#euroCM

The project «EuroChangeMakers» was funded with the support of the European Union under the Programme "Europe for Citizens".

Timeframe: 15 March 2021 - 14 September 2022

EuroChangeMakers aimed to:

  • engage over 300 citizens from all project participating countries in National Civic Hackathons aimed at discussing, reflecting, and proposing concrete solutions for the future of Europe;

  • create an informal network of 100 young EuropeanChangeMakers (ECM) from all project participating countries that are leading by example;

  • publish and promote EuropeanChangeMakers platform, connected with the social media feeds of the #euroCM hashtag, bringing together all the content created in the project: vlogs, opinions, regional best practices, solutions for the ‘Future of Europe’ and the ECM informal network.

  • organize a European Civic Hackathon gathering over 100 participants from all project participating countries aimed at discussing, reflecting, proposing concrete solutions for the future of Europe, and presenting them to at least 100 European and National stakeholders in the format of a White Paper.

Results:

  • Approx. 550 citizens were included from the 18 countries from the project consortium through 18 National Civic Hackathons, collaborating on identifying and analysing various challenges, discussing and brainstorming on solutions for the future of Europe;

  • An informal network of 100 young people, who demonstrated creativity, sense of initiative and desire to become a voice of their community and sparkle conversations by using digital storytelling, and were nominated by each partner organization as EuropeanChangeMakers (ECM) was created.

  • A collection of multimedia materials (video interviews, infographics, articles, stories, posters, etc.) published by the EuropeanChangeMakers was created, by tracking all the social media posts with the official #euroCM hashtag.

  • A European Civic Hackathon gathered over 200 participants from 33 countries came together to discuss, reflect, and propose concrete solutions for the future of Europe, which were included in a White Paper, published diseminated to relevant policy-makers (90 national, 30 European level). The event was organized in the frame of EDYS22.

European Civic Hackathon Onsite Speakers - EDYS22

International Teamwork. Participants discussing and reflecting on the Future of Europe

Crosscultural collaboration. EuroChangeMakers in action

Main activities

  • Preparatory activity [A1]

    • online kickoff meeting, 11-13 May 2021;

    • The activity was attended by 25 participants and consisted of a meeting between representatives of all 18 partners, where besides getting to know each other and team-building, we clarified all important aspects of the project (timeframe, objectives, main activities, role of partners), brainstormed and shared good practices on how to recruit and motivate participants to join the hackathons and take on EuroChangeMakers responsibilities, discussed the Design Thinking Methodology, introducing an adapted version of the Stanford University to be used in each national and in the European Civic hackathons, and presented the CitizensOS Platform. We have also set the channels of communication between partners, the promotion & dissemination plan, financial arrangements, and refreshed the partner’s responsibilities.

  • National Civic Hackathons [A2]

    • The activity gathered 555 participants from all 18 participating partner countries, September - October 2021, bringing together citizens to discuss, reflect and propose concrete solutions for the future of Europe, in three directions: green, social and digital. These activities were implemented in their own contexts, by our partners, using the Design Thinking Methodology.

    • It included:

      • A2.1 - National Civic Hackathons in Central & Eastern Europe, happening in Trnava (online, Slovakia, 33 pax), Hungary (Kallosemjen, 28 pax), Bucharest (Romania, 48 pax), and Poland (Lublin, 36 pax).

      • A2.2 - National Civic Hackathons in Northern Europe, happening in Narva (Estonia, 27 pax), Kaunas (Lithuania, 18 pax) and Stockholm, Karlstad, Gothenburg, Orebro (online, Sweden, 34 pax).

      • A2.3. - National Civic Hackathons in Southern Europe, happening in Ljubljana (Slovenia, 24 pax), Kalamata (Greece, 26 pax), Santa Brigida (Spain, 37 pax) and Triggiano (Italy, 28 pax).

      • A2.4. - National Civic Hackathons in Western Europe, happening in Bruxelles (Belgium, 26 pax), Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg, 15 pax), Nice (France, 30 pax), and Gondomar (Portugal, 27 pax).

      • A2.5. - National Civic Hackathons in Western Balkans, happening in Dures (Albania, 39 pax), Sarajevo (Bosnia Herzegovina, 43 pax), and Novi Sad (online, Serbia, 36 pax).

  • EuroChangeMakers in action [A3]

    • The communication campaign happened online and gathered 100 participants from all 18 participating partner countries, running between November 2021 - June 2022;

    • Each partner nominated a number of EuroChangeMakers, who created digital posts (interviews, articles, videos, presentations, infographics, etc.) with common hashtags. They are also part of an online network of EuroChangeMakers, where we shared various opportunities and we also offered 3 online meetings (each focusing on one of the three directions - digital, green and social) to network, share ideas, brainstorm and continue the discussions started in their own local communities.

  • European Civic Hackathon [A4]

    • The event gathered 200+ participants, in a hybrid format, happening in Bucharest, Romania and online, 6-8 July 2022;

    • The aim of the event was to gather stakeholders and citizens to discuss concrete solutions for the challenges identified at national level during the National Civic Hackathons and the local campaigns. Being organized in the format of the European Digital Youth Summit (5th edition), it included: a discussion panel with experts in sustainability, social inclusion and digital transformation issues and international team work, guided by mentors.

EuroChangeMakers #euroCM Project comes as a response to the current democratic challenges faced in the past months in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a direct impact on the possibility of participation of the citizens. Physical distancing measures remained in place in all EU Member States, including stay-at-home requirements, suspension of mass gatherings, and physical distancing when in public. Such measures impacted many fundamental rights, including the rights to liberty and security (Article 6 of the Charter), respect for private and family life (Article 7), freedom of thought, conscience, and religion (Article 10), freedom of expression, and information (Article 11), freedom of assembly and of association (Article 12), freedom of the arts and sciences (Article 13), and freedom of movement and of residence (Article 45). [FRA, Bulletin 2, 2020]

Lead partner

Partners