Citizens Engagement

As its key priority, the Citizens Engagement Hub wants to strengthen local democracy and citizens participation, as well as providing knowledge, experience and tools to promote decentralised cooperation in Europe, and beyond.

Indeed, being one of the broadest and multifaceted democracy in the world, Europe is nowadays a leading actor in citizens participation and participatory democracy worldwide. The 6 priorities of the European Commission for the 2019-2024 period highlight democracy as one of the most important topics. Among these, “A new push for European democracy” and its programmatic asset states the importance to develop the democratic life of European citizens, now more than ever endangered by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which represents a war against democracy itself.

Through this Hub, ALDA promotes projects and activities which highlight the importance of civic role and contribution in the most relevant environmental and social challenges. Recent emblem of citizens participation and engagement has been the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE): an unprecedented exercise, which called on citizens from all over Europe to raise they voices to shape the Future of the European Union, together.

Following its nature of citizens’ driver for engagement and good governance, ALDA acted, on the one hand, as a promoter of the whole consultation process, teaching and empowering its members and citizens in using the Platform and contributing with ideas. On the other, ALDA was among the founding organisations of the Civil Society Convention for the Conference on the Future of Europe (CSOCoFoE), an initiative led by Civil Society Europe aimed at ensuring genuine involvement of citizens and representative associations in this process.

Another central element is global democracy, meant as a set of good and best practices to support community development and promote civic engagement beyond Europe’s borders. According to ALDA’s mission and vision, this also implies engaging with key international stakeholders and networks, testing ALDA methods at international level, supporting and reinforcing the presence of the Local Democracy Agencies as well as the members in new geographic areas.