Empowering European Citizens

Empowering European Citizens aims to build trust and understanding between Europeans from diverse communities, connecting organisations and people in neighbourhoods and municipalities across ten European countries. It is co-funded by the European Commission, British Council and several civil society organisations across Europe. It incorporates the British Council’s Active Citizens programme, training and development methods, and global networks.

The Empowering European Citizens project takes place in the following European countries: Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Sweden. In Croatia, the project is delivered in partnership with the Croatian Youth Network  in the region of Slavonia. Empowering European Citizens  provides participants with tools and assistance to develop leadership skills and intercultural competencies, to run social action projects in their local area, and to share ideas and practice with other networks in order to help them address their community and wider European issues. The four stages of the project have enabled communities to feel empowered to work with others in tackling the challenges of 21st century Europe:

1. Development of a network of trainers

Trainers deliver all training events and support the cascading of knowledge in their local communities. They also act as a link to their community, making sure that specific local needs are taken into account and that the project is adjusted accordingly. The first event, the ‘training of trainers’, took place in October 2011 in Croatia.

2. European training events for community activists

The aim is to increase understanding of European citizenship, the ability to engage in dialogue between cultures, and motivation for social action. The content includes understanding multiple identities, developing intercultural communication and project management skills, and enhancing abilities to work with difference at a variety of levels, from the municipality to the pan-European level.  Three-day training events were held in eight municipalities across different European countries.

3. Cascading of knowledge to local communities

Participants of the international training events cascade knowledge gained during training to members of their home organisation and communities within their municipalities. Cascading to local communities is supported by trainers and project partners.

4. International knowledge sharing event

The  international knowledge-sharing event, the International Forum, took place in May 2012 in Skopje, Macedonia, and brought together the trainers, selected training participants and project partners to assess progress made so far, identify examples of good practice and develop recommendations for the future.

Want to know more?

For more information please contact Rosana Besednik.

Project partners