Innovative actions are appearing all over the continent, proposing new ways of using and reusing resources whilst facilitating access to a larger part of the population - marginalised groups included. Moreover, these types of initiatives favour the shared rather than exclusive use of resources as well as take into account the need to avoid waste. How might these initiatives be enhanced, developed and multiplied in different contexts in order to advance towards a more cohesive and inclusive society?
Some of the elements that contribute to enhancing impact were explored during a one-day session at the Council of Europe in February 2013.
The Extraday session, held in the context of the Council of Europe Conference on “Poverty and Inequality in Societies of Human Rights: the paradox of democracies – Proposals for an Inclusive Society“, stressed the need for a renewed strategy to fight poverty, basing it on common goods and on the sharing of social responsibilities whilst at the same time avoiding waste. In order to give continuity to the discussions of the Conference and activate the new joint project with the European Commission, “Responding together”, a group of fifty experts from different backgrounds (people experiencing poverty, researchers, activists, members of local institutions, etc.) identified some of the main challenges and opportunities that disable or enable action at local level.
The main issues tackled concerned:
1. Building inclusive communities and networks
2. Building inclusive democratic processes
3. Mobilising resources
4. Receiving support from public authorities
Download the full report: Report-extraday.doc
More elements and paths can be found here below. Some of them are illustrated with examples.
Picture by Shellie Gonzalez
Starting a project: "how to" "what for" "where" ?
Toolkits help to bring to fruition creative ideas for an action that might be implemented in or around your community. They also facilitate a deeper understanding as to what are the different steps to be undertaken.
Building the community
Many elements are involved in the building of a community, be it online or offline. One of the corner stones is trust, which relates to developing and reinforcing confidence in the feasability of a project and the benefits that it will bring to the community. Having a common interest and objective is also key. Constructing community ties and trust both in the project and between members may be the most important feature for achieving actions. However trust is a multidimensional, subjective, situational and culturally dependent construct that make it hard to synthesize. Below are some key elements around trust building
- Building Trust through reputation. E.g. Couchsurfing.
- Building Trust through peertopeer exchange E.g. http://p2pfoundation.net/.
- Building Trust through transparency E.g. http://okfn.org.
Finding support from a community
Community support can relate to the sharing of material and immaterial resources (knowledge), provision of ideas and advice, moral support and trust in the project.
- Crowdfunding/ Peer2peer barter or project platforms/ Timebanks/ LETS (...)
Creating a movement
Spreading the word, creating campaigns and raising awareness to bring about a real transformation in society.
All Examples of Actions and Policies
EKIF Research Project: Youth unEmployment, Cyprus
Publié le : 2013-05-14 08:37 -|
EKIF - Cyprus Gender Research Centre The gender of youth unemployment in Cyprus - views and attitudes of the unemployed youth and the employers |
Unconditional Basic Income
Publié le : 2013-05-14 07:37 -|
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INVESTMENT IN HUMANITY From a compensatory to an emancipatory European and human society.. Unconditional Basic Income: "A basic income is an income unconditionally granted to all on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement". |
Parlement & Citoyens (Parliament & Citizens)
Publié le : 2013-05-13 07:29 -|
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Parliament & Citizens (Parlement et Citoyens) is a transparency and collaboration tool that allows representatives to involve citizens in drafting their bills. The platform proposes a new way for citizens to take part in the legislative process by co-designing laws. |
Youth for the Future!
Publié le : 2013-05-01 19:54 -|
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"Youth for the Future" is a project aimed at increasing the participation in decision-making, concepts of democracy and active citizenship of youth refugees arriving in Sweden with their families. |
Givrum.nu ("give room now")
Publié le : 2013-04-26 07:36 -|
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Givrum.nu is an organisation that works with user-driven urban development. Using extensive knowledge about citizen-participatory processes in the city, Givrum.nu has among other things created life in empty buildings for a temporary period and created awareness-raising events where innovative ways (cultural, social, etc.) of developing cities are put on the agenda. |
Workshops on Clichés, to "look further than the end of our noses"
Publié le : 2013-04-22 12:10 -|
Workshops to raise awareness among high school students in order that they identify and deconstruct stereotypes and misconceptions |
Coroutine Lille
Publié le : 2013-04-19 13:18 -|
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The Coroutine is a hybrid space made by and for citizens providing an environment to work (co-working), exchange ideas, info, goods and services around the local life (“Veilleuse”+citizenlab) create, innovate and design new objects and concepts with different available tools (fablab+incubator). |
Start a Repair Café
Publié le : 2013-04-19 12:57 -|
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THE REPAIR CAFE CONCEPT IS SPREADING AROUND THE WORLD! Repair Cafés are free meeting places and they're all about repairing things (together). In the place where a Repair Café is located, you’ll find tools and materials to help you make any repairs you need. On clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles, crockery, appliances, toys, et cetera.You will also find repair specialists such as electricians, seamstresses, carpenters and bicycle mechanics. Visitors bring their broken items from home. Together with the specialists they start making their repairs in the Repair Café. |
The Garden of Eden Project
Publié le : 2013-04-12 12:31 -|
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The Garden of Eden Project is one way to help your community take local action towards local and global environmental improvement. One tangible way to address climate change is to plant trees. Not only this, it is an opportunity to bring a community together to design and create a common project that is eco-friendly, sustainable and will give back to the community in years to come. |
Challenges
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