Cittadinanzattiva through its EU branch Active Citizenship Network is involved in the European Project NUDGE (NUDging consumers towards enerGy Efficiency through behavioral science) and related to this we will participate in the call to host Sustainable Energy Days that is now open. Taking place between June and September this year, Sustainable Energy Days bring the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) 2022 to the heart of local communities, showing citizens how they can join the clean energy transition. Events can take place online or physically, anywhere around the world, as long as its focus is on renewable energy or energy efficiency. From awareness-raising to public discussions, workshops, and debates, organizers are encouraged to get creative with the format of their event and aim for an interactive approach: inspire audiences to play an active role in the promotion of renewable energy.
Invited by the EU Commission, on the 1st of June 2022, Active Citizenship Network will take part in the ECI Network Gathering – Connecting your ideas in Brussels. The Networking Gathering brings together ECI National Contact Points, ECI ambassadors, members of the European Economic and Social Committee ECI group, representatives of the ECI Forum as well as experts from the European Commission, the European Parliament, Europe Direct Centres and other relevant stakeholders.
In this interactive meeting, we will have the chance to meet the other members of the network, share our experiences and tips from our national/professional context about communicating about active citizenship and democracy in general and the ECI in particular, and make suggestions regarding how the network could most effectively work together to make the ECI better known.
The European Commission aims to gather a collection of action points and replicable ideas to share after the event within the ECI network. We are invited to already reflect on the examples you want to bring into the wider group, to co-create the final output.
As Member of the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum, Active Citizenship Network will join its next General Assembly that will take place online on 24 May 2022. In the past days the forum has launched an anti-war initiatives of Forum members and partners. For further information please consult their website.
Active Citizenship Network is glad to announce that a Memorandum of Understanding has been recently formalized with Together for Life (TFL), an Albanian nongovernmental and not-for-profit organization aiming at the development and empowerment of people, the protection of health rights, and the building of civil society at the national level, with a particular focus on vulnerable communities, including communities living in remote or economically less advantaged areas, women and youth.
Active Citizenship Network is glad to have officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Heart Failure Policy Network (HFPN), an independent, multidisciplinary platform of healthcare professionals, advocacy groups and policymakers from across Europe who work together to raise awareness of unmet needs surrounding heart failure. ACN and HFPN have agreed to cooperate and support each other’s initiatives with the objective to raise awareness on the needs surrounding patient care with relation to CVDs and heart failure prevention and promote the empowerment and participation of patients in European public policies, activities, and dialogues as a key step towards a more inclusive Europe.
Active Citizenship Network is pleased to announce that a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with the German Collective Leadership Institute (CLI), an international non-profit organization and one of the world’s leading mission-driven organizations with the mission to scale up collaboration skills for a sustainable future. It aims at empowering people to lead collectively towards a sustainable future by building competence for sustainability. ACN and CLI agreed to work together at the EU level in order to join forces to cooperate with EU institutions towards the implementation of the new European consumer agenda. Moreover, the Collective Leadership Institute has officially endorsed the Inter-Institutional Group “SDGs for well-being and consumers’ protection” by raising awareness among consumer associations and MEPs about the activities realized by the Group in order to empower citizens and consumers in their participation in European public policies, with a particular focus to the field of SDGs.
Active Citizenship Network has officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding with International Longevity Centre UK (ILC), the UK’s specialist think tank on the impact of longevity on society, which aims at pioneering solutions for a society where everyone can thrive, regardless of age. In this framework, ACN and ICL welcomed the opportunity to work together at the EU level to support each other’s initiatives and projects on the topic of reduction of health inequalities, vaccination, healthy ageing, and promotion of public health as a common good. The two also agreed to join forces to cooperate with EU institutions and both private and public relevant stakeholders towards a more resilient healthcare system for a healthier European Union.
Active Citizenship Network has recently formalized a new partnership with Malta Health Network (MHN), an umbrella organisation which brings together health related organisations to give patients an informed voice in health-related matters in Malta, in the EU and internationally. The main objectives of the Malta Health Network are patient empowerment, patient advocacy and training, and also aims at providing an efficient platform where all members can network and achieve common goals through sharing of resources. In this framework, ACN and MHN have initiated a collaboration to protect patients’ rights and reduce health inequalities across Europe, a topic emphasized also by their support to the MEPs Interest Group “European Patients' Rights and Cross- border Healthcare”, launched in 2015 with the support of associations from all over Europe with the aim to: increase awareness regarding the importance of patients’ rights; safeguard the sustainability of healthcare systems; build an enabling environment for citizens' and patients' organizations in the European health policy; contribute to strengthen an European citizenship.
Representatives of the Albanian association Together for Life, partner of Active Citizenship Network, have spoken on World Health Day to the media about the problems of the health system in Albania, focusing on the need to increasebudget allocation to the healthcare sector; increase investment in medical equipment and devices, and providing new incentives to encourage doctors and nurses to work in municipal and regional hospitals. The World Health Organization ranked Albania as the last country in Europe with the lowest public spending per capita on health. According to indirect data, COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated this trend, as there has been an increase in health expenditures in the household budget.
Active Citizenship Network is glad to invite you on the 29th of April 2022, from 14.30 to 16.30 CEST, to the event titled “Adult Vaccination: build the capacity and capabilities of civil society”. The training will take place in the framework of the EU #VaccinAction 2022 project and will focus on supporting the need to strengthen adult vaccination in Europe by providing concrete examples. It will consist of a 2-hour training seminar which will be realized during the “European Immunization Week 2022”, open to leaders of civic and patient associations from different countries in order to respond to the need to be more updated and prepared to support and protect the value, in particular, of adult immunization and its related benefits to better identify, recognize and address the growing external factors that can negatively influence policy on vaccines in EU Member States and beyond, and improving the know how to recognize official sources of information and have the tools to support them. To participate in the training, please register here.