Description
Free citizen society needs active citizens. Citizens of the Czech Republic still do not have enough knowledge and competencies to collaborate in the public sector and to influence it. The project aims to increase citizen´s competency for active participation in public life while encouraging the NGO to influence civic life and decision-making processes and to found a support platform for women from mother centers that are acting as municipal representatives. A handbook based on the systems that are already being used in Norway will be developed to support the project. Using the method of Local to Local Dialog, the NGO will solve concrete problems and promote networking and equal partnership on the local level. The project will be concluded by a symposium, where examples of good practice shall be presented.
Summary of project results
The project aimed at increasing civic competencies for active participation of citizens in the public life. At the same time it tried to encourage the Czech NGOs to get involved in decision-making processes in the Czech Republic. Its secondary focus was on mother centers women´s representation in local politics. A supportive platform for women politicians from mother centers who were elected as municipal representatives was established. The platform worked as a virtual space for sharing and exchanging experiences and information. The project activities motivated parents from around mother centers for active citizenship, specifically in the form of participation in community life, networking and finding common solutions to local community problems. Education to free citizenship begins in the family. Fourteen mother centers took part in a campaign called Learning by Doing. Together with other local actors they looked for solutions to particular local problems by implementing Local to Local Dialog method. The method aims at networking and creating equal partnerships with municipalities on the local level. By participating in the campaign the mother centers had a chance to try the method as one of the participatory democracy tools to solve a particular problem in the local community under a supervision of the Czech Network of the MCs, one of the Local to Local Dialog method know-how holders. The project also sought to strengthen the civic responsibilities of NGOs, especially by providing an education about participatory democracy and its tools, for example participatory budget. A handbook based on the Czech Network of Mother Centers´ experiences gained during its twenty years active involvment in the Czech public space and on the Norwegian inspiration was published. The publication brings know-how, tips and advices in the field of active cooperation between the NGO sector and state administration.
Summary of bilateral results
Cooperation with the foreign partner was vital for realization of one of the key activities of the project, namely the study stay in Norway. The aim of the study stay, as indicated by the name of an activity ("Norwegian inspiration"), was to get to know how a municipality from different cultural and social context works with communities and transfer the inspiration into the Czech environment. The project output was also reflected in other activities (eg. a chapter devoted to examples of good practice from abroad, presentation of Norwegian inspiration within symposion, etc.). Thus the cooperation with the Norwegian partner was absolutely crucial for the project. Inspiration was built in both directions. On the occasion of the end of the project a foreign partner was invited the Czech Republic not only in order to participate on the final conference program, but also to get familiar with Czech examples of active citizen participation in community life. The Norwegian delegation also visited two Prague mother centers. There they debated with mother centers´ representatives about common features and differences of the Czech and Norwegian preschool children care system, work-life balance and equal opportunities for men and women, activation of local communities and their participation in community life. Norwegian partner was thus directly involved in project activities and was in direct contact with the target group, which evaluated this as a very positive experience. The cooperation with the norwegian partner could be summarized with few principles on which the Czech Network of Mother Centers stands, namely: sharing, exchanging of experiences and networking.