombreux jeux et simulations afin d'explorer davantage les sujets de manière attrayante et innovante.
On the agenda of the week were: games on local governance such as Electionville where participants had to set up their political party and confront others through the course of the political process through the guidance of Fabel, the game’s founding organization, the design of communication campaigns for participants to put themselves in the shoes of citizen journalists through workshops provided by MEDAR, the discovery of digital tools for participatory democracy such as the presentation of the Decidim platform developed by Platoniq in Barcelona, and citizen consultation simulations facilitated by ALDA where one had to play the role of either an elected official, a local lobby, an association or a citizen and debate a project at the local level.
En outre, de nombreux jeux intercommunautaires ont été organisés, ainsi que la présentation des projets d'échange réalisés bilatéralement par les bénéficiaires, et des visites d'étude à Tarragone, rendant cette semaine extrêmement riche en échanges et permettant aux bénéficiaires de se familiariser avec de nouveaux outils mais aussi de finaliser leurs plans d'action afin de construire un terrain commun pour leurs futures collaborations, un des objectifs finaux du programme TEAM4TEAM.
Si les résultats attendus du programme sont évalués par les partenaires comme plus que remplis, cette dernière semaine a eu des résultats bien supérieurs aux attentes en termes de mise en réseau, puisqu'une véritable communauté d'entraide a émergé de cet événement. Je suis heureux d'avoir participé à ce projet sur la société civile turco-européenne !
Youth4Ukraine: together to support young generations in Ukraine
Mobilizing its network to provide greater support to Ukrainian colleagues and people. Knowing ALDA’s members’ actions to work together for one single aim: peace. This is why ALDA is glad to share “Youth4Ukraine” initiative, promoted by its member DYPALL Réseau
Located in Portugal, DYPALL is willing to promote youth participation at local level. Thus, the reason behind its action: gathering voices and thoughts of young people from all over Europe on the current situation in Ukraine. Overall, the action is aimed at make stakeholders and “people in power” aware of young people perspectives on this.
“Youth4Ukraine” gathers voices and thoughts of young people from all over Europe on the current situation in Ukraine
By launching this social media campaign, the Portuguese Network is inviting everyone, especially teens and youngsters to follow the Youth4Ukraine IG profile and:
- Share their opinion in a video of a maximum of 1-minute (English or in your native language). Upload it on TikTok, Instagram or Twitter under #youth4Ukraine or send it directly to @Youth4Ukraine Instagram profile or
- Send us a message with their name, age, country and a short message they want to share.
ALDA supports positive actions of its network lorso support the ongoing war. The Association is constantly in touch with colleagues and friends in the Country. #ALDAforUkraine
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Useful info:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youth4ukraine/
Email: youth4europe@dypall.com
Website: https://dypall.com/youth4ukraine
Réhabilitation à base communautaire et théâtre social inclusif
The inclusive show entitled “Theatre for everyone”, organized by the LDA Tunisia took place on 30th March 2022, in the cultural center Chebika- Kairouan within the project “Je Repars de Toi”: Community-based Rehabilitation and Inclusive Social Theatre.
Le programme du spectacle était riche en termes de performances et de contenu : il commençait par l'hymne national tunisien dans le langage des signes, puis passait à une pièce de mime, une pièce de fantaisie, une chanson et une danse rythmique inclusive. Le public a adoré chaque partie du spectacle grâce à ses performances fluides et vivantes.
Les 33 artistes, âgés de 10 à 30 ans, appartiennent à trois centres différents de réadaptation et d'éducation spécialisée pour personnes handicapées :
- Association Générale des Insuffisants Moteurs de (AGIM Kairouan)
- Union Tunisienne d’Aide aux Insuffisants Mentaux (UTAIM Kairouan)
- Association de Soutien Aux déficients auditifs (ASDA Kairouan)
Parmi eux, il y avait également 4 participants sans handicap et inscrits au centre public de défense et d'intégration sociale (CDIS).
Le spectacle inclusif intitulé "Théâtre pour tous", organisé par l'ADL Tunisie a eu lieu le 30 mars 2022, au centre culturel Chebika-Kairouan.
The festival, held for the second year, results from 3 workshops for children with disabilities established in the aforementioned centers in October 2020. During the sessions, the participants received regular training that aimed to contribute to their inclusion in the society, to reinforce their capacities, while empowering their personalities. Indeed, the show echoed the success of these activities, showing the ability of the participants to move smoothly on stage and performing autonomously.
Generally speaking, the core of social theater is to create an environment of coexistence, tolerance, and acceptance within the community. Theater is for everyone: each of us is welcomed to join the training activities. The latter are adaptable and flexible according to the capacities of the participants. This concept has been turned into reality in the “Theatre for everyone” show. In addition, the audience was amazed by the skilled and dedicated performers who brought so much enthusiasm and passion to the scene, everything well presented also thanks to decoration, accessories, music and sound effects which were designed and selected with much care and attention.
Moreover, in the framework of the same project “Je Repars de Toi” financed by AICs and implemented with the collaboration of the LDA Tunisia, COPE Italie and associations of rehabilitation for people with disabilities. Furthermore, in light of a new collaboration children with disabilities from Italy will be able to visit Kairouan, joining the theater workshops, and prepare another inclusive show by the end of May, performed by Italian and Tunisian participants.
Finally, this great result was achieved thanks to the constant mobilization of the community and the contribution of different partners. Parents of people with disabilities, children, children and people with disabilities, representatives of local authorities, public and private administrations, and civil society organizations were among the audience. By the end of the show, the LDA Tunisia was approached by potential partners who encouraged the agency and provided promising ideas and recommendations for new collaborations.
'Locked Out of Lockdown’: COVID-19 on Migration Narratives
The event focused on the effects that the health crises had on people in movement towards Europe. Hence, what kind of challenges did migrants have to face in order to integrate into European societies?
'Locked Out of Lockdown’: COVID-19 and Its Effects on Migration Narratives, Migrant Realities and Institutional Responses
Possible answers were discussed during the roundtable, paying special attention to the impact the pandemic has had on the perceptions that shape migration patterns, on the realities migrants faced during a public health emergency and the ways service-providers and first-line practitioners adapted their activities.
Overall, this event was part of the ongoing PERCEPTIONS Research and Innovation Project coordinated by SYNYO GmbH and funded by the European Commission under a Horizon 2020 grant.
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More information on Perception Website
[Video credits: Percpetion Project]