Danube: Europe Is Meeting”
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Observatory on the Balkans Italian Consortium of Solidarity DDAANNUUBBEE EEUURROOPPEE IISS MMEEEETTIINNGG FFrroomm VViieennnnaa ttoo BBeellggrraaddee ffoorr aa EEuurrooppee bbeeyyoonndd tthhee bboorrddeerrss Under the auspices of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr. Walter Schwimmer With the cooperation of: ARCS ARCI Cultura e Sviluppo – Association of the Local Democracy Agencies, Strasburg Belgrade Centre for European Integration, Belgrade – Bottega del Mondo Monimbo of Perugia Centre for Antiwar Action, Belgrade - CEDEUM Centre for Drama in Education and Art, Belgrade Citizens' Pact for South Eastern Europe, Novi Sad – Civic Initiative, Belgrade – European Movement of Serbia, Belgrade Fair Trade Slovakia - Institut für Volksmusikforschung und Ethnomusikologie - Italian Committee for the World Contract on Water Legambiente, Rome – MIMART Theatre of Movement, Belgrade - OneWorld/Unimondo – Consorzio Pluriverso REC Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe, Szentendre - Tavolo Trentino con il Kossovo Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien Supported or under the patronage of: City of Novi Sad - City of Vukovar Paneuropean Transport Corridor VII - Danube TINA Vienna Transport Strategies - Arbeitsgemeinschaft Donaulander - Lombardia Region – Autonomous Region Trentino Alto Adige/Südtirol – Regional Council of Lombardia Autonomous Province of Trento - UNOPS -The Balkan Trust for Democracy. A project of the German Marshall Fund Province of Lodi – City of Milan - City of Rome – City of Rovereto - City of Trento – City of Venice Italian Embassy of Belgrade With the participation of: City of Florence – City of Modena – Associazione per la Pace – Associazione Libera -Tavola della Pace 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 R R R E E E B B B M M M E E E T T T P P P E E E S S S Fair Trade Slovakia 1 1 1 2 2 2 – – – 2 2 2 1 1 1 22nndd IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall mmeeeettiinngg ooff tthhee nneettwwoorrkk ““’’’EEuurrooppee ffrroomm bbeellooww”” DD AA NN UU BB EE .. EE UU RR OO PP EE II SS MM EE EE TTII NN GG FFRROOMM VVIIEENNNNAA TTOO BBEELLGGRRAADDEE FFOORR AA EEUURROOPPEE BBEEYYOONNDD TTHHEE BBOORRDDEERRSS The origin of “Europe from below” and “Europe beyond the borders” “Europe from Below, Europe beyond the borders” is an appeal and a network of civil societies and local administrations from Italy and South East Europe (SEE), aiming to promote the quick integration of the whole region into the European Union, and to build together a new idea of Europe, which is based on citizenship, social inclusion, human rights and peace. It re-affirms the idea of commitment to peace, cooperation and integration of the SEE into an open and united Europe, considering SEE as historically, culturally and socially part of the common European house. “Europe beyond the borders ” was first born as an appeal in May 2001 in Padua (Italy), at the International Conference of Civitas, the fair of social economy, and was officially presented in Rome on the 24th of September 2001 in the presence of Mr. Walter Veltroni , the mayor of Rome. In October 2001, in the framework of the Peace March Perugia-Assisi, from the appeal it has been proposed a network of civil societies and local administrations from European Union and South Eastern European countries, aiming to promote quick integration of the whole region into the European Union. The “Europe from Below, Europe beyond the borders” network held its first meeting in Sarajevo on the 5th and 6th of April 2002, in the presence of Mr. Romano Prodi, President of the EU Commission and more than 300 representatives of civil society and local institutions from SEE and the European Union. The reasons for “Belgrade 2003“ Following the spiri t of Sarajevo, we are organising in September 2003 a second meeting of “Europe from below” in Belgrade. Since 2001 many things have changed at the international, European and SEE levels. Two years ago, the integration of SEE into the European Union was more a suggestion than an immediate political objective. But if SEE needs the European Union to smother the contradictions that imprinted recent history, today the European Union itself needs to imagine itself as united in order to play a culturally and politically relevant role at the international level. And the need for an enlarged Europe to the South East is very urgent in order to reopen the democracy dialectic at the international level. Therefore, the Belgrade meeting intends to make a step toward Sarajevo’s, putting in the communitarian political agenda the theme of SEE integration into the European Union through concrete actions and shared affirmation of a common citizenship. The meeting will be organized by symbolically linking a western European town, Vienna, with a South East one, Belgrade, along the Danube, which has represented for centuries the bridge between the two sides of Europe. Significant moments will be thematic seminars in the cities of the cruise: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Vukovar, Novi Sad and finally the two-day conference in Belgrade. 2 The issues in discussion In the framework of the topics of the EU enlargement process, we have chosen some that we think have particular importance for SEE and on which we could contribute original thoughts “from below”, proposing best practice and lessons learned as well as practical suggestions. In Szentendre – Hungary, we will address the topic of environment with a seminar on “Environmental issue and water resource management in the civil society workshop of the Europe of 25”. We believe that environment is more than ever a sensitive issue for the whole of Europe that involves individuals and organisations regardless of borders and international status. We believe as well that the environmental issue, for its political nature, could not be addressed without the urgent issue of SEE democratisation processes into the new Europe. In Vukovar - Croatia, we will address the topic of communication with a seminar on “The role of media and communication as social facilitator and the EU integration process”. The media system has been deeply and dramatically involved in the conflicts which characterised SEE in the 90. Either they followed the nationalistic flow or they were strongly repressed. Sta rting from what happened in the recent past, we believe that the right of freedom of expression and the media power of building social reality have an essential role in the actual process of democratisation and integration of SEE into the EU. And therefore we believe that at the communication and information level it is one of the main challenges of European identity building . In Novi Sad - Serbia and Montenegro, we will address the topic of local communities in promoting development and peace paths. The seminar “Local communities of Europe: the role of cities and citizens in the building of a new Europe” will focus on local development and international decentralised cooperation as fields and tools of political action of authorities and local communities, and as privileged ways of strengthening citizens’ and local authorities’ relationships and to create a deep civic feeling. We believe that a Europe of citizens and local authorities is part of that Europe “from below”, which should go along with the building of an enlarged Europe. In the Belgrade final Conference, “Europe from below, Europe beyond the borders”, besides presenting the outcomes of the previous seminars, we will address three specific themes (in as many seminars), that we consider very sensitive both for the future of SEE as a region and as a part of the European Union. In the first seminar, titled Citizenship rights in a Europe without borders, we will discuss “from the civil society point of view” European rights and a European Charter towards a common citizenship. The second seminar, Towards a sustainable economy for SEE, will focus on traditional and institutional models and tools of economical development and alternative approaches “from below” in the globalisation framework. The third one , Building a new Europe: institutional actors and actors “from below”, will underline synergies and perspectives of integrated and alternative approaches of civil From the 18th to the 20th in Belgrade, the “Second International Danube Conference on Art and Culture”, organised by the Belgrade Cultural Centre, will be held in Belgrade. Due to the similar issues and the interesting synergies derived from it, the organisers of both Conferences have planned some links and joint moments. The participants of the two Conferences will therefore have the opportunity to attend some sessions in both Conferences, as well as to attend common artistic moments. Please note that for the detailed version of the programme you can see: Observatory on the Balkans http://www.osservatoriobalcani.org/danube 3 Draft programme of the event (Please note that some contacted speakers and artists have yet to confirm their attendance) Day 1 (Friday, 12 September 2003) VIENNA (Austria) 14:00 Italian Embassy – Metternich Palace – Rennweg 27 Official opening of the initiative “Danube: Europe is meeting” Europe as Union of Minorities Promoted by the Region Trentino Alto Adige/Sudtirol In the presence of representatives of the City of Vienna, Ambassadors of European Union and South East Europe in Vienna, OSCE and participants to the Vienna-Belgrade cruise. 17.00 Institut für Volksmusikforschung und Ethnomusikologie - Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien – Anton von Weber Platz 1 Musical notes between the two sides of Europe