EESC Civil Society Week "Rise up for democracy", 4-7 March 2024 Leading up to the 2024 European elections in June, the EESC, as the institutional partner of civil society, launched its first ever Civil Society Week under the overarching theme Rise Up for Democracy!. More than 800 representatives from civil society and youth groups gathered for four days to discuss the upcoming elections and the future of the EU. Over 25 sessions, 14 of which were organised by 18 Liaison Group civil society organisations, various threats to democracy and challenges to safeguarding Europe's democratic values were discussed, and solutions to address these shortcomings were explored. The specific steps forward developed during the event will feed into an EESC resolution in July, outlining civil society's expectations of the incoming leadership of the European Parliament and Commission. On the #CivSocWeek webpage you will find early insights, press releases, video recordings, a photo gallery, and soon reports from each session. Stay tuned and follow us on social media for updates. EASPD/SSE: Making better and more effective use of ESF+ and ERDF for providers and users of social services, 16 April 2024 The Final Conference of the Social Services Helpdesk ‘Unlocking EU Funds for Social Inclusion: Investing in quality services, support and lives’ will be held on 16 April 2024 at the EESC in Brussels. Bringing together a diverse array of social service providers, managing authorities of EU Funds from different EU countries, policymakers and beneficiaries of EU Funds, the event will serve as a forum to discuss the enabling environment needed to foster social inclusion with EU funds. The conference is organised by EASPD and Social Services Europe (SSE). EESC Member, Krzsysztof Balon, will open the event. You find more detailed information on the project as well as the draft agenda of the event and the link to register here. EASPD: Guaranteeing Choice and Control: Transforming Mental Health and Psychosocial Disability Support, Bratislava/Slovakia, 20-21 May 2024 The European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) invites you to join us for our International Conference: 'Guaranteeing Choice and Control: Transforming Mental Health and Psychosocial Disability Support'. Hosted in Bratislava, Slovakia on 20th-21st May 2024, the conference will address the critical issues which stem from a mental health system that is rooted in a medicalised paradigm and will explore how we can move towards the provision of person-centred, community and recovery-based mental health services rooted in human rights principles. Register here. ECAS Online Course: Crowdsourcing for Civil Society Organisations This ECAS course is carefully curated to address various aspects of crowdsourcing, providing a holistic understanding of its application in citizen organisations, national contexts, EU-level initiatives, technological setups and citizen engagement campaigns. Read more here. ECF: Listen to our latest episode of Civic Spaces! In the second episode of our podcast series on the Civic Pride Award winners, we focus in on the movement for Sámi rights. The Sámi are the only recognised indigenous group in Europe and live in Sápmi, which stretches over four countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. In this episode, we hear from Anja Márjá Nystø Keskitalo of the Saami Council and sit down for an in-depth interview with Sámi activist Martina Fjällberg. Listen now! Philea: ECNL and Philea publish second edition of How to Use EU Law to Protect Civic Space The ECNL and Philea have published the second edition of the handbook How to Use EU Law to Protect Civic Space, which highlights how CSOs can use EU law and participatory tools to protect civic space and uphold the rule of law. Read more. Cooperatives Europe calls for integration of cooperative models in European education Cooperatives Europe urges the European Commission to include cooperative models in all EU educational initiatives, emphasising their economic and social importance, which is often overshadowed by the shareholder company model. The call specifically advocates the introduction of cooperative models and values in primary and secondary education, and proposes the inclusion of cooperative themes in higher education curricula to foster collaborative learning environments. Additionally, Cooperatives Europe calls for the integration of cooperative entrepreneurship in the Erasmus+ programme to promote creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship among future leaders. You can find their call to action here. Eurochild: Two years on, what are the needs of Ukraine’s children and families? On 24 February, which marks the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Eurochild asked its members in Ukraine to tell us what their priorities for the wellbeing of children are. Read more here. Eurochild: EU Council Presidencies and their impact on children Eurochild welcomes Spain, Belgium and Hungary, as the current EU presidency trio, pledging to collaborate to address the needs of the most vulnerable populations including children affected by multi-crises. This aligns with the EU’s commitment to social justice and inclusivity. Read more here. Eurochild: DAY: High school students release their Youth Civic Agendas Young people from Naples, Italy share their ideas on how to redevelop their urban areas and improve the education system with local decision-makers as part of the DAY project run by Eurochild, Albero della Vita and CIDIS. Read more here. ACE manifesto on the New European Bauhaus Elevating the complexity of our natural and built habitat to an unprecedented political level, the New European Bauhaus has invited us to reimagine together our living spaces in order to make them more sustainable, inclusive and beautiful. It also issued a challenge to the architectural profession – to alert, persuade and empower civil society to engage in designing their living spaces. The ACE (Architects' Council of Europe) manifesto highlights the key issues that the New European Bauhaus brings to the fore, explaining the role of architecture therein, and calls on architects to take their place in the NEB movement. Download the ACE manifesto on the New European Bauhaus. CEV: European Volunteering Ambassadors 2024 Volunteers Edona Shehaj, Wannes Huybrechts and Lotte Rens from Belgium will promote the essential contribution of volunteers to the future of Europe, making a special link with the Belgian Presidency of the EU in the first part of 2024. This activity is part of the Centre for European Volunteering's (CEV) #VERA2024 Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme, which seeks to promote the power of volunteering for equality and inclusion in Europe. In 2024 it is placing a special focus on the EP elections and why anyone interested in enabling volunteering in Europe should be voting #VoteVolunteerVision. More here. CEV: Call for EVCapital 2026 The call for candidates to the EVCapital 2026 Competition is open with a deadline of 3rd June 2024. Click here for the call and application form, and here to discover more about the European Volunteering Capital Candidates Community (EVCCC). Philea launched the Philanthropy Manifesto and invites the wider civil society sector and social economy sector to support it Philea launched the European Philanthropy Manifesto at last year’s EuroPhilantopics – and we are now inviting the wider civil society and social economy sector to support the recommendations ahead of the EU elections. |