Project from The Groundup: Fostering Rural Youth Participation in The EU AgendaProject duration: 21 months
Project start date: 1/1/2024
Project end date: 30/9/2025
EU Programme: CERV-2021-CITIZENS-TOWN-NT — Network of Towns
(CERV – Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values) (See more at: https://commission.europa.eu/about-european-commission/departments-and-executive-agencies/justice-and-consumers/justice-and-consumers-funding-tenders/funding-programmes/citizens-equality-rights-and-values-programme_en )
Granting authority: European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA)
Number of partners: 15 partners from 14 countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Greece, Slovakia, Ireland, Holland (Netherland)
Profile of the partner organizations: 6 local action groups (LAGs), 4 municipalities, 6 non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
Project Leader: SPLAV, Czech Republic
Bulgarian Partner: No Frontiers 21 Century Association (NGO)
End Beneficiaries in Bulgaria: Bobov Dol Municipality and „Hristo Botev“ Secondary School“, Bobov Dol (schoolchildren aged 16+)
Project goal
The project goal is to actively engage and also to empower our local citizens from rural and peripheral areas in Europe, especially young people, in the EU-related and local democratic processes – i.e. GroundUp. We consider the upcoming European Elections 2024 as a momentum not only for European politics, but also as a process that will heavily impact life of citizens from rural and peripheral areas that we represent. Also new phenomena that are challenging the integrity of elections (hate speech, disinformation, fake news, misleading content, cybersecurity threats, conservative shifts, political resentments), are effecting the life quality of rural residents. Citizens from rural and peripheral areas are generally considered to be less informed and therefore underrepresented in the EU democratic processes. Via the CERV Programme we hope to develop and implement measures which will respond to the real needs faced in this regard by our small, peripheral and rural communities, and which will facilitate exchanges, peaceful relations and mutual understanding between European citizens.