On 11 and 12 October under the title ‘The Europe we want’.
The project, called ‘Better future festival’ and led by ELFAC through its European Network of Family-Friendly Municipalities, involves municipalities in Spain (Creixell), Poland (Gdynia), Romania (Bacau) and Italy (Alghero), with funding from the European Commission’s CERV programme (Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values).
Alghero is the first municipality in Italy to obtain the ‘Family in Italy-Family Friendly Municipality’ certification outside the Trentino region and founding entity in October 2017, together with the Autonomous Province of Trento and the National Association of Large Families, of the ‘Family in Italy Network’. The latter was created with the aim of spreading throughout the country a new culture of support for family welfare and supporting municipal administrations in the implementation of innovative family welfare policies. More than 200 municipalities across Italy and about 20 organisations are now members of the Network.
‘A fantastic path for Alghero, started in 2017, which in Sardinia has contributed to certify 35 municipalities with the intention to promote family policies: we are extremely happy and proud that the path of the Office of Family Policies is solid and long-lasting’, said Mayor Raimondo Cacciotto at the opening of the “Better future Festival”. Alghero wants to invest in family policies’, added the mayor, ’and contribute to create a new approach, a new culture. We want the family to be an instrument of growth and well-being for all’.
For Regina Maroncelli, president of ELFAC, this project is the beginning of a new stage of the European Network of Family-Friendly Municipalities, which already includes 153 municipalities in ten countries. ‘To make Europe more family-friendly, we need to start by making local territories, those closest to the citizens, more family-friendly’.
The workshop took place on Friday 11 in the Parco di Porto Conte, a beautiful natural park, and was attended by Sardinian municipalities and thirty international participants. A good group of family-friendly certified municipalities from the island of Sardinia, exchanged their good practices to support families and young people. Local experiences were also presented by the mayor of Creixell, Montserrat Muñoz, and the representatives of Gdynia, Beata Nawrocka, Bacau, Andreea Negru, and Alghero, Mauro and Filomena Ledda.
Saturday 12 in the morning also featured a workshop of more than forty students from various countries, which ended with a declaration on the Europe of the future that young people would like to see. In the evening the city was filled with activities for children and families in the so-called ‘White Night’.
The second event of the project will take place in Creixell (Spain) on 13 and 14 December next, under the theme: ‘Europe of solidarity: welcoming cities’. The project will have two more activities in Gdynia (Poland) and Bacau (Romania) in the first half of next year, and will end with a congress in Brussels in September 2025.
Photo Album of the event
Panel for young people
Participants from Poland, Romania, Spain, and Italy came together for “The Better Future Festival,” a project aimed at discussing European Union policies impacting families and sharing best practices and needs across countries. The ultimate goal of this panel was to create a manifesto outlining the vision for the Europe that young people aspire to, highlighting desired changes and expectations from both national governments and the EU.
Session focused on drafting a manifesto to be presented to Brussels. There were no “right” or “wrong” ideas—everyone was encouraged to think freely and express their perspectives. During the opening remarks, Regina Maroncelli, the President of the European Large Families Confederation (ELFAC), emphasized the importance of involving young people, stating that they possess a clearer vision for the future and should therefore be at the forefront of defining it.
Topic – Erasmus Programme: Why does the EU invest so much in it? The discussion commenced with a focus on the Erasmus Programme, emphasizing its significance in:
- Promoting peace and understanding across borders.
- Integrating people from various countries and backgrounds.
Workshops and discussions: envisioning a better future
The participants engaged in a dynamic workshop where they initially placed notes or stickers to indicate values they deemed essential for building a better Europe. Following this, they broke into small groups to discuss their ideas and collaborate.
Key aspirations identified by young people:
Family and Relationships
- Reduce inflation on goods concerning finance
- Provide more support to families in economic difficulty
- Improvement of the structures provided for families
Freedom and Peace
- Freedom of expression and peaceful demonstrations without violence
- Combat false propaganda
- Freedom and nighttime safety
Scientific Progress, Economic Equity, Efficiency, and Advancement
- Encourage and support innovation and new discoveries without unnecessary bureaucratic delays.
- Promote equitable development starting at the national level, and ensure balanced growth within all regions of each state.
- Establish stable economic policies to prevent currency disparities.
Respect, Inclusion, Citizenship, and Union Collaboration
- Improve citizenship criteria by introducing measures like Ius Scholae and granting one-year residence permits to facilitate stable employment opportunities.
- Introduce sign language education to enhance communication and inclusivity for people with disabilities.
- Remove architectural barriers and rethink urban planning to improve living conditions for all.
These discussions allowed young participants to openly express their views on the future they envision and the changes they want to see implemented.
Conclusion and next steps
The insights and ideas gathered during this festival will be consolidated into a comprehensive manifesto. This document will serve as a statement of the aspirations of young Europeans and will be forwarded to Brussels, representing their collective voice and vision for the Europe they wish to create.
Video of the event
Video of the Family Festival in Alghero within the Better Future Festival project