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.
Na kraju, ali ne i najmanje važno, ALDA will be present with a stand dedicated to the projects POSTIĆI, BRAVO BRAVISSIMO, CAPPERI, EPIC, EUscepticOBS.
Otvorene vlasti i pametne zajednice - registrujte se na međunarodni događaj!

Otvorena vlast je širok koncept koji uključuje više dimenzija i lako se negira u raznim definicijama. OECD ga definira kao „kulturu upravljanja zasnovanu na inovativnom i održivim javnim politikama i praksama inspirisanim principima transparentnosti, odgovornosti i učešća koji podstiču demokratiju i inkluzivni rast”.
Uopšteno govoreći, nove tehnologije i digitalna transformacija su ključni aspekti koji vode ka otvorenoj vlas i, povećavajući dostupnost podataka i informacija, istovremeno podstičući nove načine zajedničkog donošenja odluka. U svetlu ovoga, projekat AVATAR i njegovo partnerstvo između 12 srednjih i malih gradova posvećenih otvorenoj vlasti, uspostavljen je u cilju promovisanja kulture otvorenih podataka i širenja korišćenja digitalnih javnih usluga među građanima. Prevazilaženjem tradicionalnih administrativnih granica, 24-mjesečni projekat doživio je intenzivnu saradnju između svake općine koja djeluje kao „pametna zajednica“ s ciljem podsticanja digitalne kulture za građane, firme i organizacije civilnog društva.
ALDA je putem svoje operativne podružnice ALDA+ učestvovala u Avataru koji je organizirao više od 100 događaja u ciljanom području i koordinirao projekt u suradnji s lokalnim vlastima, organizacijama civilnog društva i raznim dionicima iz različitih sektora: školski i obrazovanje, ICT preduzeća i Neformalnih grupa građana.
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.
Stoga partneri projekta smatraju da će AVATAR dobiti veliku vrijednost uz doprinos i zalaganje EU
aktera koji vjeruju u moćnu priliku digitalizacije kao sredstva za:
- poboljšanje, jačanje i povećanje učešća u lokalnoj samoupravi;
- promoviranje dosljednog, transparentnog i efikasanog odnosa između građana, organizacija civilnog društva, lokalnih aktera i javne uprave, u skladu sa 12 principa dobrog upravljanja Savjeta Evrope.
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.
Stoga je 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
Narativ o humanom sistemu za dobrodošlicu izbjeglicama iz Ukrajine

13. April, partneri Projekta EPIC i vanjski akteri okupili su na trećiem webinaru Projekta EPIC „Od prijema u hitnim slučajevima do inkluzivnog i održivog odgovora: pripovijest o humanom sistemu za dobrodošlicu izbjeglicama iz Ukrajine“. Tokom webinara, učesnici su slušali i razgovarali sa aktivistima u sigurnom okruženju, razgovarajući o uticaju štetnih narativa i o potrebi za održivim prihvatom izbjeglica.
Katerna Rusetska, umjetnica i aktivistkinja iz Dnipro, koja usko sarađuje s partnerom našeg projekta EPIC Kitev, razgovarala je o važnosti korištenja prave riječi prilikom rasprave o trenutnim ukrajinskim okolnostima. Stoga je naglasila važnost nazivanja ove situacije kao što jest: kao što je rekla: "To nije sukob, to nije Putinov rat, to je pravi rat". Ona je emocionalno nastavila izražavajući Ukrajinsku bol i patnju, zajedno s bijesom.
Nadalje, Yulia Krichiv, ukrajinska aktivistkinja koja živi u Poljskoj, usredotočila se i na izbor pravog vokabulara. Ovaj je rat, rekla je, to je "carski i kolonijalni rat", kako se dogodilo, nastavila je, u takozvane " postsovjetske zemlje [koje] su zapravo
" Nedostaje nam narativ da bismo se osjećali moćno u mirnim vremenima" - Hania Hakiel
Hania Hakiel, psihoterapeut i nadzornica koji rade na području izbjegličke traume, zaključila je panel diskusiju. Prema njenim riječima, nedostaje nam narativ da bismo se osjećali snažno u mirnim vremenima, pa o izbjeglicama govorimo samo kroz narativ za vanredne situacije. Nadalje, analizirala je psihološki stav ljudi koji pomažu izbjeglicama, te kako su očekivali da izbjeglice uvijek budu zahvalne, ne shvaćajući da se time može stvoriti neuravnotežena veza među ljudima.
Nakon izlaganja gostiju, intervenisali su partneri projekta EPIC koji su objasnili kako se snalaze sa dolaskom izbjeglica, kako državama i institucijama nedostaje saradnja i međusobna podrška, dok upravljanje prepuštaju privatnim i neprofitnim organizacijama. Nadalje, osvrnuli su se i na to kako je Ukrajincima obećano da će stići do zapadne Evrope i lako pristupiti tržištu rada dok pronalaze smještaj, te o tome kako je cijeli proces da im se pomogne da se nastane u novoj zemlji postao problematičan. Imajući ovo u vidu, partneri projekta EPIC neprestano rade na tome da se Ukrajinci osjećaju sigurno i imaju pristup osnovnim javnim uslugama, ali da bi to učinili, potreban je istinski narativ.
Webinar je završio s pitanjima i odgovorima publike i partnera, dok, kako je dogovoreno, o ovom pitanju nije bilo zaključka, kao štoobzirom da je to nemoguće u ovom trenutku. Unatoč tome, ovaj webinar dodatno je ilustrirao važnost razmatranja sistema više utemeljenog na humanom pristupu kada je u pitanju prihvat izbjeglica.
Razmjena civilnog društva: dobro upravljanje i digitalno učešće za tursko i evropsko civilno društvo

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.
U tu svrhu odabrano je 12 turskih i evropskih organizacija civilnog društva koje će imati koristi od niza treninga o ključnim temama koje bi im omogućile da ojačaju svoje operativne metode i uče jedni od drugih, kao i mogućnost finansiranja koja omogućava svakoj organizaciji korisnici uvezati se sa evropskim ili turskim kolegom radi razmjene najboljih praksi.
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.
Stvaranje stvarne zajednice međusobne podrške i razvoj novih lokalnih praksi uz promicanje međunarodne saradnje između EU i Turske

Ova zajednica je konačno bila u mogućnosti da se sastane lično po završetku TEAM4TEAM programa u martu 2022. godine, uz posljednju aktivnost programa: proljetnu školu koja se sastojala od sedmične sesije licem u lice za razmjenu novih alata i iskustava iz programa, a održan je uz podršku projekta Erasmus+ kroz Youth News. Proljetna škola je okupila sve korisnike u Tarragoni, u Španiji, kao i druge međunarodne i lokalne stručne aktere, a zamišljena je bila da bude što interaktivnija. Zadržavajući fokus na prethodno obrađenim programskim temama, offline pristup je omogućio brojne igre i simulacije za dalje istraživanje tema na zanimljiv i inovativan način.
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.
Osim toga, održane su brojne igre među zajednicama, kao i prezentacija projekata razmjene koje bilateralno realizuju korisnici, te studijske posjete Tarragoni, što je ovu sedmicu učinilo izuzetno bogatom razmjenama i omogućilo korisnicima da se upoznaju sa novim alatima, ali i da finaliziraju svoje akcione planove za izgradnju zajedničkih osnova za njihovu buduću saradnju, što je jedan od konačnih ciljeva programa TEAM4TEAM.
Ako očekivane rezultate programa partneri ocjenjuju više nego ispunjenim, ova prošla sedmica imala je mnogo veće rezultate od očekivanih po pitanju umrežavanja, budući da je iz ovog događaja nastala prava zajednica uzajamne pomoći. Divno je bilo biti dijelom ovog projekta o tursko-evropskom civilnom društvu!

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 Mreža
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 to support the ongoing war. The Association is constantly in touch with colleagues and friends in the Country. #ALDAforUkraine
***
Useful info:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youth4ukraine/
Email: youth4europe@dypall.com
Website: https://dypall.com/youth4ukraine
Rehabilitacija u zajednici i inkluzivno socijalno pozorište

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.
Program predstave bio je bogat po izvedbi i sadržaju: počevši od tuniske himne na jeziku znakova, a zatim do mimičarske predstave, igre fantazije, pjesme i inkluzivnog ritmičkog plesa. Publici se svidio svaki dio predstave.
33 izvođača, starosti od 10 do 30 godina, iz 3 različita centra za rehabilitaciju i specijaliziranu edukaciju osoba sa invaliditetom:
- Udruženje Générale des Insuffisants Moteurs de (AGIM Kairouan)
- Union Tunisienne d’Aide aux Insuffisants Mentaux (UTAIM Kairouan)
- Association de Soutien Aux déficients auditifs (ASDA Kairouan)
Među njima su bila i 4 učesnika bez invaliditeta upisana u javni centar za odbranu i socijalnu integraciju (CDIS)
Inkluzivna predstava pod nazivom "Pozorište za sve", koju je organizirao LDA Tunis, održana je 30. marta 2022. u kulturnom centru 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.
Nadalje, ovaj projekt “Je Repars de Toi” je finansiranog od strane AIC-a, a sprovodi se u saradnji sa LDA Tunis COPE Italija i udruženjem za rehabilitaciju osoba sa invaliditetom. Nadalje, u svjetlu nove saradnje, djeca sa smetnjama u razvoju iz Italije moći će posjetiti Kairouan, uključivši se u pozorišne radionice, i pripremiti još jednu inkluzivnu predstavu do kraja maja u izvođenju italijanskih i tuniskih učesnika.
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.
***
More information on Perception Website
[Video credits: Percpetion Project]