Europe for Citizens – Network of Towns
What can 14 partners (from 9 EU Countries + 3 Partner Countries, SR, AL, FYROM) do to answer the needs of their communities to better understanding the meaning of “European Citizenship” and, at the same time, to directly contribute to the construction of the future of the EU? The answer is “NOT-GAP: Network of Organizations and Towns Growing through Active Participation”, a Network of 6 Municipalities, 2 National Associations of Municipalities, 1 Agency of Municipalities and 5 Civil Society Organizations. It was born with the intent to open a discussion around EU, bringing the distrustful and favorable citizens to better understand the EU, its Institutions and its System of Partecipatory Democracy.
The project will start the 1st of January 2016 and it will last for 2 years.Thanks to 5 international events the Network will stimulate a new reflection about the sense of the European Union,bringing the European Participatory Tools (EU elections,Citizens’ Initiatives,Volunteering,Citizens’ Dialogues..) closer to its citizens, who will practice and familiarize with them (through simulation games and working groups). In this way they will learn how to make their voice be heard at European level and how to directly contribute to the future of Europe. What is more,the best practices of local active participation will be exchanged among the partners.
During the project,14 APD (Agents of Partecipatory Democracy, 1 per partner) will be trained,in order to assure a deeper promotion and dissemination of “NOT-GAP” results. They will be responsible of the organization of local campaigns and meetings with citizens, creating a multiplier effect. The Network will also create and produce a Usb Pendrive (with the information about the tools, useful also for training more citizens as APDs) and a Web Portal (www.notgap.eu) where the APDs will constantly answer the questions of the citizens and help them to promote and concretize their partecipatory initiatives at local and EU level.
