Promoting European active citizenship in the Balkans: Building Europe through town-twinning and civil society networking

The Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA) in cooperation with the European Civic Forum on December 4, 2009 organized a conference “Promoting European active citizenship in the Balkans: building Europe through town-twinning and civil society networking” in Skopje, Macedonia. The conference was organized with the support of the European Commission. Co-organizers of this conference were CRPRC Studiorum and the City of Skopje. This event aimed at gathering local authorities and civil society representatives from Europe and the Balkans to discuss the contribution of town-twinning and civil society networking to the European integration process and the building of a European identity.

With the participation of experts and European speakers, important topics were developed, such as:

• Town twinning: What does it mean today? How is it possible to reactivate them in the light of European integration? How to give a concrete content to such cooperation? What are the possible European findings?
• Civil society networking: What is the situation of civil society in the Balkans today? How to develop networks among civil society organizations in the Balkans and in Europe? What can be the added value of the European Civic Forum?
• European citizenship and identity: What do they mean? What is the role of local authorities and civil society organizations in developing a European identity?
• Obstacles: How to develop European citizenship/ identity in the Balkans through town twinning and civil society networking without a satisfactory level of citizens’ mobility?