Small, GREAT Europe
The Role of Small Communities and their Networks for the Future of Europe
About project
Project idea started after the conclusion of the previous project "I Care for Europe" (Small Towns Cultural Network) which is realized by several towns (Aquileia/Italy, Bač/Serbia, Čapljina/Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rakovica/Croatia and Tarcento/Italy) that are partners of the City of Rab, who wants to join and enforce the Network, and also to the commitment of all the communities involved in that project to continue to work together strengthening relations, sharing experiences and increasing knowledge and dialogue between different countries.
In particular, also with this project, we contribute to citizens' understanding of the EU, its history and diversity, enriched by the City of Rab and its long history, the representative of the civilization in the Adriatic area during the centuries.
The main goal is to foster European citizenship and to improve the conditions for civic and democratic participation at the European level, by training activities and general meetings involving more than 200 European citizens from four different countries to reflect and discuss the future of Europe and the fundamental role of small communities for the quality of the EU. Sightseeing of Rab, as well as a better knowledge of each partner locality will raise awareness of knowledge about the wealth of the multiculturality of Europe and our common history and values. So, by the promotion of peace, values and well-being of people, it will be stimulated the development of Network, will be encouraged civic participation of citizens at European level and offered opportunities for the promotion of volunteering at the local/international level.
According to the priority for 2014 of the Programme Europe for Citizens - the focus of debate will be on the future of Europe, especially considering the value of small communities and a "bottom up" strategy for enforcing European citizenship and enrichment of European policies. Last but not least the project will promote and respect the equal access value.
Project provides preliminary meetings during the summer 2014 in each country, a final event in Rab on October 2014 and a communication strategy.
How project „Small, GREAT Europe“ fits in with the objectives of the Programme Europe for Citizens 2014-2020 (general and specific), themes and features:
The project will involve small local communities who come from four different Countries. These areas are often excluded from processes of construction of common European identity. This marginalization could threaten the development of a tighter-knit Europe, which is democratic and world-oriented, united in and enriched by its cultural diversity. To overcome these difficulties, the project will enlarge a European network for the cooperation between civil society organizations in these communities. The network will give the opportunity to share their cultural diversity but also to discover their common values and history in order to build a European identity and promote tolerance and mutual understanding between the citizens involved.
This aspect will be particularly important because the citizens involved in the project come from countries which were divided by bloody conflicts during the last century and which are now in different socioeconomic situations.
The project will also give them the necessary knowledge about European institutions, policies and programs to foster their sense of belonging to Europe and acting as citizens of Europe. From this point of view, the project will particularly encourage CSO and small towns to enforce the sense of Europe.
As regards the specific aims of the strand2: Democratic engagement and civic participation, the project will fit into aims involving the civil society organizations as project partners in order to ensure participation at local level. These organizations will participate in the planning and organization of the events, will collect the volunteers for the workshops and spread the project results, reflecting particularly on the future of Europe and the importance of the active participation at local level and how it could be diffused at European level. This theme will be deepening since the event will include workshops, training activities related to European citizenship, culture, sustainable development and tourism. The objective is to provide the instruments for a participation in the EU democratic life to the participants. Finally, the enlargement of the European cultural Network of small towns "I Care for Europe" will give communities an additional instrument to take European Union opportunities and to contribute to the European integration through the exchange of different ideas, values, experiences and valorization of common cultural heritage.
As for the priorities of the program, the project will raise awareness, reflection and debate on the relevance and implications of EU policies on the daily citizens' lives through the sharing of experiences of citizens from EU with the citizens coming from the Countries that will join EU.
Training activities on European citizenship and on the opportunities of the European programs will increase awareness, understanding and enjoyment of the values, rights and opportunities created by the EU. Participants will gain the necessary knowledge for the engagement in issues which constitute political priorities of the European Union and in the development of sustainable and inclusive economy.
Furthermore, the diffusion of the final document, about the role of small communities for the future of Europe, to other small towns will give opportunities to increase the Countries involved in the Network, enforcing the common sense of EU existence.
Activity plan / work programme of the project:
The European dimension of the project is ensured by the participation of communities from four different Countries (of which 2 are still not in EU) and by the promotion, at European level, of the results of the final event as detailed further in the timetable.
Starting from the previous experience and cooperation, the partners have jointly programmed this project to enlarge the European Network "I Care for Europe" for the promotion of active citizenship, culture, sustainable development and tourism, peace and human rights. So they identified the project contents: participatory processes, European networking activities in rural areas, intercultural dialogue, European identity and citizenship rights.
The base of working methods is the participatory strategy, developed by the following program:
a) sharing of the program and details of the project, between all partners
b) preliminary local public meetings in each country to discuss about the 2014 priorities defined for the Programme "Europe for Citizens", involving local citizens, stakeholders and policymakers, to deepen awareness of European active citizenship principles (volunteering and participation promotion), to enforce the "bottom up" strategy creating a common sense of European citizenship
c) Final event in Rab, which will include meetings for the presentation of each local community, training activities with workshops and seminars, involving stakeholders of all four countries, about active citizenship and Europe, the importance of volunteering and participation for the better life of communities, EU programs useful for promotion of participation of small towns and communities in developing projects on culture & sustainable tourism, conferences to share, discuss and approve a common document about role of small communities and their network for the future of Europe.
d) Communication and dissemination program: Municipality Rab and AGNet (who is responsible for managing the website of the Network "I Care for Europe") will develop the project website which will release all documents and information produced by the project. All partners will disseminate the results in their communities and will inform other potential towns with similar charachteristics like the small towns of the network "I Care for Europe", about the results of the project and the final document on the role of small towns and communities for the future of Europe.
Program of the International Event:
Venue of the International Event: Rab
Country: Croatia
Arrival Date: Friday, 17 October 2014 at 17:00
Departure Date: Sunday, 19 October 2014 at 13:00
Friday - October 17, 2014
15:00 to 17:00: Arrival and accommodation of participants in Hotel International
18:00 to 20:00: 1st Workshop (workshop for stakeholders): presentation of the project, presenting the results of the preliminary activities that were carried out in each country, the identification of working groups for the preparation and implementation of the final document (by each delegation) to share ideas and proposals that are useful for the adoption of the document during the Final General Meeting.
20:30 to 23:30: Welcome Meeting: dinner for all participants with a short presentation of each delegation from Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Croatia
Saturday – October 18, 2014
a) 9:30 to 12:00 (for stakeholders): 2nd Workshop - Workshop which includes seminars on the following topics:
1. Active citizenship and Europe; The importance of volunteering and participation for a better life of the community
2. EU programs useful for small towns and communities related to encouraging the participation of small towns and communities in projects for the development of culture and sustainable tourism
b) 9:30 to 12:30: Sightseeing the old town of Rab, organized by local associations and tasting traditional specialties of Rab
Ex-Chatedral, degustation of traditional Rab-cake
Church of St. Nicolas - model of traditional Rab-ship
10:00 to 13:00 traditional Eco Fair (Knežev dvor)
c) 12:30 to 13:30 Workshops summary Zimsko kino Rab
14:00 Lunch prepared by the high school students of the Tourism School in Rab
d) 15:30 Visiting Memorial cemetery Kampor
e) 17:00 to 19:00 Meeting about EU institutions and EU programs for the period 2014-2020; Presentation of the draft final document prepared by working groups
Dinner prepared by local associations of the Island of Rab - city Loggia
Rabski tanac
Klapa Eufemija
Sunday – October 19, 2014
10:00 to 12:00: Final General Meeting / Assembly:
- Adoption of the final document "Recommendations for the Directorate General for Education and Culture of the European Commission on the Future of Europe and the Role of Small Communities"
- The official signing of the Memorandum of Understanding by the Mayor of the City of Rab and accessing the City of Rab to the Network "I Care for Europe"
- Presentation of the website dedicated to the project
12:00 to 13:00: Press conference that includes representatives of all the partners