Europe for Citizens - Measure 2.2 - Network for Towns - Strengthening a Europe of Solidarity in Times of Migration

Published on 06 Jul 2022

"Strengthening a Europe of solidarity in times of migration" was a project promoted by the Municipality of A Laracha, Spain, whose main objective was the search for understanding, integration and the creation of new points of view through dialogue and reflection of European citizens, helping to improve understanding of the European Union, as well as its history and diversity of citizens, promoting European citizenship, increasing citizen and democratic participation, understanding the current situation of the EU in relation to migration policies and to search of alternatives and new challenges to overcome.rnThe project held the organization of 5 thematic meetings: A Laracha (Spain) from 12th to 15th November 2019, Kaunas (Lithuania) from 5th to 8th February 2020, Qrendi (Malta) from 30th September to 3rd October 2021, Gornja Rijeka (Croatia) from 29th November to 2nd December 2021 and in Venice (Italy) from 11th to 14th January 2022. Participation levels where extremely high: 800 direct participants, more than 350 indirect participants and 20 countries involved (Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, France, Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, Bulgaria, Austria, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Croatia).rnTo achieve the objectives of the project, in line with the priorities of Europe for Citizens program, it was needed to create a strong and long-term network, proposing activities based on the reinforcement of active participation in European society such as round tables, interactive workshops, conferences, case studies, cultural visits... The project aimed to find an answer to the migratory crisis currently experienced in Europe, both internally, between their own countries, and externally; Citizens' understanding of the Union's policy process was strengthened by promoting opportunities for social and intercultural engagement, directly addressing concepts such as migration, Euroscepticism, solidarity that revolves around their environment or social and cultural integration policies. Therefore, participants were encouraged to exchange opinions and best practices with the aim to formulate new ideas and concrete proposals.