Local Seminar in Vilnius

 

This time ANNONA approached public participation theoretically, as inspired by the location of the event, Vytautas Magnus University. The core issue of the event was citizenship, participation and migration in the context of the refugees flowing into Europe.

Philosophy Professor Algirdas Davidavičius in a rather long ad-hoc interactive lecture put the issue of citizenship and toleration into main conceptual lines that entangle human rights and rule of law. Participants were involved and very receptive. Participatory democracy and proper conveying of information seem to be the solution for the due integration of migrants into local communities.

Sociologist Milda Ališauskienė underlined the extent of the phenomenon and the various peaceful ways in which communities can integrate migrants. A few migrants, students most of them, exchanged their experiences of integration and participation into the Lithuanian and, largely, European society.

Good practices and examples of participation in matters of refugees were discussed by representatives of the Red Cross Lithuania.

Contexts related to climate change and migration, mechanisms of participation, and facilitation of discussions were provided by ANNONA’s member Raul Cazan. This time the participation in the seminar was over-satisfactory, many participants, mainly students and NGO members, expressed a keen interest in the topics. This helped us achieve a high degree of interaction and informal approaches to very difficult and stringent issues.

How this journey begins in ECOS

Round-Trip moments