The conference “ec4la European Citizens for Local Action” gathered interested citizens and the partner organizations from twelve European countries in Athens to discuss ways and present tools on promoting active citizenship and European identity through volunteering. The three day conference (22-23-24 of February) was the first event of all partner organizations of the ec4la project financed by the European Union.
During the conference, specialists of non-governmental organisations, volunteers, academics, journalists and activists presented their views and experiences. The representatives of all twelve ec4la partner organizations spoke about their own activities and good case practices, sharing knowledge and ideas from all the corners of the Union.
ec4la is about citizens that are active in their local communities, willing to give some of their free time to voluntary services. Moreover with the presentation of “good practice examples” ec4la aims to strengthen the movement of volunteers and provide know-how so as to assist the involved parties (local authorities, non-governmental organisations, citizens) and to hand in tools suitable to overcome problems as well as find solutions whenever necessary.
Citizens are the real protagonists of ec4la project and they are welcomed to draw from the experience of the participants so as to acquire the proper ideas and tools which will transform them into pioneers of their local communities via voluntary action initiatives. ec4la, during the 15 months of its course, aims to collect all the remarks, ideas, tools, propositions and examples , with the scope to make this knowledge accessible to all citizens interested.
The 12 partner organizations taking part in the project are: Austria - Grenzenlos, Belgium - Compagnons Batisseurs Belgique, Estonia - ESTYES, Finland - ALLIANSI, France - Concordia, Germany – IBG - Internationale Begegnung in. Gemeinschaftsdiensten e.V., Greece – ELIX, Hungary – TE IS Foundation, Italy – YAP Italy, Poland - FIYE, Spain – De Amicitia, United Kingdom – CSV UK.
