Monthly Archives: October 2015

For the second year we were at Citizenship European Days, organized by the organizations’ platform European Civic Forum (ECF), in which Citizenship Academy is part of the direction. On the 10th anniversary of the ECF platform, the event took place at the same place where the platform was born, the Council of Europe, responsable institution for ensuring the respect of Human Rights, formed by all the countries of the continent (including those who are not members of the European Union).   Video of the opening session: For two days, partnership strategies where debated and developed to make european ONG’s work more efficient in the main themes that affect European Union. We were able to hear, in first hand, the testimony of three syrian refugees, explaining us what they expected from Europe and our action as an organized civil society, both to welcome them to stay as to focus the pression […]

Refugees, austerity and the answer of social movements| European Civic Days 2015

The Citizenship Academy was in Hungary, from 16 to 17 november, in a reunion between hungarian and international organizations from civil society, and it got to know more about the recent atacks and threats done by the nacionalist right-wing government of Budapest. We are creating ties and common strategies to fight against this atack (which includes unfounded accusations to NGO’s, police searches without a warrant at their headquarters, constant defamation in the press and trying to block international funds to get to the associations working for the defense of democracy, refugee rights, LGBT people, Roma and other minorities) and to learn how to avoid similar acts in our countries. A lot of these acquirements will be transmitted in workshops that will be held in severous highschools in Portugal, and they aim to empower youngsters to fight for their civic rights.   This meeting and workshops are part of the project Citizen-Rights of international partnership. Veronika […]

We were in Hungary (learning to) defending Democracy

In a context of economic crisis and social emergency present in more and more regions of the European Union, it is important to think about solutions that, more than helping people in trouble to overcome their financial problems, solutions that help to create innovative forms of social organization , alternatives to the ones that capitalist system provide us. At the Congress of Solidarity Economics, the SOLIKON 2015, which took place in Berlin from 10 to 13 september, it was intended to share and discuss different approaches, visions and pratics about new ways of economic activity, based on solidarity and sustainability. The Citizenship Academy was there! Click here to read the rest of the article.

SOLIKON, creating alternatives from Lisbon to Berlin