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.
Cittadinanzattiva is engaged in a project to promote at the European level the importance of access to advanced therapies by the highest possible number of patients in the light of the fact that by 2030 there could be as many as 60 advanced therapies that could change the life of 350 thousand patients, but to do this, the accounting system must be changed.
To raise awareness of this need, which is at the same time a great opportunity, Cittadinanzattiva, thanks to its EU branch Active Citizenship Network, will organize the following events: a training webinar, a call to action aimed at European decision-makers, and a policy dialogue with the EU Institutions and the involvement of the key stakeholders.
The general objective is to promote the importance of advanced therapies bringing the issue of access to the attention of the patient and civic associations and create consensus regarding the "Italian solution", that is, the fact of accounting for expenditure as a multi-year investment and not as a current expenditure (like a drug that runs out of results in the very short term). Stimulating widespread awareness of the rights to personalized treatments, innovation, and access. Promoting empowerment on the issue of advanced therapies. Strengthening, on the subject, the coalition between Patient and Citizen Associations in Italy and Europe. For further information consult the LinkedIn page or the project webpages (EN – IT versions).
Active Citizenship Network has recently formalized an official partnership with the Azorean Diabetic Association of St Michael and Sta Maria, a non-profit institution aimed in combating and supporting the treatment of diabetes, and promoting training, prevention and scientific research in the field of diabetes. Active Citizenship Network and the Diabetic Association of St Michael and Sta Maria have agreed to collaborate at the EU level to raise awareness on the needs surrounding patient care and patients’ quality of life, focusing on patients suffering from chronic diseases, and to accelerate the participation of patients in European public policies, activities, and dialogues to foster research and development on patients’ rights.
Economist Impact, of which Active Citizenship Network is an Expert Panel member, has produced a video as a follow-up of the country-level pandemic response toolkit and report. The pandemic has reshaped the world in many ways. Now organisations, governments, international agencies and the scientific community are trying to understand what could have been done differently and what we should do to prevent this from happening again. In this framework, the video wants to act as a guided tour to support further dissemination and encourage people to use the toolkit, designed to work across a range of different countries and adaptable to suit an individual country’s needs and priorities. The video is now live on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
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 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 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.