News
Micro-projects to involve cross-border civil society
December 2021
Launched in 2017 for a five-year period, the project “Civil Society in the Upper Rhine” presented its final assessment at the closing day held by the PAMINA Eurodistrict EGTC on 9 November 2021 in Lauterbourg. Funded within the framework of the Interreg VA Upper Rhine programme, it aimed to “involve civil society players more in the joint construction of cross-border daily life”.
It was led jointly by the four Eurodistricts in the Upper Rhine, under the responsibility of the Strasbourg-Ortenau Eurodistrict. After five years, the assessment is positive: “A total of 62 micro-projects were carried out by civil society players and 19 Franco-German encounter projects by the Eurodistrict themselves, thus bringing together a total of 10,200 citizens in the Upper Rhine region.” Several micro-projects were spotlighted for having made use of innovative approaches to keep their activities going in spite of the temporary closures of the borders. More info in the PAMINA Eurodistrict press release.
These Franco-German projects could be a source of inspiration for other Interreg programmes, particularly in the context of the 2021-2027 ETC Regulation, which encourages the emergence of this type of “people-to-people” fund that can constitute up to 20% of the programme’s overall budget.
More info: Interact page on Small Project Funds.
It should be noted that there are other innovative cooperation initiatives in terms of citizens’ participation on other borders, such as between the Pyrénées Atlantiques Department and the Diputacion Forale de Gipuzkoa1, or between Tomiño and Cerveira (Spain-Portugal)2, each of which is running a “cross-border participatory budget” project involving civil society. These projects demonstrate the important role played by Eurodistricts and local cross-border structures in leading this type of project.
1 https://www.le64.fr/lactualite-du-departement/convention-de-cooperation-transfrontaliere-entre-le-departement-des
https://www.mediabask.eus/fr/info_mbsk/20210419/le-departement-et-le-gipuzkoa-lancent-un-budget-participatif
2 https://participacerveiratomino.eu/
