International forum in Cieszyn and Český Těšín with participation of european experts
On Thursday, 5 March 2020, the 3rd international forum was held in Cieszyn and Český Těšín. It was arranged as a part of „TEIN4citizens” project implemented by Stowarzyszenie Rozwoju i Współpracy Regionalnej „Olza” and Institut EuroSchola. The forum focused on cross-border identity and the issues of involving civil society in twin cities functioning and development.
In the first part of the forum, its participants had the opportunity to listen to speeches by the employees of Wydział Etnologii i Nauk o Edukacji Uniwersytetu Śląskiego (the Faculty of Ethnology and Educational Sciences of the University of Silesia in Cieszyn), the City Hall in Cieszyn and Člověk na hranici, z.s. (‘Man on the Border’ Association) based in Český Těšín, who shared their experiences related to the forum subject matters. Then, the participants walked along the revitalised embankment of the Olza River, called “The Two Shores Garden”. In turn, during the second, afternoon part of the forum, the participants and foreign experts took part in an open and vivid discussion. The experts represented Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Hungary, Albania, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, and France. The discussion focused on best European cross-border practices in involving civil society in functioning and development of twin cities, current and future opportunities and threats to the cross-border citizenly initiatives, as well as recommendations with regard to enhancing the involvement of civil society in actions performed by twin cities.
As it was stated earlier, the project “TEIN4citizens - Engaging civil society in cross-border regions for the future of Europe” was co-financed by the Europe for Citizens programme. Consisting of 5 forums taking place between 2019 and 2020 in the 5 border regions of the 9 project partners, the project will enable citizens not only to deepen their understanding of the EU, but also voice their opinion about current trends and the EU policy making processes.
For further information: www.transfrontier.eu
