From 6 to 10 July 2022, an international partner meeting of the “Danube Networkers” took place in Ulm as part of the 12th International Danube Festival. More than 400,000 visitors came to the Danube Festival 2022! In addition, the international education network Danube-Networkers invited its project partners from 13 Danube countries to Ulm. They organized a multifaceted program to strengthen civil society activities in Europe.
The program of the partner meeting included meetings, exchanges, visits to civil society organizations in Ulm/Neu-Ulm, and a symposium. Although the organization and planning were not accessible due to the consequences of the coronavirus and new priorities such as aid for Ukraine, the ILEU e.V. team as hosts cleared many obstacles to enable the international visitors to participate.
As part of the partner meeting, a symposium on the topic of “Strengthening democracy – citizens get involved” was held on Friday, 8 July, in the Edwin-Scharff-Haus with around 100 representatives from 13 Danube countries, the DANET e.V. association and interested members of the public, fulfilling the vital task of strengthening democracy to provide a basis for future projects in the Danube region for a responsible and reflective society.
State Councillor for Civil Society and Civic Participation in Baden-Württemberg Barbara Bosch and the Mayor of Neu-Ulm Katrin Albsteiger gave the welcoming address.
Ivo Gönner, former mayor of Ulm, provided inspiring impulses on “Living Democracy.” He pointed out references to different countries that have had a unifying effect. In the lecture “From I to we. Participation strengthens democracy”, Dr. Kriemhild Büchel-Kapeller from the Office for Volunteering and Participation, Office of the Vorarlberg Provincial Government, Bregenz, showed us a wealth of approaches and perspectives.
Strengthening and living democracy – what does this mean for our citizens in concrete terms? Where are the differences in the perception of democracy? In the afternoon, participants exchanged views and presented their findings in four working groups. The contributions to the conference were of high quality, the discussions in the afternoon workshops were stimulating, and the presentations by the partners showed how diverse the various groups’ approaches to the topic of democracy are.
More Information: https://donaufest2022.tastes-of-danube.eu/english/