Citizens Participation Week 2010
Brief report of members´ activities
Analytical Center on Globalization and Regional Cooperation (ACGRC),
Armenia
We sent invitation to Facebook page to 219 of our friends.
Sustainable Development Association – SDA, Bulgaria
As a part of the Citizens Participation Week activities in Bulgaria, Sustainable Development
Assosiation translated, presented and disseminated the Code of Good Practices for Civil
Participation in the Decision-Making Process to non-goverment organizations from 16
countries (Greece, Turkey, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Poland, Estonia,
Latvia, Germany, Turkey, Bulgaria, Botswana, Hungary, Russia and the UK) in Keramoti,
Greece. We have spread the information over our BG partners and colleagues.
Besides this, we will participate on pure BG organization of NGOs, called Forum Civil
Participation, where we will present, propose and try to implement totally the Code. Further
more we have already started process of dialogue with BG EU MP's Mrs. Neinsky and Mr.
Kalfin, responsible for the NGO's to do lobbying for the EU Civil House project.
Center for Civil Initiatives, Croatia
Press release from Croatia:
Radio Mreznica:
http://www.radio-mreznica.hr/vijesti/24-9-2010/prigovori-nas-udaljavaju-od-rjesenjaza-hotel
Rado 047:
http://www.radio047.hr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2300&Itemid=
1
Karlovac danas (web portal):
http://hr.karlovacdanas.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1631:obazenu-se-pregovara-kino-stie-za-tri-godine&catid=32:karlovac&Itemid=117
Saturday, September 25 - a big event in Karlovac. More then 70 CSOs attended.
Unfortunately, the Town did not use the logo of CEE CN – CPW due to lack of funds from
our side.
Agora Central Europe, Czech Republic
In the scope of the CPW Agora CE realized an international seminar called Development of
Cities – Together and Sustainable – innovative methods of citizens involvement into
sustainable development planning. Norwegian experience in their field presented our
colleague Kirsten Paaby. The seminar was organized on Monday the 20th of September.
On Tuesday and ¨Wednesday we organized together with Prague 1 workshops with citizens
Community Planning of Social Services.
On Friday the 25th of September and Saturday was a two day seminar Public participation of
youth for teachers and youth workers from West Bohemia region.
Estonian NGO Roundtable Foundation, Estonia
1. Monitoring and asking from Ministry of Internal Affairs of Estonia of realising and
puting into practice proposals made by Estonain NGOs and communities during
regional seminars and roundtables of Estonian Civil Society Developmnet Concept
(EKAK) organized by Estonain NGO Roundtable Foundation in 2005 in close cooperation
and partnership eith Ministry of Internal Affairs of Estonia (from 18 August up to 10,
November 2005 in all Estonian counties and big Cities, Tallinn and Tartu)
2. Planning, designing and organizing discussions on CP Study and carring out and
realizing CP Study in Estonia, in Estonians communities and local administartions
(University of Tartu, Association of Estonian Cities, Association of Estonian Village
Communities, Estonian Womens Sience and Research Center (ENUT) etc.).
3. Designing and working out of new Action Plan of Estonian Civil Society Developmnet
Concept (EKAK) by Joint Commission of Estonian NGOs and Estonian Government and
Ministry of Internal Affairs of Estonia (Estonian NGO Roundtabel Foundation was not
actively involbed in his process)
Civitas Georgica, Georgia
The major focus for this year was made on involvement of citizens in elaboration of local
development plans. In 5 municipalities of Samegrelo region (Tsalenjikha, Zugdidi, Martvili,
Khobi and Senaki) public hearings were organized by Civitas Georgica with over 600 local
citizens participating.
In Guria region student debates were organized on the issues of emergency risk reduction and
prevention planning. Meetings with officials and youth representatives were held in 4 most
vulnerable villages.
Municipalities of Sagarejo, Khashuri, Chokhatauri and Ozurgeti were collected in Ureki on
25-28 September, where together with Polish partner NGO “Educator” Civitas has organized
training Children rights.
On September 22nd Civitas Georgica has launched new project on youth involvement in local
decision making. Youth centers were established in Zugdidi, Lanchkhuti, Bagdati and
Ambrolauri.
Hungarian Association for Community Development, Hungary
Be a Part of the Whole!
Campaign for Citizenship and Democracy
Citizen Participation Week 2010 - Hungary
The Honorary Patron for the event was Mr. Elemér Hankiss sociologist
International organizer and co-ordinator: Central and Eastern European Citizens Network
(www.ceecn.net)
Main organizers in Hungary:
Civil College Foundation
Hungarian Institute for Culture
Association for Developing Community Involvement
Vocational Network for Supporting Community Initiatives
Hungarian Institute for Culture and Art
Between 20th and 26th September hundreds of civil organizations ran a campaign for raising
awareness on citizen participation and local action at 156 local, small regional and regional
events.
Similarly to previous years, the programme was following two main threads: a national random sample
survey, and local and national events.
Survey:
The survey was about the highlight the level of citizen’s participation in Hungary. The HACD
collected more than 3000 questioners from all around Hungary. Results on CPW site!
Opening Event, 20th of
September.
Pass it on!
HACD and CCF started to organize a
nation-wide teaching and learning
youth movement half year ago. The
movement implemented its second
national professional meeting in the
framework of the CPW. According to
this formal (and natural) link, youth
participation and CPW were the main
focuses of the event.
Closing event, 26th of September.
BudapestDO!
The GÖDÖR (hole) is one of the
most popular Club in the centre of
Budapest. The Club joined the CPW
and organized a two days
programme on participatory theatres.
Linked to the programme, HACD
implemented a community action in
the park of the Club. The action
covered interactive plays to highlight
what residents would do for
Budapest, as well as community
constructions, fabrics representing
citizen participation.
Results in short:
- 156 activities were implemented all over Hungary within the CPW
- The activities were much more CIVIL in a very positive sense, as the larger part of them covered
“hot issues” about the civil society’s interests, according to the CPW10 main Hungarian focuses
(Code of civil participation; youth participation; tolerance and solidarity). Wide scope, cross sectorial cooperations were formulated. Dozens of activities had been carried out to get closer to
the overall changes on these fields.
- As a new thread, this year the Alliance for the Development of Community Participation has
introduced its 7 policy directives, and organized two press conferences involving lead politicians
- National survey was implemented about the level of citizens participation
- 70-90 media reflections had been collected
- The online element of the campaign was stronger, as besides the international CPW Facebook
page a separate Hungarian was also set up, and the CPW blog was also reformed.
Results, reports, pictures on www.reszvetelhete.wordpress.com
Programmes implemented, backround information on www.arh.kozossegfejlesztes.hu
NGOs Support Centre OWOP, Poland
NGO’s Support Centre, based in Bialystok, Poland, organized within the framework of the
Citizen Participation Week 2010 a series of events:
1. Handicraft fairs in Rajgrod – within the framework of “Rajgrod Manufacture” project
directed to the unemployed women of this community (18 September 2010). About 45
people took part in this Saturday afternoon event. During the fairs, the participants of
the project were supposed to present to their community the fruits of their hard work
on handicraft workshops, such as felt earrings, rugs woven from wool, mascots etc.,
and encourage them to buy these products. The workshops were organized at intervals
of a few weeks from April to August 2010 at the headquarters of the Social Assistance
Centre in Rajgrod. The handicraft fairs were the last action in this project.
2. Study visit to Elblag, Gdansk, Slupsk, and Ustka (20-23 September 2010) – within the
framework of “FIO1 supports NGO” project and its Project Managers’ School. The
school consists of workshops and trainings about e.g. writing motions for subsidies,
Project Cycle Management, accountancy in projects, and monitoring and evaluation.
And nearly 20 persons took part in this visit. The participants had an opportunity to
get acquainted with various interesting projects and initiatives of organizations and
local communities of these towns, for instance: activity of ESWIP Elblag Association
and their efforts to establish a network of thematic villages in their region, activity of
RCIWOP Gdansk Foundation, activity of CIO Slupsk Centre and their civil media
(e.g. paper and TV) or Ustka’s Third Age University.
3. On 21th September, 2010, at the headquarters of the Marshal Office of Podlaskie
Voivodeship an information seminar took place. It was directed to the teachers of
regional schools and it concerned preparing motions for subsidies / projects cofinanced from ESF. Since September 2010, there is a new core curriculum of general
education in primary schools. And this core curriculum takes account of equal
educational opportunities for students from groups with limited access to education
and reduce disparities in the quality of educational services. The projects aim to
prepare schools to implement a new core curriculum in grades 1-3, with particular
emphasis on the individual needs of each student. And with the development of
curricula, there will be developed also civic attitudes of students in these schools.
4. On 24th September, 2010, in Hajnowka, right on the edge of Europe's largest natural
forest – Bialowieza Forest – within the Citizen Participation Week, there was a
workshop held. This workshop was directed to representatives of NGOs working in
the field of animation and the development community of this green county. During
the training, participants learned how to work with residents: how to activate the local
community to work towards its development. They also discussed amendments to the
Law on Public Benefit and Volunteer Work, which introduced a new tool for
activation of the inhabitants – a local initiative. Thanks to it, since 2010, Polish people
may, at their request, in cooperation with public authorities implement joint projects
improving the quality of life of the whole community. The meeting was chaired by
Krzysztof Leonczuk from NGO’s Support Centre.
5. On 21-22 September, 2010, we conducted (in Barszczewo near Bialystok) a training
for people who are at risk of social exclusion, to restore them to be active in social life.
1
FIO stands for Civil Initiatives Fund – Polish governmental funds for various citizens initiatives.
The group consisted of persons laid off from the largest factories in the region. During
the training, participants learned new methods of communication and ways of coping
with the barriers that prevent them from proper functioning in society. The training
took place during the Citizen Participation Week.
The Association of Leaders of Local Civic Groups, Poland
1. Participation in the eyes of those who want to influence governance!
Below, there is a list of articles that we wrote. We do not translate them, which we planned at
the beginning, as it does not make sense to put all those details typical for local situation.
They would need a lot of explanations to be understandable. I am not sure they would then be
digestible .
20th of September 2010
Residents of Łódź Want to Make Decisions. A Few Remarks on The Guidelines for
Consultations.
An article on civic initiative to prepare Guidelines for Consultation in Łódź and its practical
implementation. More:
http://www.lgo.pl/news/index.php?id=83
21st September 2010
How to Make People Act! Can Money Drive That Process?
An article on the participation in the budget decisions on the level of neighborhood in
Szczecin. What is a practice now and what should be a vision for that. More:
http://www.lgo.pl/news/index.php?id=84
22nd September 2010
Krakow – City That Consults its Residents!
An article on the system of consultations in Krakow - one of the best Polish practice. Still
there is a lot of barriers stopping people from getting involved and feeling their influence.
More: http://www.lgo.pl/news/index.php?id=85
23rd Sepember 2010
I Can Make a Change! How to Move People in a Small Town.
An article on the activity of local newspaper and association in Tłuszcz (a 18,000 inhabitant
town). The Chief Editor tells how they made people participate in the Town Council
meetings, how they made it 4-hours long instead of 1 hour and how they engage those who
are not interested in politics. More: http://www.lgo.pl/news/index.php?id=86
27th September 2010
My Neighborhood. A Few Remarks Why it is Worthwhile to Take Care of It.
An article summing up different neighborhood initiatives. It should how people can organize,
what is a typical process and how it ends with increased political activity.
More: http://www.lgo.pl/news/index.php?id=88
Centre of Social Innovations, Belarus
23.09.2010 In the Minsk IBB international center was a conference aimed patient rights
protection. This event was connected with international event: Citizen Participation Week
started by CEE CN network.
Results:
1) The event has convened the wide range of representatives from Ministry of health, medical
education sphere, health care professional associations, civil society organizations, patients’
groups, and mass media. The participants have used the conference as communication
platform for sharing ideas and experience on patients’ rights protection and promotion.
2) Commitment has been reached to continue cooperation and further work with regard to
patients’ rights promotion in Belarus.
3) The results of the discussion have been disseminated through the biggest national mass
media issues (nationwide internet portals www.tut.by, www.naviny.by, www.zautra.by,
newspapers “Zviazda”, “Narodnaya Volya”).
Terra-1530, Moldova
By CPW we were taking care of 16.000 trees, planted in the autumn of the last year and in the
spring of the current one.
Asociatia CRONO, Romania
During the Citizens Participation Week 2010 (20th – 26th September), C.R.O.N.O.
Craiova and its partners organised the following events:
Monday, 20th September 2010, Calafat Town (Dolj County, region: Oltenia, SW
Romania), Municipal Cultural Center Calafat. P.L.I.M.M. Calafat, Local Public
Administration (L.P.A.) from Calafat Municipality and Plenița Commune in partnership with
C.R.O.N.O. Craiova organised a public meeting, in order to establish a Local Action Goup
(L.A.G.) Calafat (”G.A.L. Calafat”) in the microregion Calafat – Plenița (SW part of the Dolj
County, region: Oltenia, SW part of Romania). This new NGO was founded on the LEADER
programme principles of the E.U., a partnership between 17 LPAs and 32 legal entities of
private sector (19 NGOs, 13 private enterprises) from this microregion (Dolj county). During
this meeting the representatives of these entities signed the official constituency acts of the
Association ”G..A.L. Calafat”.
Wednesday, 22nd September 2010, Craiova City (Dolj County, region: Oltenia, SW
Romania). C.R.O.N.O. Craiova, PACT Foundation Bucharest and CeRe (Resources Center
for Public Participation) Bucharest organised a public meeting with local NGOs and public
institutions representatives for presentation of the Good Practices Code for Civil Participation.
The event was in the framework of the project “Towards building a viable partnership
between NGOs and public authorities on social inclusion issues”, financed by Balkan Trust
for Democracy.
Thursday, 23rd September 2010:
Fetești Town (Ialomița County, region: Muntenia, SE Romania), Gr. Sc. Ind. Alim.
High - School. The teachers and students from this high-school organised a Public Debate on
World Café method. The theme for this event was “A single world – Millions problems. A
common battle against poverty”. Participants identified the causes and proposed solutions for
those problems.
Commune Bustuchin (Gorj County, region: Oltenia, SW Romania), Local Council
Hall. C.R.O.N.O. Craiova in partnership with the local partners organized a focus-group, in
order to elaborate local development strategy for the following 6 years on the participative
base, through active involvement of the local stakeholders. 14 local public institutions/ LPA
representatives participated at this focus-group. This event was organised in the framework
of the project “AcCiviRur 2010” (May 2010 – February 2011), financed by PETROM S.A.
through its CSR programme.
Commune Urzicuța (Dolj County, region: Oltenia, SW Romania), Local Council Hall.
C.R.O.N.O. Craiova and Local Council Urzicuța organised a public meeting with citizens to
debate the major local development priorities for the next years, in order to elaborate the
participative local development strategy on medium term. This event event was organised in
the framework of the project “Participative Local Development Strategy Urzicuța”, financed
by a local company.
Friday, 24th September 2010:
Commune Cungrea (Olt County, region: Oltenia, SW Romania), Local Council Hall.
C.R.O.N.O. Craiova in partnership with the local partners organized a focus-group, in order to
elaborate local development strategy for the following 6 years on the participative base,
through active involvement of the local stakeholders. 16 local public institutions/ LPA
representatives participated at this focus-group. This event was organised in the framework of
the project “AcCiviRur 2010” (May 2010 – February 2011), financed by PETROM S.A.
through its CSR programme.
Drobeta Turnu Severin City (Mehedinți County, region: Oltenia, SW Romania). The
Association ”MEHEDINȚEANCA” Drobeta Turnu Severin – representing Local Action
Group (L.A.G.) ”Ținutul Cloșani” (Mehedinți County), in partnership with MBH Consulting
S. R. L. (representing L.A.G. ”Mehedințiul de Jos”), and C.R.O.N.O. Craiova (member in 2
L.A.G.’s from Dolj County: L.A.G. ”Calafat” and L.A.G. ”SUDOLT” Giurgița) organised
an informal meeting for initiation a regional L.A.G. Network in Oltenia (South-West Region
of Romania), in order to have a strong representation at national and European level for all
L.A.G’s. from our region.
The network can sustain the management and implementation of territorial
cooperation within the LEADER programme and can also be a catalyst for all the territorial
cooperation actions among its members from different sectors (public authorities/ institutions,
private enterprises, NGOs) with local communities members active involvement.
Saturday (25th September 2010) and Sunday (26th September 2010), Govora Town
(Vâlcea County, region: Oltenia, SW Romania).
C.R.O.N.O. Craiova organised a 2–days
regional NGOs meeting in the framework of the project “Rural NGOs Network from Oltenia”,
financed by CEE Trust. 30 local NGOs representatives participated. During the event
participants establish partnerships between NGOs from our region in order to elaborate
common projects and programmes, which can be financed through the European Funds.
Foundation PACT, Romania
Generally, as well as during the CPW, we try not to promote participation in itself, as it
may appear a mere abstract or technical concept, or as an idealistic principle – but to
link the practice of participation to concrete practicalities of day to day life, in
order to make people regard it as a tool and approach to democratic life in all its aspects.
This is what we did during the CPW in 2010, too.
Here are the main activities that we have organized or supported during the CPW 2010
in Romania:
 Translation of the "Code of Good Practice for Civic Participation in the decision
process” in the Romanian lanuguage
 Dissemination of the Code via website, Facebook page and public event in Craiova
 Translation and adaptation of the HACD questionnaire model to be applied to
citizens during CPW
 Dissemination of questionnaire in Romanian via website and Facebook page
 Organization of a trans-national conference in Craiova, Romania – within a project
developed in partnership by PACT Foundation (national coordinator), CeRe and
CRONO
 Follow up of the event in the local/regional mass media from Oltenia (Craiova’s
region)
 Strong promotion of and participation to the “Let’s Do It, Romania” project –
largest national level social project, that took place on the 25 th September, 2010
 Intense promotion of a youth volunteering project in Bucharest, called VolunTising
Please see more detailed info below (quoted from
http://fundatiapact.ro/en/mid/news.html)
Citizens’ Participation Week: 20 to 26 September 2010 (15/09/2010)
PACT Foundation, together with CRONO Association (Nonprofit Resource Center for
Oltenia) and CeRe (Resource Centre for Public Participation), marks the Citizen
Participation Week in Romania with the Regional Workshop "Open Method of
Coordination and partnership in social inclusion", to take place on September 22nd, in
Craiova.
The event is organized by PACT and its partners, as part of the project "Building a viable
social inclusion partnership between the NGO sector and public authorities" (June 2010 February 2011), financed by the Balkan Trust for Democracy. The project aims to build a
NGO - public authorities partnership for an effective and viable strategy for social
inclusion at national and local level, an important objective of the Social Europe.
Representatives of local authorities and institutions in the region of Oltenia, with
responsibilities in social inclusion, announced their presence at this workshop, together
with specialized NGOs and community organizations.
The workshop is a joint initiative of the Working Group for the Open Method of
Coordination (OMC) in social inclusion, formed in October 2009 through a project
coordinated by PACT, in partnership with CeRe and CRONO, funded by the European
Commission PROGRESS program. The OMC group includes NGOs active in social
inclusion, working with representatives of the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social
Protection and other public authorities and local institutions. The Group aims to promote
and support the Social OMC, as defined by the EU 2020 Strategy, through a tighter
collaboration between social actors relevant in this field. The project consists in a series
of workshops and seminars which will be concluded by a Future Search Conference on
"Integrated Services for Social Inclusion", to take place in November 2010.
We Support Let's Do It Romania Project (16/09/2010)
*an event intensely promoted via multiple communication channels, and by us on
Facebook, too
PACT supports the largest national social involvement project so far: "Let's Do It,
Romania! - Cleaning across the whole country. In one day!" It is an unique social
volunteer project, which involves cleaning the entire country of the cities outskirts trash,
in a single day. That day, known as the National Cleaning Day, falls on Saturday,
September 25, 2010.
The project was initiated in Estonia in 2008, implemented in Latvia and Lithuania (2008,
2009), and for this year, Portugal and Slovenia to join in, along Romania. By involving a
large number of volunteers in this project, we can break a record, because Romania is
the largest country in Europe that registered for the project so far!
The Initiative Group of the Bucharest Community Foundation will participate to the
National Cleaning Day with 30 volunteers. This is the first public action of the Bucharest
Community Foundation. Community Foundation is part of a the Program for the
Development of the Community Foundations in Romania - coordinated nationally by
the Association for Community Relations in Cluj (ARC), in partnership with PACT
(responsible for developing the program in southern Romania) and Foundation
Partnership (REPF).
You can get involved, either as a volunteer, as a supporter, sponsor or donor, by signing
up on site http://www.letsdoitromania.ro. Here you can also find the latest news of the
campaign.
Why "Let's Do It, Romania"?
• because Romanians were so tired of “sitting and watching”, without taking any action
• because if we all get involved, for one day, we’ll make a visible change in Romania
• because Waste and garbage is a real problem in Romania
• because Romanian citizens must understand the importance of responsible behaviour
towards the environment and the necessity of acting accordingly in everyday life.
Website: http://www.letsdoitromania.ro; Blog: http://blog.letsdoitromania.ro
You can see here a very interesting video about cleaning in Estonia.
Support Citizen Participation Week by filling a short questionnaire
(21/09/2010)
* related material also posted on PACT Foundation’s Facebook page, on the same day
You can support this initiative, by filling this questionnaire on active
participation and sending it to office@fundatiapact.ro If you're interested in the
event, you can find out more on the website of the event and on its Facebook profile.
Debates in Craiova on civic participation, under the aegis of Citizens’
*
Participation Week (22/09/2010) reminder on CPW questionnaire and Code of
Civic Participation (promoted in Romanian and English) posted on PACT Foundation’s
Facebook page, on the same day
The Resource Center for Non-Profit Organizations in Oltenia (CRONO) together with PACT
Foundation (Partnership for Community Action and Transformation) and the Resource
Centre for public participation (CeRe) organized a meeting during the Citizens’
Participation Week, attended by members of several NGOs in Craiova and representatives
of local authorities from Oltenia region.
Along the event, there were debates on various local and regional realities, focusing on
democracy and the importance of participation, as well as on opportunities for active
citizenship. Issues related to initiative, involvement and local action were addressed also,
stressing on good practices in this respect. The topics under discussion converged
towards the necessity and usefulness of increasing community welfare through direct
actions of citizens themselves. The organizers provided relevant examples, based on
practical experiences and realities actually lived by people in different communities,
which were meant to be inspirational towards taking action.
The event was an opportunity to debate the European Code of Civic Participation and to
present joint proposals of the working group on social inclusion referring to a potential
consultation mechanism between public authorities and NGOs with regard to social
inclusion policies. Once again we reiterated the crucial importance of real collaboration
among NGOs active in the area and local authorities that hold responsibilities related to
the creation and implementation of measures aimed at the social inclusion of vulnerable
groups. Hence, it was underlined that only by starting from the local level we may then
build together a national strategy for social inclusion that is efficient, viable, and thus
realistic (based on the very needs of beneficiaries themselves).
Citizens’ Participation Week (September 20th – 26th, 2010) represented a good occasion
for local communities and NGOs confronted with various common problems to share their
experiences and express their initiatives of social improvement, as well as other
professional initiatives that unite them. The reunion itself was meant to evidence the
importance of dialogue and collaboration and to promote those civic initiatives that play a
key role in the development of local communities.
Over the recent years, more than 200 NGOs in 20 European countries have joined the
efforts of the Central and Eastern European Citizens Network (CEECN) in the
development of Citizens’ Participation Week and have gained commitment for this cause
from local personalities and political leaders. For more details related to the events of
Citizens’ Participation Week from the CEECN member countries you may follow the CPW
Facebook page here.
150.000 Romanians participated to Let’s Do It, Romania! on September 25 th and cleaned
throughout the country (26/09/2010)
*posted on PACT Foundation’s Facebook page, quoted from the social media
Up-date (8/11/2010) – source: http://www.evz.ro/detalii/stiri/lets-do-it-romania-rezultate-finale911682.html
Over 200.000 volunteers participated in the largest social involvement project in
Romania, by going to the great cleaning day on September 25th, 2010.
Over 550.000 garbage bags were gathered from all over the country.
The largest numbers of volunteers mobilized were rated in Brasov county (15.000),
followed by Cluj county (13.000) and Bucharest-Ilfov region (11.000).
SUPPORT FOR THE VOLUNTISING CAMPAIGN – BEYOND YOUTH
POTENTIAL
*posted as well on PACT Foundation’s Facebook page along the way
We are happy to support Voluntising - a BYP project (06/08/2010)
The BYP team (Beyond Youth Potential) merges volunteering and advertising in
Voluntising, a project that we enthusiastically joined. The idea was born in may and since
then, it has shaped into 3 TV spots made by volunteers, that met great succes among
young people. This autumn, the project continues. The implementers are hoping for it to
have a bigger impact, by moving forward from TV spots creation to full-sized online
campaigns promoting volunteering. In order to be able to better monitor the project
evolution, the BYP team shall manage a database of potential volunteers subscribed
during the campaigns. The database shall be made available to BYP partners. Please
access www.bypteam.com for more information.
Beyond Youth Potential promotes volunteering to young people (20/09/2010)
Voluntising is a project of Beyond Youth Potential (www.bypteam.com), that we decided
to support, for the mere reason that it promotes a value we believe in:
volunteering. After a first edition in May, this autumn the project continues and grows. In
May, young people that participated in the project combined advertising and volunteering
to create TV spots that promoted volunteering. For the second edition, implementers add
a new dimension to promotion: participants are challenged to elaborate online marketing
campaigns to promote volunteering.
Come and join Voluntising 2 (01/10/2010)
Between October 21st and November 29th, BYP - Beyond Youth Potential is organizing
the project Voluntising 2, aimed at increasing awareness on volunteering. The event will
take place in Bucharest and it will be consist of 3 components: a 5-day training in
volunteering and advertising, 1 month promotion of media campaigns realized by
participants and producing an information video on volunteering designed for NGOs.
The project's second edition aims at increasing the involvemnt of youth in volunteering
activities. Participants shall be organized in teams in order to produce TV spots, radio
jingles, print designs and (online) banner designs to promote volunteering. Participants
shall use knowledge acquired during the training session in order to produce these
materials. The themes for the promotion campaigns are: general volunteering,
environment volunteering, youth organization volunteering, social volunteering and
education volunteering.
The event will also benefit from the presence of famous speakers, such as: Monica
Tatoiu, Andreea Ionescu, Monica Brătescu, Carmen Marcu, Ciprian Gavriliu şi Tedy
Necula. If you are willing to participate in this event, you should fill the application form,
until October 17th 2010.
BYP is a non-profit organization funded in August 2007, by young people willing to get
involved in volunteering activities. The organization's objectives are personal and
professional development of young people, facilitating their access to working fields such
as project management and human resources and training youth according to market
demand, by helping them to unveil their potential.
For more information, please contact the project site: http://voluntising.bypteam.com.
Contact person: Alexandru Molea – BYP President; e-mail: office@bypteam.com
Promoting volunteering in Voluntising 2 (01/11/2010)
Between November 21st and 25th, 35 young people took part in a 5-day training
organized within Voluntising 2 - a project that aims at increasing youth involvement in
volunteering activities. After having acquired information on advertising and volunteering
and abilities in campaigning and teamwork, participants created 5 videospots (that you
can watch below) and took the first steps in sustaining and developing online promotion
campaigns for their teams and projects.
Throughout the next month the teams that take part in the project shall dedicate their
time to attracting new volunteers, promoting their ideas, conceiving small projects to put
into practice along with their supporters. After the promotion campaigns officially end (on
October 29th), the teams that have succeeded in conceiving viable projects and in
attracting new members, shall be supported by Beyond Youth Potential and other NGOs
to put their plans into action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWpqraaFe88
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt75sS0XvVo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWPsMHcjwMs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X5-OOOMUxg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN7cgMLEWQQ
CeRe Resource Center for Public Participation, Romania
CeRe celebrated the Citizens Participation Week by organizing the second edition of the
national event Public Participation Awards Gala on September 23rd. During the event, the 11
winning projects have shown once again that in order to change something in your
community one doesn't need much money, but a lot of will and ambition. At the Gala
participated over 150 NGO activists, representatives of public authorities, journalists and
citizens interested in what successes taking action can bring. The Gala benefited from national
and local media coverage and it still generates in-depth articles on the winning stories of
public participation and advocacy.
The Pictures from the event are available on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24368&id=126181614097135
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24368&id=126181614097135
Pro Democracy Association Brasov branch, Brasov, Romania
Informational campaign on how are applied the Romanian Laws no. 544 of 2001 and no.
52 of 2003
- 21st of September 2010 –
On September 21st, 2010, took place in Brasov city (Brasov county, Romania), in central area
of the town (Piata Sfatului, Republicii street), at Pro Democracy Association Brasov branch
initiative, a street action named “A campaign to inform citizens of Brasov town how are
applied the Law no. 544 of 2001 and Law no. 52 of 2003.”
This campaign aimed to stimulate citizen participation at public decision making, through
appropriate information on the application of Romanian Laws no. 544 of 2001 – regarding
free access to public information, and no. 52 of 2003 – on decisional transparency in public
administration.
Our organization volunteers have interact with Brasov citizens, inform them both on Citizen
Participation Week and on previously mentioned legislative instruments, instruments that can
be used to determine local government to work more transparently. Also, our volunteers have
distributed informational materials to interested citizens, presenting them how an application
under Law no. 544 of 2001 – regarding free access to public information -, can be filled and
which are the institutions to whom it can be addressed.
Were distributed 120 informational materials to the interested citizens, materials containing
information on Romanian Laws no. 544 of 2001 and no. 52 of 2003.
“Take action! – An local NGOs and media campaign for identifing and prevent the
coruption acts”
- 23 and 24 of September 2010 –
Another event held during Citizen Participation Week, in Brasov city, was a training session,
with the topic “Take action! For integrity”. The event took, included in the project “Take
action! - An local NGOs and media campaign for identifing and prevent the coruption
acts”, financed by European Union, through program Transition Facility 2007/19343.01.11 –
Strengthening civil society support in the fight
against corruption.
This project is conducted at the national level and was initiated by Pro Democracy
Association and implemented in Brasov by Pro Democracy Association Brasov branch.
The mentioned activity was carried out at Baiulescu House, located at no 33-35 Baiulescu
Boulevard in Brasov city.
Through this training session was aimed to transform
NGOs and local media from Brasov city into active partners of local government, in order to
carry out specific measures to identify and prevent corruption and transparency of public
government activities.
Local project coordinator, from part of Pro Democracy Association Brasov branch, presented
the project manual “The Road to Integrity” and discussed about the ways in which it can
become an effective tool in educating the community to be involved in the process of
identifying and preventing corruption, by promoting ethics, transparency and accountability
of public institutions.
At the training were presented 18 participants; 14 participants from NGOs located in Brasov
city and 4 participants from local media, which have acquired knowledge and skills necessary
to act as local resources persons and information’s multipliers.
Civic Initiatives, Serbia
The promotion of citizen participation and work to increase the level of participation is one of
the strategic goals of Civic Initiatives. All projects that are implemented are intended to raise
the capacity of NGOs and citizens to influence the decision-making process. One of the
biggest programs of Civic Initiatives, the Civic Education program, is aimed at raising the
quality of the subject of Civic Education in secondary and primary schools, and in particular it
insists on the issues of participation, democracy and influence the decision making process.
During the Citizens Participation Week, Civic Initiatives held three events to promote the
participation among three different target groups. The first is the conference "The Code of
Good Practice for Civil Participation in the Decision-Making Process", the second was a
training for high school students within the SYLP program where the trainers presented the
benefit of participation, and the third event is a lecture within the Specialist Course for
teachers of Civic Education in primary and secondary schools.
The conference on "Code of Good Practice for Civil Participation in the Decision-Making
Process" is the first of a series of events under the project "Citizens Decide". The Council of
Europe’s Code and its implementation and good practice of the EU were presented to the
participants and individuals interested in design and implementation of policies at national
and local levels. The conference attendees (more than 50 representatives of NGOs from
Serbia) were addressed by Milan Marković, Minister of Public Administration and Local SelfGovernment, Miljenko Dereta, Executive Director of Civic Initiatives, Nadia Ćuk, Deputy
Special Representative of the Secretary General in Serbia, Tina Michieli, Centre for
Information Services, Cooperation and Development of NGOs from Slovenia and Žarko
Šunderić, Manager of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction
Unit. The main objective of this conference is the introduction of European standards of civic
participation.
Within the scope of the training for high school students, organized to prepare them for their
visit to the U.S. and to provide them with necessary skills for actions that will be implemented
in their municipalities after they return, one session was devoted to the concept of
participation. At the beginning they played a game - the participants were divided into two
groups. The instruction was to play soccer, but using hands only to roll the ball across the
room, trying to score a goal. When members of one team make a foul, the other team has 30
seconds to set a rule which has to be obeyed during the rest of the match. The game was
interesting and fun for the participants. After the game, we discussed about how they felt
when someone else had all the power of making decisions for them, how did the process of
negotiating within the team unfolded, with an emphasis on the benefits of participation of
citizens.
As part of the Specialist Course intended for teachers of Civic Education, a lecture on the
importance of participation and civil society was given by Miljenko Dereta, Executive
Director of Civic Initiatives. The lecture started with defining civil society as organized
activity in the interests of society and individuals. He stressed that there are different and
numerous definitions of CSOs, and finally quoted an English one: "Arena - collective action
for the common good." Further, they discussed that in participatory democracies elected
officials are obliged to consult with citizens and then he listed the levels of civic participation.
Center for Community Organizing, Slovakia
CPW in Baile Herculane, Romania
A group of 7 young people from Slovakia participated in Youth Community, a 6-day youth
exchange activity organised in Baile Herculane, Romania, with 24 young people from
Slovakia, Poland and Romania. Different activities like promoting citizenship values,
volunteering, discussions, focus groups, preparing and listening to successful stories and
workshops where held. The Slovak group contribution was introducing the Citizens
Participation Week and Citizens Participation Survey, as well as the Code of Good Practice
for Civil Participation in the Decision-Making Process. A publication on successful stories,
included the ones presented by the participants during this week, is to be issued.
CNVOS, Slovenia
We promote CPW during our annual festival LUPA. The main goal of the festival is to
promote NGO sector wider and make things that NGO do more visible.
We have quite a lot of events during the week (around 30) – besides our activities we invite
different NGOs to include their events into this week, so it was quite varied and interesting.
The main event was bazaar, where more than 150 organizations participate and present their
work in the city centre of Ljubljana with an entertaining cultural program. During this event,
we also did the survey in the frame of CPW, with around 200 questionnaires, which Simon
will help to processed them, since he establish internet application of this questionnaire.
We were quite satisfied with the festival but mostly we missed media support. We have a
media partner Radio Student, and we were covered with some stations, but not enough. It’s
really general problem in Slovenia, to include, present and promote NGOs activities to public.
INePA, Slovenia
Slovenian on-line survey for collecting data about the level of citizen participation is now
available http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/cpw10
I have also added a short notice on Facebook Code of good practice for civil participation in
the decision-making process in the heart of the CPW 2010
http://www.facebook.com/pages/CitizensParticipationWeek/107893082602567
Additional information about the CPW 2010 in Slovenia were disseminated by using Twitter
http://twitter.com/SimonDelakorda
The Citizens Participation Week activities in Slovenia took place as a part of the 9th Nongovernmental organisations festival LUPA in Ljubljana during 27th of September and 1st of
October.
On 30th of September a public discussion entitled "Challenges and opportunities for eparticipation in local communities" took place. During the NGOs festival in Ljubljana an
internet access point was also available to the citizens to participate in a web survey relating
to the citizens participation experience and practices both on-line and off-line.
Both public discussion and internet access point were organized by the Institute for Electronic
Participation as a part of the Citizens Participation Week 2010 activities in Slovenia.
Association of Economic Development of Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine
Association of Economic Development of Ivano-Frankivsk in cooperation with the Main
Department for Tourism, European Integration, External Relations and Investments of IvanoFrankivsk Regional State Administration completed the project "Support to community initiatives
in solving specific community problems of Ivano-Frankivsk region through providing micro
grants" by supporting of the International Renaissance Foundation.
The main aims of the project - to provide supporting of the micro-community initiatives in
the field of population self at home in local communities Ivano-Frankivsk region.
The objective: to analyze regulations in the field of waste treatment, conducting the survey to
study the problems and prospects in the field of waste treatment, working out proposals to
improve activities in the field of waste management and their approval by the head of the
Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration; improve information society in reforming the
management of solid waste.
Project target groups:
• NGOs and organs of self (including legalized by the message without registration of legal
entities);
• initiative groups of citizens to solve problems of local areas (street, neighborhood);
• condominium association.
Priority fields of micro-community initiatives in the field of population self at home in local
communities Ivano-Frankivsk region, which submitted proposals were:
1. Support community initiatives in the field of self-organization of residence:
2. Advocating the rights and interests of the community in relations with state and local
authorities, providers of social, communal and other services.
Participants took part in the seminars of the writing projects for micro-grants.
Following evaluation of the members of the Committee it was 12 winners that obtained the
highest score, for a total cost of 119 000 UAH.
Evaluation and selection of 12 micro projects by the Commission was realized during
the week of September 20 – 26, 2010 – the CPW.