Annual co-ordination meeting of the ELDW (Paris, 1 February 2016)
2016 European Local Democracy Week to focus on promoting intercultural dialogue
“Living together in culturally diverse societies: respect, dialogue, interaction” will be the theme for the 2016 European Local Democracy Week (ELDW), as approved by the Bureau of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities at its meeting in Paris on 8 February 2016 on a proposal from the ELDW partners. The 2016 theme follows on from that in 2015, with a stronger focus on education for democratic citizenship and human rights. “It is important to educate citizens at local level concerning their fundamental rights and freedoms and also to enable them to acquire the skills for promoting respect and diversity” said Gaye Doganoglu (EPP/CCE, Turkey), Congress Vice-President and ELDW political co-ordinator.
20 partners from 10 countries were represented at the annual ELDW co-ordination meeting
The annual co-ordination meeting of the European Local Democracy Week (ELDW) was held in Paris (France), on 1 February 2016. This meeting brought together the most active cities, European and national associations of the 2015 edition, in order to assess last year’s Democracy Week, exchange experience and good practices, as well as to discuss the main theme and possible developments for the upcoming 2016 edition. ''The participants underlined that the 2015 theme of multiculturalism perfectly addressed the current challenges faced by local and regional authorities in Europe” explained Gaye Doganoglu (Turkey, EPP/CCE), political co-ordinator of the ELDW, who also presented certificates to the representatives of the “12-Star” partners to reward them for their outstanding participation and commitment to the ELDW.
Partners represented at the meeting were: Antalya (TR), Buyukcekmece (TR), Brussels-Capital Region (BE), Strasbourg (FR), Chania (GR), Ialoveni (MD), Iasi (RO), Izmit (TR), Kadikoy (TR) Karsiyaka (TR) Katowice (PL), Kharkiv (UA), Luleburgaz (TR), Mioveni (RO), Valongo (PT), Association ‘Darsana Etranga’ (IT), European Association for Local Democracy (FR), European Committee on Democracy and Governance (FR), Union of Turkish Municipalities (TR), University Network for Intercultural Dialogue and Learning (GR).