Civil ABC in the Eger Region

Description

The inhabitants living in the sub-region of Eger have 3 important problems that are not handled properly for decades by the local government. These are the low participation of citizens in the civic sphere, the attitude towards social, public problems and difficulties according to fundraising. The objective of the project is to strengthen the civic self-consciousness, to help NGOs to control their own operation and to directly reach and confront people with their opportunities that everyone is an important member of the community. The project aims to develop a method titled ABCD that will be publicized. Local society and NGOs will be informed about the method. The competencies of participating students will be improving, and the networks of participating NGOs will be stronger. The concerned local communities including the disadvantaged and minority groups, also the local identity will strengthen. During the project a website will be developed and operated that will be the platform and forum of sharing experiences and discussing common issues. Trainings will be hold for the colleagues of the organization, interns and participating civic actors.

Summary of project results

There are only a few well embedded civil society organizations on the settlements of the Eger microregion, that can reach, mobilize, activate the local inhabitants. The main reason behind this is the weak embeddedness of these organizations, they are rarely known either on their settlements or in the microregion, these organizations are not really able to represent their interests. Nonprofit organizations are fighting for financial resources and expect external resources primarily, which has a negative effect on their values, as it deforms their self-conscious and pride. Reflecting to these problems, the project promoter promoted the ABCD method (Asset-Based Community Development) among the involved civil society organizations. As this model enhances community development by the process that the concerned parties address the main strengths of their communities and decide on their application based on the local needs and interests. The methodological background of this ABCD method was translated to Hungarian and available on the website of the project promoter (http://www.agriageografia.hu/dok/jovoalk.pdf). A curricula has been developed as well with the title “Guide about how to map and mobilize local communities and self-organization circles” (http://www.agriageografia.hu/dok/utmutato.docx). Altogether 20 interns from the University of Eger and 12 coordinators of nonprofit organizations took part at the project. The interns concluded fieldwork on 10 settlements and made 20 interviews with 200 persons. The main needs of local inhabitants were mapped on these settlements, and local leaders, e.g. mayors were involved into this process as well, and they were informed about the results of the mapping process. The final results then were presented to the concerned communities (on posters and workshops), and a final brochure was prepared and published about the main results at the end of the project. The project promoter wanted to assist the process in the microregion focusing on mapping, discovering local resources by local communities, so that these local communities can find their own development ways, possibilities. This method served as an effecient tool for this process

Summary of bilateral results