EU BOX

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Municipality of Paredes

Organisation:

Municipality of Paredes

Country:

Portugal

About organisation:

Situated in North of Portugal, close to Oporto city, the Municipality of Paredes has extraordinary conditions. It benefits from an excellent train and good high way accessibility, near from Francisco Sá Carneiro airport and approximately 20 minutes of the Oporto city center.Our Municipality has presented an increased demographic growth and a relevant social economical potential. Paredes with 87 thousands inhabitants is the 27º county more populated of Portugal. Although is one of the youngest counties with an average age of population with 33 and 1/3 of the population under 25 years old.Paredes has 16.000 students between the pre-school to secondary. It was the first municipality in the country to invest in 12 years of compulsory education and to modernize its entire school buildings that are now compared only to the best in the world. The Municiplaity was pioneer in invest in activities that rises the skills of students and their families in order to scholar success.

Title of the project

EU BOX

Start date:

1/10/2021

End date:

31/12/2022

Objectives:

The creation of the FUTURE EU BOX has the main objective of allowing all to participate in the Conference on the Future of Europe and feel that their voices and opinions are heard. Although we are in a digital society, and even after the pandemic of COVID-19, many people don’t have access to digital gadgets. Our questions were: - How to promote access to the Conference of the Future of Europe to all? - How to reach the most vulnerable population that usually are apart from such initiatives? - How to listen to and value the voices of people, especially the young ones, that are in a more vulnerable social and economic situation? We created a box with cards where people can choose one of the 10 topics for the Conference of the Future of Europe, and we write their opinion. We also organised sessions where we wrote the most valuable contribution in the cards. And put it anonymously in the boxes. The name “EU” is from the European Union but also means "I" in Portuguese. The message was I am Europa, I am part of Europe, and I must give my contribution to our common future. Another point is that the boxes were distributed everywhere (swimming pools, gyms, libraries, schools) to put the topic of participation in The Conference on the Future of Europe everywhere. On Europe Day we made an exhibition with the cards, boxes and with the heartbeat of Europe: dates that the different countries became part of, meaning that everyone, even if it is a part before can begin to participate.

Why the project was: empowering young people, adapting to changing realities, or thinking out of the box:

We believe we are thinking out of the box with the creation of the “FUTURE EU BOX” because we create a solution for a participation problem using a different method. Not digital which is always becoming the only way, but which keeps aside a lot of people in a vulnerable situation. We also designed inspiration (heartbeat of Europe) and identification “I”/”EU in portuguese language” box made people feel part of the process. Further, we try to reach the people where they are and not to wait for them to come to us to participate.

How the project was inclusive:

The European dimension is present in every corner where a European Citizen has an opportunity to experience being part of Europe, especially those we have never had. Also, the initiative could be extended to other contexts and places, and the idea spread to other Eurodesk Multipliers. The visibility and promotion of Eurodesk was always presented with the image of the Eurodesk Network.

Green aspect:

We reuse the cards and the boxes for the exhibition, no need to have more materials and all the cards and boxes were made from recycled paper.

How the project has given a European dimension to your event and ensured the visibility and promotion of Eurodesk?

The European dimension is present in every corner where a European Citizen has an opportunity to experience being part of Europe, especially those we have never had. Also, the initiative could be extended to other contexts and places, and the idea spread to other Eurodesk Multipliers. The visibility and promotion of Eurodesk was always presented with the image of the Eurodesk Network.

Impact:

We have excellent results because we have thousands of contributions to all the topics predicted in the Conference on the Future of Europe (as Climate, Migration, Digitalization…). Although we had participants of all ages, we noticed that young people have a special interest in the topics of: Climate Change and the Environment; Education, Culture Youth and Sport and a Strong Economy, Social Justice and Jobs. Participants expressed an increased sense of belonging to Europe and thanked the opportunity.