Brussels 8 November 2007

Active European citizenship: the Commission awards the 2007 Golden Stars

10 projects were selected to each receive a Golden Star, a recognition of the active participation and the citizen-centred efforts, demonstrated in such diverse projects as those seeking to accommodate the intercultural dialogue between different peoples or others that offer learning opportunities and awareness-raising on European integration issues. The awards ceremony took place in Brussels on 8 November 2007.

The awards were delivered within the framework of the “Europe for Citizens” programme, a new programme that responds to the need of enhancing citizen participation in the construction of Europe. The awarded projects sought to represent the best efforts in the field while at the same time their visibility will support and strengthen the thematic approach of the new programme.

Ján Figel’, the European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth said : “I am delighted to see such engagement, involvement and mobilisation from citizens all around Europe, on so many varied issues, spanning from environmental awareness to intercultural dialogue. This dictates the clear need to maintain this permanent platform for the recognition and endorsement of projects promoting civic participation, and a continued effort on our side to reach out to an even wider public”.

The Jury for the selection of the Golden Stars was chaired by Mr Hannu Takkula, member of the European Parliament and Vice Chairman of its Committee on Culture and Education and included representatives of the European Consultative Bodies, namely Ms Brenda King from the European Economic and Social Committee and Mr Antonio Paiva from the Committee of the Regions, and 3 more experts from the field of town twinning and from civil society organisations.

“Our jury had the most interesting task to study a sample of quality projects attracting all possible audience across frontiers and identify among them the ones that could be used as inspiration for making Europe more tangible for its citizens” remarked Mr. Takkula. To conclude: “I was personally impressed by the accomplishments of the projects,
notably the commitment to concrete common goals, the zeal of their participants and the final outcomes, and to my mind such efforts could inevitably encourage others to emulate their success and culminate to the promotion of a community of values among the people concerned”.

In addition to the 10 winning projects, the Jury decided on a special recognition to be presented to two more projects, as an encouragement to their efforts.

The award ceremony took place on 8th November 2007 in Brussels during the course of the annual Europe for Citizens Forum, hosted by the European Commission’s Directorate-General Education and Culture.

This year, the “Europe for Citizens” programme will support town twinning, remembrance and civil society projects, as well as European organisations in the field of active citizenship, with an annual budget of € 21,5m.

For more information on the programme, on the winning projects as well as for the complete programme of the upcoming Forum in Brussels, see http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship

Ms Brenda King (Europ. Economic and Social Committee), Mr. Napoleon Xanthoulis (SAFIA), Dr. Thanos Dokos (ELIAMEP), Ms Elli Siapkidou (ELIAMEP) and Prof. Panagiotis Liargovas (EKEM)

Communicating EU Values Across Greece – Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), EL
A well coordinated campaign targeted mainly to the three main immigrant populations in Greece – Albanians, Bulgarians and Russians – and to NGOS, immigrant organisations and audiences with a significant multiplier effect, on the substance of the EU Constitution, EU values and the future of the EU after the Constitution. Public meetings, a workshop and a final conference/debate on the EU image held in major Greek cities and in Athens, attracting major Greek media, as well as an “easy-reader” booklet contributed to this effort.
Contact details: Dr. Ruby Gropas
Tel.: +30 210 7257110
E-mail: [email protected]