Mese: Agosto2018

A training in the field of co-operative and entrepreneurship will take place on Friday, February 2 and Saturday, 3 February 2018, at the premises of MC Patriot (Žička cesta 4a, 3210 Slov. Konjice).

The event is part of the European project COOPilot, run by a consortium of 11 partner organizations from 9 EU countries launched in April 2017. The objective of the project is to offer an innovative response to the challenges of youth unemployment in the EU by promoting a cooperative entrepreneurial spirit through education and training.

In Slovenia, the project partner is Mladinska zadruga Kreaktor; in cooperation with the Spanish foundation Fundacion Escuela Andaluza de Economia Social, they will deliver the training which is open to all interested participants.

The training will be based on lectures and workshops in the field of cooperatives and entrepreneurship.

Useful resources:
See the complete training program (pdf)
Application form, in Slovenian

Videos filming policemen violently dispersing a peaceful manifestation of Moldovan citizens during the country Independence Day celebration on 27th September in Chișinău show a blatant paradox.

Regional Youth Compact for Europe is a three-year project that aims to empower civil society organizations (CSOs), particularly youth organizations in the Western Balkans and Turkey to more effectively participate in policy design and in monitoring the process of EU integration. Center for Democracy Foundation, Balkan Network for Local Democracy (ALDA and Local Democracy Agencies from the Western Balkan Region), CRTA (Belgrade), Youth Act Center (Albania) and SODEM (Turkey) will work together on various activities aiming to strengthen the capacity of CSOs and youth organizations to monitor the implementation of public policies, to engage in evidence based advocacy through a structured civil dialogue with the focus on good governance, the rule of law, economic governance, employment and social policy reform.

A combined set of awareness-raising, capacity building and regional networking activities are aimed to strengthen the impact of CSOs in the reform process towards the EU integration. The Balkan Network for Local Democracy acting as a consolidated cooperation/consultation platform will be engaging Local Democracy Agencies, local public authorities, CSOs and youth groups from across the region in EU integration related policy dialogue through innovative mechanisms for influencing public policies and reform process.
The main project activities which will be implemented at local and regional level include capacity building, monitoring and advocacy, regional networking and exchange, public campaign and a sub-granting programme.

Regional Youth Compact for Europe is implemented by: Fondazione Center for Democracy, The Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA), ALDA Skopje, , Agenzia della Democrazia Locale di Subotica, , Agenzia della Democrazia Locale Montenegro, dall'Agenzia della democrazia locale di Mostar, Agenzia della democrazia locale Prijedor, Local Democracy Agency of Kosovo, , Local Democracy Agency for Central and Southern Serbia, Local Democracy Agency Zavidovici, Local Democracy Agency Albania, CRTA, Youth Act Albania e SODEM Turkey.

Videos filming policemen violently dispersing a peaceful manifestation of Moldovan citizens during the country Independence Day celebration on 27th August in Chișinău show a blatant paradox.

Citizens, activists, and opposition claim the current government is deeply corrupted, not willing to find the sum of one billion dollar stolen from the state budget, and eagerly walking the path of decreasing democracy.

Euro-planning skills represent a great opportunity for professionals in the development and retention of business clients.

This is the focus of the workshops “Venice Caffè”, which will address the issue of new challenges and opportunities that exist in Europe to support the “doing business”, offering an overview of policies, programs, tools developed to promote the development of SMEs in order to achieve the objectives set out in the Europe 2020 Strategy.

The workshops also offer the opportunity to facilitate the exchange between different actors – professionals, businesses and young people – to discuss possible ideas for projects, initiatives and actions to be developed jointly. The aim is to create a possible road-map of reflection on the issues addressed and a first action plan for the development of joint initiatives and projects.

The events are free, and organized by StudioCentroVeneto in collaboration with ALDA, European Association for Local Democracy, as part of the regional project funded by the European Social Fund “Professions Tomorrow”.

Attend the seminars, and discover the opportunities offered by the European Union to professionals and businesses!

Vicenza: Wednesday, September 19, from 16:00 to 20:00,
c/o StudioCentro – Via G.B. Imperiali

Bassano del Grappa: Monday 17th September, from 16:00 to 20:00,
c/o Informagiovani and City Office – Piazzale Trento, 9/A.
To register, simply send a confirmation email, specifying which seminar you intend to attend, to: info@studiocentroveneto.com

Following the success of the I World Forum of Local Economic Development (Spain, 2011), during which some 1,300 participants from 47 different countries exchanged territorial practices and tools for Local Economic Development (LED), the II World Forum of Local Economic Development will be held in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, from 29th October to 1st November.

The event is organised by the Technological Park of Itaipu (Brazil), the Brazilian Service of Support for Micro and Small Enterprises (SEBRAE), the Andalusian Fund of Municipalities for International Solidarity (FAMSI), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through the ART Initiative, with the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and Regions United (FOGAR).

The main objective of the II World Forum is to advance the relation between the concept of territorial approach to development, the decentralization and deconcentration policies at national level, and the specific tools for integrating the three dimensions of Sustainable Human Development (SHD). The expected results of the 2nd Forum are: i) to advance the global dialogue on LED through the participation and the exchange of experiences between a large range of stakeholders; ii) to identify good practices of successful LED public policies; iii) to establish a system for exchanging experiences and data on LED; iv) to build partnerships and a joint roadmap for greater impact on the global agenda; and v) to raise awareness among governments to adopt policies to facilitate concepts of LED and territorial development as effective stimulus to improve the living conditions of their population.

Technical officers and politicians, Academia, local actors, representatives of the various levels of Government, institutions that promote and support local development, private sector and international organizations coming from the five continents, all while ensuring a territorial, social and gender balance, are expected to take part. Some international organizations, as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, UNWomen, the International Labor Organization, among others, and national ministries of different continents already confirmed their participation.

If you are interested in taking part and to find further information, do not hesitate to visit the LED forum website and/or contact the organizers at info.art@undp.org

At the end of July, a set of conferences took place in Mérida, an ancient city located in the Badajoz province in the Extremadura region of western Spain, to discuss and understand “How decisions are taken in the European Union”. (Read the article on the conference “ALDA joins the discussion on European decision-making processes”).

The month of August marks the end of the 2-year URGENT project. On May 30th and June 1st took place the final International Conference in Athens, Greece, where the project consortium gathered to make a point on the project’s results of the past years. The conference was also the occasion to develop two fundamental documents: the Manifesto and the Handbook, intending to build a common understanding on interculturalism, social inclusion and integration of migrants. Both the URGENT Manifesto and the Handbook are now available on the new URGENT website, which also includes resources on the experiences undertaken by local communities throughout the project, information on past international events, local partner organisations, as well as documents, surveys and reports conducted during the past two years.

The URGENT Manifesto includes several statements, which help to understand the commitments that each partner organisation strived to carry out while they were collaborating with the local governments and the stakeholders involved in the fight against xenophobia and Euroscepticism. During the implementation of the URGENT project, partners shared their experiences and ended up selecting 4 priorities: (1) Foster the intercultural dialogue; (2) Struggle against socio-spatial segregation; (3) Create conditions for an active citizens’ participation in the political process; (4) Ensure the access to basic services.

The URGENT Handbook is now published and it aims at reviewing all of the activities that have been set up during the project in order to extract lessons which will help us to implement our future initiatives. These initiatives will strive towards the improvement of the standard of living in the marginalised neighbourhoods, the fight against stereotypes and the promotion of the social inclusion. The Handbook explains in detail the methodology used during the project and goes back over the international events and the local activities implemented within the framework of a comprehensive agenda. This Handbook emphasizes that the creation and the use of some public spaces at the local level can foster mutual learning among citizens who come from different socio-cultural backgrounds and different European countries. However, it also points out that many local communities and institutions are still struggling for a proper representation as well as for a horizontal policy-making process, which would encompass the members of marginalised groups. The integration of the whole population has to be our primary aim if we want to develop effectively our capacity to ensure the intercultural dialogue. In conclusion, we can assert that the URGENT project has contributed to build a more cohesive Europe.

For further information about the project results, please visit the following website: http://www.urgent-project.eu

“Active citizens are made, not born”. Hence the urge to engage and understand mechanisms and gears regulating the European internal system.
To this end, on July 25th and 26th, 2018 a 2-day training event was held in Mèrida, Spain, titled “How decisions are taken in the European Union”. The conference was organized within the framework of the project CivAct, in collaboration with “Europe with Citizens” and AEXCID – “Agency of Extremadura for International Cooperation and Development”, as well as other partners such as the Youth Institute of Extremadura and the European and the Ibero-American Academic Foundation of Yuste.
CivAct is a project aiming at engaging citizens of different nationalities living in the European Union to come together and start a constructive discussion upon themes like diversity, acceptance and respect.

ALDA was proudly part of this important event through the voice of our project manager, Mr. Marco Boaria, who repeatedly took the stage during the second day of the meeting. His lecture, titled “How to take part to European decisions-making system”, underlined the importance of citizens’ participation at the local level. Moreover, citizens’ participation is strictly bound to knowledge, which is the basis of both change and exchange.

"European citizens must know how the European Union affects their lives, they have to feel part of the European project”, stated Marco Boaria.

Check the agenda of the event