This week (12 - 18 October) more than 130 events and activities are taking place at local level across 23 member States of the Council of Europe to celebrate the 2015 edition of the European Local Democracy Week (ELDW). Participating municipalities are organising a wide range of events on this year’s theme ‘Living together in multicultural societies: respect, dialogue, interaction’, such as seminars on solidarity, debates on human rights, exchanges with migrants and visits of refugee camps, bilingual theater performances, interviews with foreigners, exhibitions on recent armed conflicts and multicultural coffee mornings. You can still register your event.
“The theme of the 2015 ELDW ‘Living together in multicultural societies: respect, dialogue, interaction’ is intended to draw attention to the great challenges our societies face in today’s politics, such as increasing radicalisation, terrorism and the greatest refugee flow since World War II” stated Gaye Doganoglu (EPP/CCE, Turkey), ELDW Political Co-ordinator and Vice-President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. “Local authorities have a great potential, on account of their proximity to citizens, to address these issues and to raise citizens’ awareness to the Council of Europe values: democracy, human rights and the rule of law” she added.
“Along with longstanding partners of the ELDW, such as Buyukcekmece from Turkey, Huddinge from Sweden, Katowice from Poland and Reggio Calabria from Italy, we also have ‘new arrivals’, mainly arising from our recent partnership with the Europe Prize of the Parliamentary Assembly. These are previous Europe Prize winners Czestochowa (PL) and Kharkiv (UA), as well as the cities of Izmit (TR), Mioveni (RO) and Ternopil (UA), awarded the Flag of Honour”.
Be aware that any meeting or seminar or specific action dealing with this concern and involving citizens and/or local authorities representatives in October allows you to
· register your event or activity on the Council of Europe website and give voice at European level to your advocacy
· use the European Local Democracy Week logo
Here are the links
1. to download material in the languages of the 47 member countries of the Council of Europe
http://www.congress-eldw.eu/
http://www.congress-eldw.eu/
2. to register (choose association)
http://sedl.alnetis.fr/en/
http://sedl.alnetis.fr/en/
***
The European Local Democracy Week is a voluntary movement, co-ordinated by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, which takes place every year around 15 October – the anniversary of the opening for signature of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in 1985, 30 years ago. During the ELDW, local and regional authorities and their associations throughout Europe organise various activities to promote citizens’ participation in local decision making processes and foster their greater awareness of the work of public authorities.
Created by the Parliamentary Assembly in 1955, the Europe Prize is the highest distinction that can be bestowed on a European town for its actions in the European domain.
The ‘12 Stars’ of the 2015 edition are: Amadora (PT), Association of the City and the Municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region(BE), Buyukcekmece (TR), Bydgoszcz (PL), Falun (SE), Huddinge (SE), Ivano-Frankivsk (UA), Izmit (TR), Karsiyaka (TR), Katowice (PL), Kharkiv, (UA), Luleburgaz (TR), Reggio Calabria (IT), Medgidia (RO), Melitopol (UA), Mioveni (PL) and Sundbyberg (SE).
Source: Council of Europe
No comments:
Post a Comment