The Education Cooperative, Cooperation and Development ECOS promoted a meeting between civil society organizations from Portugal, Germany, Slovenia, Poland and Lithuania in the Polish city of Rybnik, as part of the «Round-trip» project.
The Algarve association is the coordinator of this European project, which aims to develop innovative methodologies in the area of democratic participation.
The meeting held on February 12th and 13th had as its main objective to finalize the preparations for the launch of this project.
From now on, a series of local seminars will be launched, which will take the participating entities to the different countries involved in the «Round-Trip». For the Algarve, an international conference on the subject is already scheduled, in November.
«The project's events will be an opportunity for sharing information and experiences, debate and joint reflection, by citizens and public authorities of the five countries. These actors will also be invited to formulate recommendations with a view to improving existing mechanisms and proposing new approaches that strengthen their relationship and foster greater participation by all in public decision-making», explained ECOS, in a press release.
During the meeting in Rybnik, the partners met with the Mayor and Vice Mayor of the Municipality with whom they discussed the main challenges in involving citizens in local government.
Those interested in obtaining more information about the project «Round-Trip: A Citizens Participation Journey Between Local and European Levels», can contact the project coordinator via the email [email protected].
Comments