Workshops
4th European Local Councillors Congress
- Workshop 1 - Limitis of privatisation
- Workshop 2 - Public participation
- Workshop 3 - Women in local politics
- Workshop 4 - The fight against climate change on a local level
- Workshop 5 - Sustainable urban development and EU structural funds after 2014
1. Limits of privatisation
Public services between the European internal market and public welfare - Public Private Partnerships and Cross Border Leasing
Moderation: Heide Rühle (MEP, Germany)
Speakers:
- Gerhard Fritz (Chairman of Greens in Innsbruck, Austria)
- Penny Clarke (European Federation of Public Service Unions)
- Wolfgang Teubner (European Secretariat ICLEI)
- Jean Lambert (MEP, UK)
This workshop will therefore look at the changing provision of services of general interest and discuss the conflict between the European internal market and the goal of public service provision. We will also view on the involvement of the private sector through Private Finance Initiatives and on European Rules on state aid and public procurement.
2. Public Participation
Moderation: Eva Lichtenberger (MEP, Austria)Speakers:
- Haris ABASPAHI? (city councillor in Sarajevo and executive board member of member of "Naa stranka"/"Our party")
- Annie Lahmer (Member of the district government office of the 2nd district of Paris, France)
- Viviane Loschetter (member of the city government in Luxembourg) tbc
- Martin Skalský (Prague, NGO "Arnika", and Green district councillor in the 6th district of Prague)
- Lise Smidth (district councillor in the 7th district of Vienna, Neubau, and chairperson of the urban development committee)
The workshop will concentrate on an exchange of experiences among Greens whose parties are in executive function on the local level.
Inputs will come from two urban districts ruled by Green mayors (in Paris and Vienna), from a capital of a EU founding country ruled by a Liberal-Green coalition, from a central European city in a former Warsaw Pact country where Greens have one member of the city government and where NGO's try to contribute to urban development processes by involving citizens, and from a capital in former Yugoslavia that has been suffering from a bloody war not so long ago and where the struggle to overcome inter-ethnic tension is one of the main challenges today.
We will discuss about efforts of Greens to get local residents, stakeholders, grass-root groups and civil society involved into local decision-making, about the role of "Local Agenda 21", about conflicts and about successful projects and "best practices".
3. Women in local politics
Gender Mainstreaming
Moderation: Hiltrud Breyer (MEP, Germany)
Speakers:
- Vlasta Toth (District councillor in the 2nd district of Zagreb, Croatia)
- Laura Duran (Councillor from Molins de Rei, Spain) tbc
- Monika Vana (City Councillor Vienna, Austria)
- Hilde Scheidt (Mayor of the city of Aachen, Germany)
Workshop referees from different European councils will introduce the topic by presenting gender projects in their cities. The European dimension of the projects serves as common line. A glimpse of future projects is shared, before speakers will engage in discussions with workshop participants.
As gender (& gender mainstreaming) is an horizontal issue in every city or county, all congress participants are welcome to share their views and to actively participate in this workshop.
4. The fight against climate change on a local level
(local sustainable mobility & energy)
Moderation: Michael Cramer (MEP, Germany)
Speakers:
- Lisa Rücker (Deputy mayor of Graz, Austria)
- Jenny Jones (London Assembly Member, UK)
- Matti Korteniemi (Finish Regional Greens)
- Arno Schütterle (Mayor of Mühlacker, Germany)
This workshop highlights the crucial role cities and urban districts play in the fight against climate change. Since they are the source of 40 per cent of all CO2 emissions and 70 per cent of all climate damaging emissions, they are a major part of the problem. Urgent action is needed to deal with the problem of transport which accounts for almost 30 per cent of CO2 emissions in the European Union. But also cleaner and more efficient energy models are essential to tackle the challenge of climate change.
Green local politicians from different national contexts and political levels as well as a NGO representative will present their experiences and engage in an open discussion with the audience.
5. Sustainable urban development and EU structural funds after 2014
Moderation: Gisela Kallenbach (MEP, Germany)Speakers:
- Johan Magnusson (European Commission, DG Regio)
- Dr. Peter Pluschke (Eurocities)
- Dr. rer. pol. Hans-Jürgen Reichardt (Executive director and chief of the department for industry and transport at the IHK Stuttgart region)
- Dr. Wolfgang Pelull (Expert for cohesion, Brussels)
The workshop will deal with the future of the structural funds of the European Union after 2014. One important topic is the role and relevance of the urban dimension within the framework of the next programming period.
The workshop aims to initiate a broad discussion on local and regional level about the future design of structural and cohesion policies at an early stage.
