ALDA is proud to report about an active stance of Patras Municipality (Greece) in ARRIVAL CITIES project. Patras Municipality, member of ALDA, confirms its commitment in supporting the values of democracy and citizen participation on the local level.

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The European Anti-Racism Week 2017 provided an excellent opportunity to raise an awareness of importance ARRIVAL CITIES project has in building inclusive societies. “Patras Municipal Development Enterprise for Planning & Development-ADEP SA” (being the project partner organisation) organised an event where various representatives from education, culture, business, consulting, civil society sectors had the opportunity to find out more about the progress of project implementation and how this project is linked with the intercultural strategy of the city and with the values of the European Anti-Racism Week.

The starting speech was delivered by Mrs Ira KOURI, President of “Patras Park of Educational Activities” referring to the importance of intercultural dialogue and the management of intercultural character of a city for the benefit of ALL its citizens. Transferring the greetings of the Mayor of Patras, Mr Kostas Peletides, she declared the commitment of the city in protecting human rights, respecting equality and provide platforms for co-creation for all. This was followed by the speech of Mrs. Chrissa Geraga, being the Head of the Planning Department and Networking of ADEP SA and local scientific coordinator of ARRIVAL CITIES in Patras, with a very focused presentation on the project, the principles of participatory planning and the benefits of networking through information and exchange of good practices at transnational level.

Then activities were implemented by the migrants associations, namely Association of Russian Community in cooperation with Institute of Intercultural Relations, Association of Romanian Community, UNIONLATINA and Association of Albanian Community (EMIGRANTI). Emphasis was put on the involvement of youngsters who exploited theatre, music, dance and narration presenting stories related to solidarity, equality, friendship, diversity as well as important information on the countries of origin. A celebration spirit embraced the whole event revealing dynamism and enthusiasm of expression. The discussion that followed focused on types of co-creation, on the conduction of the local action plan and on the communication means of ARRIVAL CITIES project. A promise was made for maintaining active involvement at local level and exploiting the precious transnational project dimension.

ARRIVAL CITIES material is already posted on the project site and is available to everyone. Subscribing to the newsletter provides further information and possibility for promoting related actions. At the same time, the project is active with groups in social media such as facebook (Arrival Cities Network) and twitter (@arrivalcities) giving the opportunity to anyone who wishes to participate electronically, encouraging awareness and cooperation. The project is funded by the URBACT III program (2014-2020), under axe 1.1.2 “To improve the design of sustainable urban strategies and action plans in cities”

Useful links:

ARRIVAL CITIES project website
Facebook (Arrival Cities Network)
Twitter (@arrivalcities)
(For more info, please contact: Chrissa GERAGA, «ARRIVAL CITIES» Patras Scientific Coordinator / email: geraga@adep.gr / tel: +30-2610-361743, 746)