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Assembly of European Regions

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In Focus 2017: Revitalising Democracy

This is the tag for all posts relating to In Focus 2017: Revitalising Democracy.

2016 has been a challenging year for Europe. Rising unemployment in many countries, divisions on the attitude towards a historic influx of refugees, economic growth weaker than on other continents, terrorist attacks in various countries and a growing feeling among citizens that the European Union, national governments and politics in general are not always measuring up to the challenges.

Yet, with the year ending on the positive note of a global agreement on fighting climate change, the Executive Board wants to promote a positive and necessary theme for 2016 : Revitalising democracy, or the need to rebuild trust about the potential of our continent and trust in our political life.

What Brexit means for local government – insight from British Member of Parliament

26 March, 2017 By Editor

For our very first cocktail debate, we were honoured to welcome Mr Jim Mc Mahon, British Labour and Co-operative Party politician, MP for Oldham West and Royton, who spoke of the challenges and opportunities that local governments face in the wake of Brexit. As our moderator Mr Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive of LGIU put it, it is difficult to ignore the elephant in the room when holding meetings in London these days. So after an expert panel discussion on sustainable financing for regions earlier that day, AER members tuned in for a passionate and open story of what is at stake for local government to prepare for the future of the United Kingdom.

Addressing his audience directly, Mr Jim Mc Mahon strongly assured AER members that regardless of Brexit, the labour party and its constituents believe that “we are stronger together and by working together we achieve more”. Of course, as AER brings together regions from within and outside the borders of the EU to act in one, unified, voice, this is essentially preaching to the choir, but it does keep thoughts of adversity from across the Channel at bay.

Mr Mc Mahon confirmed that many of the issues that may have pushed his fellow constituents to vote in favour of Brexit were not a direct result of the EU decisions, but rather failure from within the UK, such as poor housing, poor jobs, a slow economy and a more general feeling of being left behind by globalisation. So although the UK leaving the EU may well be collateral damage of internal unrest, it is the reality that politicians now have to deal with. “My job is to define what a post-Brexit England can be” stated the MP, and the backbone of this is “pushing power and control down to the people and away from self-serving politicians”. Mr Mc Mahon used the common analogy of a divorce between the UK and the EU, which he hopes will go as smoothly as possible, but adding emphasis on the post-divorce situation; “people need to see a difference after Brexit, they need to see a change, we fear the rise of an anti-politic mood otherwise.”

The other real risk is that the United Kingdom may not survive the test and Mr Mc Mahon was quite clear that he stands to defend the interests of England which may otherwise come out losing as the different countries raise the issue of their independence. “England needs a strong voice around the table in the midst of the this soul-searching about the type of UK we want to build”.

In his concluding remarks, the MP confirmed “we value our relationship with the people in Europe, we have shared values and beliefs and whether we are in or out of the EU, this will not change”

In his intervention earlier that day, Councillor David Simmonds from the Local Government Association, addressed Brexit from a finance and trade agreements perspective. The disparities that exist between different regions and countries within the EU is also true within the United Kingdom; the funding received from central government is very different one city or county to the next. Cllr Simmonds insisted on the relevance of local authorities to play a new role and build on their expertise in the area of procurement. He concluded by adding that local authorities need to maintain their involvement on EU level through networks such as AER.

AER has embraced the issue of Brexit under the more general question of what is the future for Europe. Cllr Roy Perry, Leader of Hampshire County Council, addressed the AER Bureau in October 2016 on “A post-Brexit system: How will Europe be reshuffled?” after which AER members adopted a declaration looking at three main parameters for the future of Europe; (1) vision and values, (2) patterns and institutions, (3) communicate and promote. The final text “Status quo is not an option” was adopted and serves as AER’s key position for the coming talks and discussions.

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#BeBoldForChange for the 2017 International Women’s Day

7 March, 2017 By Editor

March 8, 2017 marks the 106th year that International Women’s Day (IWD) is recognised. IWD is a worldwide event that celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, and calls for gender equality. Since full gender equality has yet to be achieved, IWD calls for women across the world to come together to force the world to recognise these inequalities. 

In order to overcome some of the current barriers blocking the way to full gender equality, let us #BeBoldForChange by helping to forge a better working world – a more gender inclusive world. On the occasion of the 2017 International Women’s Day, AER President Dr. Hande Özsan Bozatli urges all member regions to foster women’s participation and activism in the social and political spheres across all cultures: “Men and women alike must stand firm and take bold actions to support gender equality and education is a powerful tool to make this fundamental human right a reality”.

To this date, AER has been active on gender equality issues for many years; in fact, the current Equal Opportunities Group started off as a Working Group on Gender Equality. In 2006, AER confirmed its commitment to the promotion of gender equality by adopting the Kiruna Declaration. This past year, AER organised an Equal Opportunities Forum on “Women in Emergency situations” in Timis County. 

 Join us and #BeBoldForChange, as this year’s theme calls us to do. 

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AER task force on cohesion policy

23 February, 2017 By Editor

In AER, we put a strong emphasis on the future of cohesion policy and look for our members to jump in the process!

A bit of background…

In the last years, AER took part to a number of debates and workshops aiming at a necessary re-thinking of the European cohesion policy and its delivery mechanisms, as well as objectives, tools and assessment criteria. In a first meeting with Commissioner Corina Cretu, AER President Hande Özsan Bozatli higlighted the lack of involvement of the regions in the shaping of the future cohesion policy and the absolute necessity to maintain it as a strong mechanism of investments for all regions in Europe.

At the 2016 AER General Assembly in Nordland (NO), the members decided to get the grips with the future of EU regional policy and appointed Mr. Michiel Rijsberman, Regional Minister in the Province of Flevoland (NL) and AER Bureau member, as Rapporteur on the future of cohesion policy. In the next weeks and months, AER took an active role in the initiative for a “Strong renewed regional policy post 2020 for all regions“, signed by more than 300 Presidents of regions.

At the occasion of an AER Breakfast Briefing on 28 September, various paths were explored to align positive thoughts and stand united for the future of cohesion policy, followed by a conference and the handover of the Book of Signatures to Corina Cretu (EU Commissioner for Regional Policy), Iskra Mihaylova (Chair of the European Parliament’s REGI Committee), Peter Javorcik (Permanent Representative for the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the European Union) and Markku Markkula (President of the European Committee of the Regions).

The AER Bureau gathered in Vienna on 24 October discussed the consequences of the Brexit for the European project, and dedicated a wide part of their declaration “status quo is not an option for the European regions” to the importance of regional policy to avoid populism and bring the citizens closer to Europe. On 9 November, in the framework of the Committees’ Autumn Plenary in Izmir, members decided to set up a task force on cohesion policy post-2020, chaired by Michiel Rijsberman.

Moving on with concrete proposals

A questionnaire (still possible to answer!) has been set up to get a comprehensive overview of the elements at stake for the AER members, and the first results will be discussed and assessed during the first meeting of the Task Force in the framework of the Committees’ Spring Plenary in London, on 23 March 2017.

Four main areas have been identified for the work of the Task Force:

  • Simplification & audit
  • Cohabitation with other fund and programmes
  • Multi-level governance & gold plating
  • Philosophy of the Regional Policy and long term vision

Some of these topics have already been partly addressed and introduced to Commissioner Corina Cretu. You can also find her latest speech on the topic here, which was presented to the head of regional offices in Brussels on 20 february 2017.

Thank you @europeanregions for your contribution to this morning’s debate on the future of #CohesionPolicy https://t.co/CsbNNuWl67

— Corina Creţu (@CorinaCretuEU) February 20, 2017

How can you take part?

  1. It is still possible to take the questionnaire to voice your region’s interests, objectives and ideas
  2. You can join the Task Force and take an active role in drafting the AER position on the future of cohesion policy
  3. Bring some innovative ideas with you and join us for the meeting of the Task Force in London (23 March 2017)
  4. Take part in the Bureau meeting in Lower Austria (AT) and join the discussions for the political declaration (1 June 2017)

Contact

For any question, please contact us!

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Q&A: Regions as partners for youth?

13 January, 2017 By Editor

The Assembly of European Regions has a long history supporting youth issues, with a particular focus on lifelong learning and economic development since its creation in 1985. A recent example of AER’s dedication to the field is that of its involvement in the “EU Regions – Partners for Youth” workshop that it organised with Harghita County Council (RO) and the Romanian delegation to the COR. Among the issues that were discussed in the debate, youth unemployment and youth empowerment stood as pressing concerns.

A series of questions resulted from the workshop, to which written answers have been provided by the speakers to follow-up on the discussion that took place during the event. In this regard, Mr. Gyula Winkler, Member of European Parliament, answered the first five questions, and Harghita County Council answered the last one*:

Q – How can EU institutions better coordinate youth policy at the EU level focusing on less, but more ambitious and clearly defined objectives?

A – It clearly requires a coordinated approach here, in order to provide policymakers, as well as their target audience, with the most comprehensive and harmonised set of interests, objectives and limitations that ought to be jointly tackled. In this regard, it is truly helpful to organise events in which civil society can participate. This would potentially include youth organisations that aim to gather ambitious professionals in their early stages, and provide them with a network suitable for exchanging ideas and best practices, while raising awareness about other potential opportunities for further specialisation and training.

Q – Are there programs to support expatriated Romanian youth in the EU? Are there programs to assist unemployed Romanian youth residing in Belgium?

A – There are various programs for scholarships and internships for further training. Establishing oneself as a competitive individual is key to a greater possibility of landing professional opportunities in Belgium.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in the Budget Committee of the European Parliament (EP) have been particularly active in attempting to gain additional funds for youth professional programs, giving further impetus to the 2017 EU budget, which aims to obtain new appropriations through the mid-term revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The additional funds resulted in a €1.5 billion pledge to aid in job seeking for the Youth Employment Initiative. Furthermore, the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which funds infrastructure projects, has been revamped together with the Horizon 2020 program and others (COSME, Progress, Marie Curie, European Research Council, Eures and Erasmus+). The funds would come from the European Fund for Strategic Investments, all aiming to increase jobs and bring prosperity.

Programs such as these are meant to support ambitious youth and young professionals who hope to convert their theoretical knowledge into practical skills, and gain additional concrete experience.

Q –  What do you advise well-educated unemployed Romanian youth living in Brussels? Where should they look for programs/initiatives to direct their talents &skills?

A – As mentioned in the previous question, there are many opportunities for those seeking to step up the early stages of their professional careers, through traineeships and scholarships. To mention a few, one could start with those offered by the European Parliament; these range from 1 month to 6 months, from working at the Secretariat to working for MEPs. Much information can be found on the EP´s website, under the traineeships section, as concern deadlines, requirements or benefits.

Other prospects are also available at various institutions in Brussels, such as the Commission, the Council, EU Agencies, the Committee of Regions, or at NATO. The deadlines all differ, however they seem to be concentrated around a spring session and an autumn session. All respective institutions display related information under the careers section on their websites.

Q – Will Eurodyssey be extended to include all member states eventually?

A – The Eurodyssey program is a prime example of initiatives geared towards experience exchange and specialisation mobility. Certainly, the fact that the leadership of the program has been assumed by a Romanian presidency since 2015, is very beneficial to understanding the grievances of the regions that have not been so strongly represented. Despite this limitation, the initiative is aiming to bring forth more opportunities to a greater number of regions, facilitating diversity and progress through a wide assortment of youth related prospects. Enhancing this geographical balance as well as the working culture, language skills and professional capabilities in a coherent and harmonised fashion could arguably be considered one of the few ways in which we can make sure that the phrase “Unity in Diversity” will become more than just a mere slogan.

Q – Which are the specific EU funds a city can apply for in order to fund school programs similar to the “adapting monuments” good practice?

A – There are a number of grants, which could be utilised in this field, as school programs could fall under different categories of the EU funding schemes, be it development, employment, research & innovation, etc.

In terms of specific EU funds, one could look at the European Youth Foundation, the various Erasmus programs, the Human Rights Education Youth Programme, Eurodyssey mobility grants, or the European Social Fund schemes. In all of these cases, much relevant information can be found on their respective websites.

*Q – The discussion should be more operational. Give ONE concrete proposal of action that should be improved.

A – Regarding the education and therefore the economic integration of young people, it is necessary to develop a basic package that each Member State could guarantee to its young people, which would focus on access to high speed internet, learning a second foreign language to at least the equivalent of the B2 level within the public education system, career guidance and continuous mentoring, appropriate involvement in volunteering, promoting the right to a first job, and flexible and accessible forms of funding in order to carry out studies that offer career prospects.

 

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AER Bureau brings answers to a post-Brexit Europe

25 October, 2016 By Editor

The last time Bureau members met, it was the eve of the long-awaited UK referendum; AER was gathered in Bodo (Nordland-NO) for its General Assembly. Words of hope but also concerns were shared by two British politicians, Cllr Roy Perry from Hampshire (AER Vice President for Institutional Affairs) and Mr Brian Greenslade from Devon (Honorary AER member) also long-time AER friends and true Europeans. Numerous Bureau members took the floor show their support in the final countdown. After the initial shock of the results subsided the next day, AER was quick to point out the value of the democratic process and the importance to respect the voice of citizens.

Almost 4 months later, the aftermath of Brexit is still to be fully revealed. But one thing is cristal clear; the European Union model has reached some sort of limit and the growing concerns of Europeans need to be addressed. Although the EU is a (non-negligeable) factor in the lives of Europeans, it is but part of a larger process in the development of (continental) Europe. Bringing together EU and non-EU regions, AER is the first to recognise that the European construction does not stop at the EU-28 borders. So regardless of the disappointment to see the UK leave the EU, British regions will still have opportunities to build a future by other means, AER being one of them.

In the Bureau meeting and conference “Europe after Brexit: is status quo an option”, Bureau members chose to address three main parameters for the future of Europe; (1) vision and values, (2) patterns and institutions, (3) communicate and promote. They worked in the spirit of the “world café” methodology to define their common position and adopt a declaration to voice their ideas and proposals to make the necessary changes in Europe.

Cllr Roy Perry, AER Vice-President for Institutional Affairs and Leader of Hampshire County Council (UK) set the scene with a presentation on the history of EU-UK relations and an analysis of the referendum results.

Two other speakers brought closure to the discussions, including Mr Maximilian Huck, Advisor Press and Information, Austrian Ministry for Europe who spoke about “Europe begins in your municipality“and Mr Jorg Wojahn, Head of the Representation of the European Commission in Austria who gave a visionary speech “Europe is dead ? Long live Europe !”

 

 

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Youth empowerment & employment

14 October, 2016 By Johanna Pacevicius

What is the role of the AER network for youth empowerment and employment?

The Assembly of European Regions has a history of working on participation and inclusion and more specifically on youth empowerment. Since its creation in 1985 the network has had youth, lifelong learning and economic development in its core topics. This is how for instance the AER youth work placement programme Eurodyssey was created, the first in Europe.

Mobility & employment

Eurodyssey is AER’s international mobility programme for young people. It is an excellent tool for regions to take action against youth unemployment by providing their young people with a first professional experience in a European region. The Eurodyssey programme offers not only quality and relevant work experience but also an opportunity to learn a new language and discover a new culture, contributing to the development of the European project. Regions are satisfied with the quality of the tool as many of their young people find a job at the end of their placement, or in the months that follow.

Youth in policy making

AER also develops cooperation at policy-making level on Youth, by promoting the implementation of regional youth councils and the development of youth participation in political life. One of the 3 thematic Committees specifically focuses on Youth, Culture & Education and we published a report which highlights regional good practices on youth participation in 2014. We also facilitate the cooperation between Regional Youth Councils via the AER Youth Regional Network.

Youth entrepreneurship to empower youth

AER has a long track record of involving regions in cooperation and mutual learning to support youth entrepreneurship. For instance AER implemented peer reviews in the framework of the PYE project, co-financed by the European Commission through the PROGRESS programme.

The AER Peer Review methodology is based on a multi-level bottom-up approach: it means that PYE involved regional authorities, national and regional stakeholders playing a central role in youth employment as well as young people themselves. The five-day peer review visits focused on 3 structural challenges in the field of youth employment: young people’s preparation for, transition to & stabilisation on the labour market. Each Peer Review visit resulted in a tailor-made List of Recommendations drafted by international experts, which led to 4 Regional Action Plans setting out specific policy recommendations to improve young people’s access to jobs in the region.

AER was also a proud partner of the YES project where partners sought to highlight and encourage entrepreneurship education within the education system. Fostering the attitudes and skills of young people to self-employment, by developing personal qualities – such as creativity,  responsibility, risk-taking, problem-solving, team-working – and relevant business competencies on how to create and run an enterprise.

AER organized several citizens for a on the topic of youth entrepreneurship education and 2 Summer academies, the first one in 2008, when youth entrepreneurship was seen mainly as a solution for those youth who were not able to find a job, and the second one last summer, where youth entrepreneurship was no longer a remedy but a positive perspective with an incredible youth empowerment potential.

The AER position on entrepreneurship, “Daring to succeed, entrepreneurship for better growth”, which was adopted in 2014 in Wroclaw (PL), particularly highlights the importance of youth entrepreneurship and also features a series of good practices carried out by the regions on this topic.

Early school leaving: a holistic approach

AER’s engagement on youth policies and youth empowerment logically meant that members got engaged together to combat early school leaving.

Early school leaving (ESL) is a growing severe problem in Europe which has long-term effects both on economic growth, the societal developments and on the individuals. The future of Europe depends on young people’s success both in the working life and in the society. Drop-out is a major obstacle in both respects. The problem is complex and cannot be solved by education providers only. There is a need for effective cross-sectoral cooperation with different stakeholders.

In this context, AER members decided to create a working group to improve policy making through good practice sharing and mutual learning.

Some members of this working group then decided to engage jointly in a European project to study the whole chain of Early School leaving (prevention, intervention and compensation) to be able to develop comprehensive policies.

The JET-CD Erasmus+ project represented an opportunity for regions already involved in exchanging experiences and working together to improve policy making on the topic within the framework of the AER working group on early school drop-outs, to deepen this cooperation in a very concrete way.

The working group followed the progress of the JET-CD project via its regular meetings. The JET-CD outputs were shared both via the meetings and via social media and the AER website. News articles were regularly published on the homepage to ensure wider outreach of the JET-CD findings. Members from the project also benefitted from feedback and experiences from other members in the working group, ensuring a constant flow of knowledge.

Combatting early school leaving aims at empowering youth and allowing them to reclaim their place in society.

Celebrate good practices

Through its award for the Most Youth Friendly European Regions, AER carries out an inventory of good practices and provides them with increased visibility. This award also boosts good practice sharing and transfer: what works well in a region can inspire another region experiencing similar challenges. The exchanges within the network enable stakeholders to better understand the process leading to the successful implementation of a practice. When potential bottlenecks are anticipated they can be overcome, this is where experience sharing plays a crucial role as it is not the successes only which are being shared but also the failures.

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“Revitalising democracy” remains top choice of the Executive Board

20 September, 2016 By Editor

In their meeting in Batumi on 15 September, the Executive Board reviewed the annual theme that naturally took its place from AER’s new year’s resolution last December.  Chosen for 2016, the issue of “Revitalising democracy” is ever more relevant and topical in the current political context and the Executive Board has given the network a strong political impetus by maintaining the theme for 2017.

The issues that led to choosing this topic in 2015 included the refugee and migration crisis, the continued rise of unemployment, terrorist attacks and weaker economic growth. Unfortunately, a new set of severe and alarming factors have given “revitalising democracy” a more pronounced and profound reason for being in the past months.

In the aftermath of Brexit, cleavages and tensions between European countries, political groups and citizens have been brought to light and the very nature of the European Union is more than ever questioned with tendencies to move away from common projects and values. The backstage discussions on the EU regional policy and funds also question some of the core European principles such as solidarity and cohesion. AER is acting on both fronts to safeguard the principles of democracy in our societies; the AER Autumn Bureau meeting in Vienna will question (24-25 October) will question “Europe after Brexit: is status quo an option?” and AER is also playing a pivotal role in the pushing for a Cohesion policy post 2020 for all regions. The latter point will be materialised at the Summit of the Regions on 28 September in Brussels.

The attempted coup in Turkey has shaken the essence of the democratic process. AER is showing support and concern to its member regions via a Delegation with government and opposition officials in an attempt to contribute to the necessary constructive dialogue with Turkey.

AER will continue to develop concrete projects and actions to bring its own building block for the revitalisation of our democracies in 2017.

 

 

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Final conference school dropout: Just another brick in the wall?

24 June, 2016 By Johanna Pacevicius

Young people are the future

Yet judging by the figures the perspectives are rather gloomy: according to Eurostats, one sixth of all young people were neither in employment nor in education or training in the EU-28 in 2014.

In this context early school leaving is a major issue and a threat to social and economic cohesion. AER members regions have been working on this topic via the working group on school dropouts. In this context the JET-CD project held its final conference on 21-22 June in Hampshire. 27 participants from the partner organisations and from different organisations from the region attended the event.

Early school leaving: long term impacts

Early school leaving (ESL) is predictive of a range of economic and social outcomes. Early leavers experience considerable disadvantages in relation to adult-life chances: higher rates of unemployment, poorer health status…

Exclusion from education is also a strong determinant of ending up NEET and may lead to further social exclusion. The term NEET (not in education, employment or training), is commonly used to capture disengagement and social exclusion, as well as levels of unemployment among young people.

Exclusion is expensive

According to Eurofound, the consequences of long-term disengagement of young people from the labour market are dramatic at the economic, societal and individual level (Eurofound, 2012a). The European agency estimated the economic cost that Europe is paying for having a large cohort of young people in a NEET situation at €162 billion in 2013.

The ability to combat school dropout is therefore directly linked to long term economic development potential. Sustainable development goes hand in hand with youth participation and inclusion.

Share, learn, do

AER member regions Catalunya (ES), Västernorrland (SE), Hampshire (GB), Tulcea (RO) and Østfold (NO) analysed the whole chain of early school leaving: prevention, intervention and compensation. This was done in the framework of an Erasmus+ project called Joint Efforts  to Combat School Dropout, or JET-CD.

The consortium pinpointed the different good practices in each region and shared challenges. Despite very different contexts, commonalities were identified both in terms of causes and in terms of processes. The project particularly highlighted the need for cross-sectoral collaboration.

Prevention

The final conference was an opportunity to present good practices implemented in the different regions. For instance in Catalunya, the Adapted Curriculum Programme allows to prevent the dropout of young people. It is implemented in partnership with El Llindar, a second chance school, which provides prevocational training courses and personal guiding.

In Tulcea, AMN Insight is an online evaluation platform, which provides specialists support to prevent dropouts as well as educational and vocational guidance to students on the basis of psycho-pedagogical testing.

Intervention & Compensation

Within the category “intervention” the project sought to collect good practices aimed at detecting and re-motivating early school-leavers for education. The region of Västernorrland and Hampshire presented their experience and good practices which involve actions led by diverse stakeholders such as social services, youth counselling and the employment agency. Health receives major attention in Västernorrland in particular. In Hampshire cross-sectoral collaboration, tenders specifying the importance of social value and jobs for young people, and a focus on data rich analysis prove extremely successful: the level of NEET was reduced by 1000 individuals in 3 years. The category “compensation” included good practices aimed at re-entering early school leavers in the education system. The region of Østfold stressed the need to have a early intervention, an individual plan and close follow-up. It is essential to focus on the needs of students and not on what they have failed at!

Photos of the Final Conference are published on the AER Facebook Page

Conference documents:

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Output documents:

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Links

JET-CD project page and outputs

Erasmus+ website

Eurofound (2015), Social inclusion of young people, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.

erasmus

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Cllr Roy Perry (Hampshire-UK) on UK referendum

22 June, 2016 By Elin Berglie

Cllr Roy Perry (Hampshire-UK) could not attend our General Assembly in Bodø last June due to his responsibilities in the Remain campaign for the UK referendum. However, he sent this video to be presented at the Bureau meeting on June 22 2016. The Bureau was focused on the possibilities that new technologies offer to regional authorities to imporve governance, but was closed with a brief but intense discussion on the possible scenarios after the referendum the day after.

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Political declaration: call for amendments

4 May, 2016 By Editor

The AER Bureau in Nordland (NO) on 22 June will address the issue of (R)e-inventing Democracy and the impact of technologies on the democratic process. All member regions are invited to submit amendments to the proposed political declaration. Please use the comment box below, providing the name of your region, to submit amendments or send us an email.

(R)e-inventing Democracy
A regional approach

Whereas: participation in elections is decreasing steadily in Europe;

Whereas: governments are faced with increasingly complex challenges ranging from economic development to countering radicalisation or fighting climate change;

Whereas: new technologies are multiplying the opportunities for citizens participation by means of sharing opinions, advice, evaluation, financial support, co-creation;

Whereas: new technologies must be used in respect of the citizens’ privacy;

Whereas: tapping into the human capital both inside and outside institutions via IT applications could boost innovation, increase engagement, save time and financial resources;

Whereas: In a democracy the role of citizens is central and their participation is the corner stone of legitimacy;

Whereas: AER has a history of defending the recognition of the principle of subsidiarity and its implementation;

Whereas: AER’s leading theme for 2016 is “revitalizing democracy”;

We, the Assembly of European Regions:

  1. commit to strengthen cooperation between all the regions of Europe to share experiences and continuously innovate in the public sector;
  2. recognise the need for multi-stakeholder approaches for economic, social and political participation to face societal challenges;
  3. encourage the public, private and non-governmental sectors to incite citizen-led initiatives;
  4. underline the importance of design in public services to provide citizens with opportunities to contribute to the public good with their talent;
  5. deem education to be critical in creating a climate of innovation, openness, inclusion and entrepreneurial spirit;
  6. insist on the importance of youth involvement in policy-making: youth participation should be fostered from an early age;
  7. call on all EU, national and regional stakeholders to speed up the deployment of broadband across the European territory;
  8. highlight the need for e-literacy across generations and communities;
  9. call on tech companies to increase their teams’ diversity to enhance their innovation potential and ensure the contraction of the gender and minority gaps in technology.
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(R)e-inventing Democracy

25 April, 2016 By Johanna Pacevicius

The AER Spring 2016 Bureau (22-24 June, Nordland-NO) will focus on the ways technology helps innovation in democracy, highlighting the disruptive nature of technology and the need to renew existing models.

The debate will be lead by key actors from the public and private sectors experienced on topics such as new forms of citizens engagement and participation; big data for policy making; design thinking in the public sector; e-litteracy, etc. A declaration will be presented during the event to:

  1. acknowledge the awareness of regions on a series of hot topics such as: IT participatory tools, big data for policy making, design-thinking, innovation for by and with the people, co-creation etc
  2. declare that interregional cooperation is a tool to fast track innovation in the public sector
  3. recognise there is a need for a deep change in the way governments design their services and the way they collaborate with citizens, which has impacts in terms of time and money savings as well as engagement of citizens and legitimacy for governments
  4. list a series of recommendations on topics which AER members are or have been working on in the framework of the Committees

We look forward to finding out what measures regions have taken in this field, the challenges they have encountered and good practices set up to improve democracy and citizens’ participation. Are had been active in this field for some time now and has already gathered food for though on digital democracies:

  • It’s not about tools it’s a shift in the way territories are managed and developed
  • It’s all about design: services need to be designed in a way that respond to needs, but also in a way that enable citizens to contribute repeatedly and in many different ways to the collective good. Design has been discussed both in COM1 and in the context of e- [email protected] and integrated care systems in COM2
  • Improving participation is more than organising debates: citizens participation is generally restricted to elections, opinion polls and social media. Even crowdsourcing of expertise has its limits because it doesn’t ask citizens what they would like to contribute to, but asks their expertise when the public sector deems it relevant. New technologies on the contrary potentially enable to map skills and tap into unused talent, both from civil servants who may have competences and skills not revealed in their CV or job description, and from experts outside the administration (a little bit the way LinkedIn functions). This mapping of skills is for instance used by smartphone apps, the idea is to match individuals to what matters to them or, in this case, match people to problems based on what they can do

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The regional perspective on “Women in emergency situations”

22 April, 2016 By Editor

On 14 April 2016 AER organised the Equal Opportunities Forum on “Women in Emergency situations” in Timis County (RO) in the framework of the Committees’ spring plenary meetings. The Forum gathered around 50 participants from AER member regions, to speak about European experiences, solutions and the regional perspective on this hot topic.

As the European Parliament has urged the European Commission to deliver a new communication strategy on gender equality and women’s rights for 2016-2020, the member regions of AER aimed to define common messages based on their diverse and vast knowledge, and also on their experiences on equal opportunities, on women’s rights.

AER vice-president for Equal Opportunities and Inclusion, Mrs Ana Tomanova Makanova, chaired the Forum and spoke about Voivodina’s experience together with Danca Todorov, Provincial Ombudsman for gender equality whose lead topic was “Gender Equality & Disaster Risk Reduction”.  Among the conclusions of this project supported by UN Women in 2015, it was noted that there is no practice of a quick gender-sensitive needs assessment of the population, that gender differences are mostly manifested in the manner of information about the disaster, as well as in skills, and that participation of women and other CSOs would contribute to a better risk, needs and capacities assessment, as well as data collection regarding the population’s vulnerability.

Monika Laurinaviciute-Kocmann from the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) shared with us the general position of women in Europe and the EIGE work.

Kenneth Johannesson from Värmland (SE) shared his regions project “A handbook for regional cooperation in Värmland”, designed to combat intimate partner violence against women. He stressed the importance of keeping in mind the definition of equal opportunities: “Women and men have the same power to shape the society and their lives. This calls for same possibilities, rights and obligations in all areas of life.”

Lenica Bucur from Alba County Council (RO) talked about domestic violence, and the social services developed in Alba County, according to Romanian legislation, in order to prevent and combat domestic violence, with a focus on specialised services developed by Cugir Town to protect victims of domestic violence.

The Forum was also the stage of a lively discussion and an opportunity to highlight a key message of the Sendai Declaration (outcome and declaration of the Heads of State and Government, ministers and delegates who participated in the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction) that “Catastrophes don’t discriminate, society does!”

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Engage citizens?

26 February, 2016 By Johanna Pacevicius

Participation requires space

as is very well highlighted in this 2010 video from the AER Youth Regional Network. And by space it’s not just physical space that is meant, such as meeting rooms, but also space in the institutions, in the decision making process. This is valid for young people but also for society at large: how do we make space for citizens participation? If citizens are to adhere to and engage in actions, they need to be involved in more than just validating decisions. AER has long been advocating for the creation of regional youth councils. Its report on youth participation lists a series of recommendations in the field. The joint Committee 2 and Committtee 3 plenary meeting in march 2015 focused on participatory approaches for better policy making. The events highlighted good practices from Nordjylland (DK), Donegal (IE), Värmland (SE), Norrbotten (SE): involvement of regional stakeholders in the development of a region’s strategy,  creation of a senior citizens’ council, quotas for women in political parties, political participation of youth, inclusion of minorities…

Space is information

In order to engage, citizens need to have access to the information. However the quantity of daily information flux is such that it is crucial to ease access. Where is the information distributed? What are the communication tools used? are these adapted to different audiences? Is the information easy to use? Is it presented with a user’s perspective? How does it relate to citizens? What kind of information is distributed? A project like Perspective Daily typically addresses the lack of exposure of positive news. The AER seminar on “Communication & Action in times of crisis” in Timis on 12 April will look at how to engage citizens in tackling tough policy choices.

Communication is a two-way street

Too often communication is confused with “providing input”. But one of the most important aspects of communication is listening. How do you listen to citizens? Do they feel they are been taken seriously? What are the best processes to avoid citizens participation follows the Pareto principle and is no longer representative? In Canada MASS developped deliberative tools such as civic loteries and reference pannels to engage citizens and innovate democratic processes. With its overarching 2016 theme “revitalizing democracy”, AER is organising a series of activities to ensure interregional cooperation provides regions and citizens with real added value. In this context, the Bureau meeting in June will discuss how technology is disrupting/ innovating democracy.

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Social media use in governments

29 October, 2015 By Editor

Does social media help deliver better public services and does the use of social media create more open policy processes? What are the current trends and what are valid guidelines for decision makers? These  questions are at the heart of a study published by the OECD in 2014 exploring the Social Media Use by Governments. Whereas politicians fairly quickly became aware of the potential of new social media such as twitter, facebook or blogs, governments have been more reluctant in taking up these new tools.  OECD-Social media matrix

However, they are slowly catching up, says the OECD report, becoming more experimental with social media and trying to explore the potential of amplifying the effects of the internet on participatory democracy and public information. Yet, institutions need to be aware of the risks entailed in using social media, such as private data protection, quality of information and public perception.

Governments and institutions need also to better understand the impact of the use of social media to improve their policy making, their understanding of people’s needs and the way they can communicate about its own policies and service. Governments also need to attract and adapt a new skill set necessary for its employees to be able to make full use of social media. These are just some of the challenges and issues governments have to focus on when getting involved in social media use. For more info read here the full report:

Social Media Use by Governments

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Regionalisation and Democracy: It’s High Time we Place the Citizen Back at the Heart of Governance

10 October, 2012 By Mathieu Mori

Strasbourg, Alsace (F), 10 October 2012

The conclusion is clear: the financial and economic crisis that we are experiencing spares no one, and has political consequences all around the world. This crisis is partly rooted in globalisation and is often associated with populism movements, community decline and with an increasing desire for independence.

Regionalisation is a counterweight to globalisation and an antidote to the political instability that threatens certain countries. It allows for decision-making processes that are closer to the individuals, it takes into account cultural, social and economic specificities and identities, distributes public finances between more or less successfull territorial entities and, ultimately, it enhances political participation of the entire society.

Decentralisation of powers is essential when creating a new model of governance – that of participatory democracy, based on citizen’s involvement in decision-making processes, in the life of their communities and society at large. According to the principle of subsidiarity, local authorities are better able boost the voice of their citizens beside Government and Institutions. More than a principle, the word encompasses a concrete reality: that of a level of decision-making that knows how to capitalise on its proximity to the citizens on the one hand and, on the other hand, on its prvileged relationship with the State for the recreation of a strong democratic alliance.

These were the conclusions of the conference-debate “Regionalization and democracy” co-organised by the Alsace Region, the Congress of the Council of Europe and the Assembly of European Regions within the framework of the 1st World Forum on Democracy. More than 450 people joined in for the debate, testimony to the fact that the issue of democracy around the world is a major topic for citizens!

What was said:

Michèle Sabban, President of the Assembly of European Regions: “Let us rediscover the authentic spirit of the ancient Greek democracy, when democracy was fully embodied and it maintained the concept of a government led by and for the people. The initial idea of ancient democracy couldn’t avoid undergoing major changes over the centuries, and if it has gained in proportions to appear today as the most fair political system, it has also distanced itself from its basic component – the citizens. I call for a local democracy more than a principle based one, a democracy of the people more than one of concepts, a democracy that wins and will always win by standing closer to its citizens. I hope that together with all our member regions we can help new democracies around the world build a stable foundation and offer a democratic and serene environment to their citizens! “.

André Reichardt, First Vice-President of the Alsace Region: “I would take the French example: 30 years ago France was going through decentralization. Skills transfer advanced step by step, especially in Alsace which, for the past ten years, has been pilot region for the direct management of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The example of my region fully proves the effectiveness of policy when decisions are made closer to the citizens. And democracy has everything to gain from it!”

Jameleddine Gharbi, Minister of Regional Development and Planning (Tunisia): “Regionalisation is the structure of the natural sphere. Democracy is the structure of the public sphere. Consequently, the structuring mode adopted by the political regime influences, in a similar way, the regionalisation and the governance system. Indeed, the political regime stripped of dominance and dictatorship was characterized by an instrumental relation with the world, a mapping of power, a sacralisation of dominance and the supression of the individual. The current government, stemming from the revolution, is putting into place a more symbolic and normative relationship with the world, a mapping of the distinction, a demystification and deconstruction of power and institutionalisation of democratic action.”

Kim Jae Hyo, Secretary General of the North East Asian Regions (NEAR), (South Korea): “Citizens request greater participation in public decision-making because aspirations have increased with the emergence of New Information Technologies and Social Network Systems”.

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