The project « Strengthening Civic Participation in the Functioning of

Inter-Municipal and Inter-Sectoral actors in Europe » was funded with the support of the European Union under the Programme “Europe for Citizens”

Applicable to the Strand 2 – Measure 2.2 “Networks of Towns”

Preparatory activities: the activities involved 15 participants.

Location / Dates: Trnava (Slovakia), 24/11/2020, but it was held ONLINE

Short description: The applicant did not plan the preparatory activity of the project but implemented it. Project activities and their possible guarantors were discussed. The applicant did not claim any additional costs. The event was attended by representatives of 10 partners from 7 countries. The Italian project partner did not attend the meeting, its representatives withdrew from the project. After the meeting, the Irish partner stated that it would no longer participate in the project due to its insufficient institutional capacity. The introductory meeting appeared to be a very logical part of the project necessary for its successful implementation.

The InCoop Introductory Meeting had a relatively fundamental impact on all communication (visibility) activities of the project. Its material results were:

1)         the project logo with the logo design manual implemented by the Croatian partner (city of Ludbreg) made and delivered in January 2021 by the Croatian project partner – the Town of Ludbreg,

2)         the project website www.incoopproject.eu, which served as the main communication/dissemination tool of the project, as well as a working tool, as there was a Sharepoint for partners (a common disk for storing common documents). The website thus made the work of the PPs and the successful applicant easier. By the end of the project (09/22), 2163 users visited its website.

3)         An Incoop brochure was created in June 2021, see: https://www.incoopproject.eu/post/incoop-brochure-done. The brochure was distributed among all PPs to inform their partners and all project participants participating in the project in Slovakia about the project. 10,000 copies were made and distributed.

4)         Information about the project and its activities on the website of the project partners and their profiles on social networks could reach approximately 4,000 people in 6 program countries.

This communication tools could affect 16163 Europeans (indirect project participants) from 11 programme countries. 

Events: 9 events have been carried out within this project:

Event 1

Participation: The event involved 41 citizens, including 12 participants from the municipalities of Erdut and Ludbreg (Croatia), 1 participants from the city of Valencia and its local NGO La Cosecha (Spain), 4 participants from the city of Plovdiv, its NGO FAGDO (Bulgaria), 4 participants from the city of Rzeszow and its regional body – Rzeszow Regional Development Agency (Poland), 8 participants from the cities of Porto and Coimbra (Portugal) and 12 participants from the municipalities of Trnava and Cífer (Slovakia).

Location / Dates: The event took place in Trnava (Slovakia), from 06/06/2021 to 06/06/2021 and was held ONLINE.
Short description:  Specific project partners presented their status quo regarding civic participation in their activities. Attention was devoted to the legislation of regional entities in individual countries, their impact on society in the context of local economic development and strengthening of local identity, active citizenship, and solidarity in their territory. All project partners expressed their expectations for the project.

Event 2
Participation: The event involved 13 citizens, including 5 participants from the municipalities of Erdut and Ludbreg (Croatia), 3 participants from the city of Valencia and its local NGO La Cosecha (Spain), 2 participants from the cities of Porto and Coimbra (Portugal) and 3 participants from the municipalities of Trnava and Cífer (Slovakia).

Location / Dates: The event took place in Valencia, (Spain), from 15/01/2021 to 31/05/2022
Short description:  The aim of the event was making a documentary film about how ordinary people, organizations and entities support citizen participation in society. The Spanish partner – La Cosecha Comunicación – took care of the script of the film, its editing and realization. The film was shot in Slovakia, Portugal, and Croatia, so 4 project partners participated in it: Regional Development Cluster (SK), Intermunicipal Community/Association of the Coimbra Region (CIM, ES), the municipality of Ludbreg (HR) and La Cosecha Comuicación (ES).

Event 3
Participation: The event involved 80 citizens, including 63 participants from the city of Valencia, and surrounding (Spain), 5 participants from the cities of Porto and Coimbra (Portugal), 7 participants from the municipalities of Trnava and Cífer (Slovakia) and 5 participants from other than project countries; Italy (2) and France (3).

Location / Dates: The event took place in Valencia, (Spain), from 28/06/2022 to 28/06/2022.
Short description:  The aim of the event was the premiere of the documentary “The Power of Citizens’ Voice”, followed by a public debate, took place on June 28, 2022 in Valencia (ES) and was organized as part of the International Day of Citizen Participation by La Cosecha Communicación.

Event 4,

Participation: The event involved 200 citizens, including 3 participants from the municipalities of Erdut and Ludbreg (Croatia), 1 participants from the city of Valencia and its local NGO La Cosecha (Spain), 2 participants from the city of Plovdiv and its NGO FAGDO (Bulgaria), 1 participants from the city of Rzeszow and its regional body – Rzeszow Regional Development Agency (Poland), 2 participants from the cities of Porto and Coimbra (Portugal), 179 participants from the municipalities of Trnava, Cífer and Nitra (Slovakia) and 12 participants from non-project countries as Austria (4) and Hungary (8).

Location / Dates: The event took place in Nitra (Slovakia), from 05/04/2022 to 08/04/2022 and one part of it was held ONLINE.
Short description: The InCoop fair was held at the Agrokomplex Nitra 2022 exhibition center, Slovakia and was organized by Regional Development Cluster. The event was attended by more than 200 participants from Slovakia, Poland, Croatia, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Spain, and Portugal (8). An important part of the event was the creation of an action plan on how to involve citizens more in the decision-making activities of regional associations.

Event 5,

Participation: The event involved 1029 citizens, including 135 participants from Croatia, 112 participants from Spain, 1 participant from Bulgaria, 120 participants from Poland, 240 participants from Portugal, 218 participants from Slovakia and 203 participants from non-project countries as Austria (100), Czechia (101), Italy (1) and the United Kingdom (1).  

Location / Dates: The event was held ONLINE and was coordinated by CEPESE of the city of Porto (Portugal) from 01/01/2022 to 30/04/2022.
Short description: The aim of the event was research on the state of play of inter-municipal and inter-sectoral associations in Europe in the context of civic participation. The research was carried out by CEPESE (PT) on 1029 participants, of which 1011 results were marked as valid for analysis.

Event 6,

Participation: The event involved 70 citizens, including 2 participants from the city of Valencia and its local NGO La Cosecha (Spain), 64 participants from the cities of Porto and Coimbra (Portugal) and 2 participants from the town of Trnava (Slovakia).

Location / Dates: The event took place in Porto (Portugal), from 16/05/2022 to 16/05/2022.
Short description: The aim of the event was in the presentation of research results organized by CEPESE at the University of Porto (PT). More than 70 participants from Portugal, Slovakia, and Spain took part in the event. They were students, representatives of local authorities and the public, who in a later discussion shared their experiences with involving the public in the activities of self-governments and with public intervention in the life of self-governments.

Event 7,

Participation: The event involved 41 citizens, including 12 participants from the municipalities of Erdut and Ludbreg (Croatia), 1 participants from the city of Valencia and its local NGO La Cosecha (Spain), 4 participants from the city of Plovdiv, its NGO FAGDO (Bulgaria), 4 participants from the city of Rzeszow and its regional body – Rzeszow Regional Development Agency (Poland), 8 participants from the cities of Porto and Coimbra (Portugal) and 12 participants from the municipalities of Trnava and Cífer (Slovakia).

Location / Dates: The event took place in Trnava (Slovakia), from 06/06/2021 to 06/06/2021 and was held ONLINE.
Short description: Specific project partners presented their status quo regarding civic participation in their activities. Attention was devoted to the legislation of regional entities in individual countries, their impact on society in the context of local economic development and strengthening of local identity, active citizenship, and solidarity in their territory. All project partners expressed their expectations for the project.

Event 8,

Participation: The event involved 155 citizens, including 38 participants from the municipalities of Erdut and Ludbreg (Croatia), 1 participants from the city of Valencia and its local NGO La Cosecha (Spain), 2 participants from the city of Plovdiv, its NGO FAGDO (Bulgaria), 4 participants from the cities of Porto and Coimbra (Portugal), 84 participants from the municipalities of Trnava and Cífer (Slovakia) and 26 participants from non-project countries as; France (3), Czechia (19) and Italy (4).  

Location / Dates: The event took place in Cifer (Slovakia), from 17/07/2022 to 17/07/2022.

Short description: Presentation of the documentary film “The Power of Citizens’ Voice”, the research of CEPESE and the project and its possible follow-ups in front of project participants. It was the first in-site meeting where all project partners were physically presented.

Event 9,

Participation: The event involved 59 citizens, including 15 participants from the municipalities of Erdut and Ludbreg (Croatia), 4 participants from the city of Valencia and its local NGO La Cosecha (Spain), 3 participants from the city of Plovdiv and its NGO FAGDO (Bulgaria), 4 participants from the city of Rzeszow and its regional body – Rzeszow Regional Development Agency (Poland), 15 participants from the cities of Porto and Coimbra (Portugal) and 16 participants from the municipalities of Trnava and Cífer (Slovakia).

Location / Dates: The event took place in Trnava (Slovakia), from 30/09/2022 to 30/09/2022 and was held ONLINE.
Short description: The aim of the event was the general evaluation of the project that was organized by the applicant online to adhere to the schedule set out in the application. 59 participants were representatives of PPs of regional and national public bodies. 9 project outputs done by 6 project partners have been presented.