Project “Promotion of the Active Citizenship – Želiezovce 2023”, was in a sign of cooperation between municipalities in order to give the EU citizens opportunity to discuss topics that are important to them in their daily lives; in a sign of promotion exchanges between people of different countries, to reinforce mutual understanding and tolerance, to give opportunity for developing a sense of European belonging and identify as Europeans. The main goal of the project was to encourage the EU citizens to become active creators of the EU future, feel and influence on its future and feel to be a co-responsible member as well as to help them to understand how important is solidarity, reciprocity and cohesiveness.
For participants had been prepared reach and interesting program. Project activities had been designed so that the participants get opportunity to interact and participate in constructing a tighter-knit Europe, which is united and enriched by its cultural diversity. Activities had been focused on promoting solidarity, cohesiveness, respect based on different cultural principles. Presentation of local producers, gastronomy, cultural heritage and arts together with expert explanative commentaries and a personal experience had been tools for initiating a multicultural dialogue and a way of building the sense of belonging to Europe while respecting cultural diversity.
Project´s activities:
16/06/2023
9:00 - Opening ceremony with speech of the Mayor to citizens and guests of the event, introducing the objectives of the project, partners and their role in the project, introduction the history and reasons of cooperation, pointing out the importance of cooperation and cohesion of countries and cities in Europe, cooperation between twinned towns, the common values of the EU support.
10:00 – 15:00 – information stand - presentation of the priorities of the European Parliament and the European Commission
10:00 - The European Parliament elections in 2024 presentation including introduction of the European Parliament (how many parliamentarian are there, how many years are they voted, what are they responsible for, etc.), the European Parliament elections in 2024 as one of the way of further enhancing the European dimension and the democratic legitimacy of the EU decision-making, explanation why it is important for citizens to go vote. etc.
11:00 - Public discussion on the theme „The Europe we want“ with participation of a Member of the European Parliament focused on encouraging participants to express what kind of Europe they want. Participants will get the opportunity to present their ideas, compare their views.
12:00 - Interactive workshop on the theme „How to create the EU future” focused on raising awareness about the possibilities for active participation on the EU policy making process (presentation with practical demonstration concrete tools such as The Conference on the Future of Europe as one of the opportunities for active citizenship, possibilities for sharing ideas and helping shape our common Europe. European Citizens´ Initiative, Public consultations, platform Fit for Future, European elections – your chance to have your say.
13:00 - Networking - strengthening relationships between participants through dialogues. Representatives of twinned towns, local associations, representatives of students from local schools and youth parliaments had been invited.
16:00 – question & answer session on the theme "What does solidarity mean within the EU" - citizens had been given the opportunity to discuss the topic of solidarity and to assess existing solidary mechanisms inside the EU. They reflected on policy areas where such common mechanisms could be useful and developed while considering other possible channels of European solidarity like volunteering, donations, foundations, civil society organ., charity.
17:00 - Presentation „Volunteering as one of the way of solidarity“ focused on how to practice solidarity and to devote a period of life to helping others. Presentation about positive aspects of voluntarism, given examples how to join not only in the local but also in the international level, presentation the European Solidarity Corps as a one of the tools how to put the core EU value of solidarity into practice and contribute to reinforcing cohesion within European society. Volunteer day at 16:00 the next day.
18:00 - 20:00 - Demonstration of minority cultures and cultural heritage of partners including Gastro presentation - presentation of typical dishes of partner countries designed to promote cohesion and support minorities, building relationship.
18:00 - 19:10 - concert of the Hungarian modern band
20:00 - Official meeting of the partners´ cities representatives devoted to share good practise of the projects financed from the EU funds implementation, local activities aimed to develop local standard of living, etc.
20:00 – 22:30 – Cultural evening - value and thoughts convergence of participants, presentation of customs, traditions, formal and informal discussions involving all age groups to active participation on the program, presentation of cultural heritage, folk traditions as a tool of intercultural dialogue, promoting partnership values, common European roots, cooperation as a tool for building common Europe, entertainment.
All activity:
Public survey in the form of a questionnaire on "Benefits of EU membership" in order to find out the opinions and attitudes of citizens towards EU membership - positive / negative. The results had been published at the final conference.
17/06/2023
09:00 - 17:00 – Sport activities – running (8 km), football match
10:00 - 14:00 - Social and cultural activities - European partner competition in small caliber shooting, Gastro delicacies, live music
11:00 - Discussion on the theme: „How the COVID 19 pandemic influenced our lives“ - focused on exchanging experiences, feelings, ideas how to help each other to deal with problems
13:00 – Activities for children - focused on games, competitions, quizzes and activities to help children and youth discover the EU in a fun way.
16:00 - Public forum "Disinformation as a threat for the democracy" focused on help the citizens how to recognize false news, how conspiracy theories work, what computer techniques are used for propaganda, how disinformation affects democracy
16:00 Volunteer activity - students from the local primary and high school had been cleaning the area which is situated near the river Hron, They collected garbage, cleaned or painted bench, put bins, etc.
20:00 – 22:30 – Cultural evening - value and thoughts convergence of participants, presentation of customs, traditions, formal and informal discussions involving all age groups to active participation on the program, presentation of cultural heritage, folk traditions as a tool of intercultural dialogue, promoting partnership values, common European roots, cooperation as a tool for building common Europe, entertainment.
All day activity:
Public survey in the form of a questionnaire on "Benefits of EU membership" in order to find out the opinions and attitudes of citizens towards EU membership - positive / negative. The results had been published at the final conference.
The questionnaires result: The EU citizens who filled in the questionnaires have a mostly positive attitude towards the direction of the EU. Their knowledge about the functioning of the European Parliament, the Commission and the European monetary system is average. Questionnaires had been filled out by 409 participants (167 from Hungary, 82 from Poland, 160 from Slovakia).
18/06/2023
07:00 - 9:00 Common breakfast of representatives of partner cities, finalization of evaluation of the project results, agreement on ways of disseminating project results in twinning towns.
09:30 - Final conference connected with the evaluation of the event, presentation of the results of the survey, various activities and understanding of approaches of the EU to current issues, understanding the importance of active participation of EU citizens on EU affairs, the importance of strengthen solidarity, cohesiveness and respect based on different cultural principles. The aim was to summarize the achieved outcomes of the event, their compliance with EU priorities and the impact on the lives of citizens form participant countries. The participants of the project, invited guests from local government, public life, associations, entrepreneurs, pensioners and other citizens had been acquainted about the results of the project.
Event “Promotion of the Active Citizenship – Želiezovce 2023” had been attended by 177 visitors from Hungary, 59 from Romania, 48 from Poland. Together with locals, 1369 European citizens will be directly involved in project.