The first European Days of Local Solidarity in autumn
1 May 2016
Promoting decentralised cooperation and educating to global citizenship are the objectives that PLATFORMA and its members have set within the frame of the Strategic Partnership Agreement signed with the European Commission. Therefore, a focus group – to expend with willing members – was settled within PLATFORMA network to prepare the launch of the “European Days of Local Solidarity” initiative, which pilot edition will take place in autumn 2016.
The aim of this initiative is to support the work of European cities and regions in raising citizen awareness, and promoting development education and their international engagement with citizens. How? Through a logo, a slogan, a hashtag and a joint website for European cities participating in the initiative!
In order to develop the concept, Cités Unies France (CUF) organized a briefing/training session for European authorities and their associations to raise awareness on the commitment of French authorities within the Week of International Solidarity (www.lasemaine.org, 19th edition this year). The project leader was present at the training. This session brought together mid-May representatives from cities, local authorities and their national associations from Catalonia, France, Italy, Latvia and Czech Republic.
This session illustrated with concrete examples how a city or a region can, in France, engage in development education and citizen awareness. It also allowed participants to make progress on the fitting of the initiative “European Days of Local Solidarity”, in particular through very enriching reflections on shared values, objectives, keywords, and more logistics issues such as organizing a launch event in Brussels, to which the EU institutions will be involved.
A concept note was prepared and disseminated within the PLATFORMA network, based on the discussions at this session. Members’ comments and ideas on this note will contribute in particular to the development of the communication strategy of the initiative, of which the Diputacio de Barcelona is in charge: together, let’s find a logo, a slogan and a hashtag!
More information: Laia.VinyesMarce@ccre-cemr.org at PLATFORMA and a.frey@cites-unies-france.org at United Cities France.
