The workshop of the Think Global, Act Local project took place in the Italian city of Gambassi Terme on February 7-8, 2023. The aim was to deepening cooperation between the authorities and residents, but also at presenting local conditions related to the promotion of tourism by the city authorities of Gambassi Terme.

Participants representing the Association during the workshop: Mayor of the City and Commune of Sztum, Mayor of the City and Commune of Tolkmicko, Mayor of Olsztynek and Mayor of the Górowo Iławeckie Commune.

The guests were welcomed by the Mayor of Gambassi Terme and learned more about the city and the region. The partner from Italy talked about local conditions and how they work to promote the region and local entrepreneurs.

During the trip, there were study visits to the museum, primary school and local tourist sites. Participants could get to know the realities of the everyday life of a Gambassi Terme resident.

Besides study visits, workshops were held during which participants, divided into national groups, worked on a document related to the strategy of promoting tourism and the region. After preparing the preliminary points, they were presented to the rest of the participants. In addition, there was a meeting with the inhabitants of the city, who told from their perspective how the promotion of the region looks like, how it can be improved and obtained some ideas for better promotion of tourism.

The project "Think Global, Act Local: (July 1, 2022 » December 31, 2023) implemented as part of the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Program (CERV), Citizens network / Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Program (CERV), Network of Towns.

A delegation consisting of representatives of the Association's member municipalities: City of Puck, Town and Municipality of Tolkmicko and Municipality of Górowo Iławeckie visited the Partner in Greece, Municipality of Agii Anargiri Kamaterow as part of the Think Global, Act Local project, where the second workshop devoted to the preparation of a survey on the involvement of residents in local activities was held. The event was combined with a study visit and workshop, took place on 8-9.11.2022. There was attended representatives from local government officials and NGOs from Greece, Spain, Romania, Italy and Poland.

As part of the event, participants had the opportunity to participate in study visits to the Recycling and Environmental Awareness Park, a Primary School, a Municipal Gym and a sports hall where wheelchair basketball training took place. Participants learnt about some good practices, which inspired them and gave them the opportunity to reflect on the similarities as well as the differences in each country.

In addition, there were talks and discussions about partnerships and cooperation for the benefit of their local municipalities. For the participants, mainly local government officials, democracy was an interesting topic because of the place where it started. The mayor of AAK, Stavros Tsirbas, invited the members of the Association to cooperate together.

The workshop summarised the work carried out at the first workshop in Poland, where a pool of questions and a preliminary concept of how the survey should look like were prepared. Work then began on refining and finalising the questionnaire so that it can be used by cities and municipalities to collect information from residents on the basis of which cooperation between authorities and officials and residents will be adjusted.

The next Think Global, Act Local project partners' meeting took place online on 25.10.2022.

The meeting was about discussing the four most relevant issues related to the project's activities. These included:

1. The current situation
2. Preparation for the meeting in Greece (7-10 November 2022)
3. Technical reporting requirements after event implementation
4. Other issues

1. The Association's representative Mr Marcin Żuchowski summarised the event organised by the Association in September. He thanked the participants for their participation and involvement during the workshop work on the questionnaire. The project leader also thanked the staff of the Association for the preparation of the meeting, which was the first physical meeting for the whole project consortium.
2. The Greek partner reminded the participants to register for the meeting in order to technically fine-tune the event.
3. The project leader discussed how to prepare the report after the organised event. He sent information to the partners regarding the Event Description Sheet, which is a mandatory document to be filled in for each partner after the in-country event. This document is a confirmation to the controlling bodies that the meeting took place as planned and any unforeseen situations were described in it.
4. The time spent on other issues concerned the preparation of the project website, for which the project leader is responsible. However, due to its extensive experience, the Association will support the project leader in developing the website. The website will present the project and programme highlights. In addition, it will contain information about the project partners and activities.

The past two days, September 28 and 29, were intensive meetings, talks, exchanging experiences and establishing international partnerships. Elblag hosted the first live meeting of all partners participating in the "THINK GLOBAL ACT LOCAL" project linking cities and municipalities from 5 European Union countries - Romania, Italy, Greece, Spain and Poland. We hosted a total of 19 people from abroad and 4 Polish representatives from the areas of the Association's Member Municipalities. Representatives of these countries met to jointly develop informational materials that will target their residents.

Before the workshop part began, our guests were welcomed by the Mayor of Elblag, Mr. Witold Wróblewski, who serves as Chairman of the Board in the Association. Mr. President shared with the participants very valuable information about the city, its history, economic potential and current investments. He encouraged cooperation with the city of Elbląg and the region.

The agenda of the meeting included a brief introduction of the participants. This was the first opportunity to get to know each other personally and present the needs of local governments, institutions, organizations and other entities, and in the future to jointly implement projects to solve various sensitive problems and undertake initiatives beneficial to local communities.

During these two days of meetings, our first task for all partners was to work on a survey that will allow us to collect very valuable information about: the degree of involvement of both the public and individual authorities in issues important to their city and region, the level of promotion of the public and its potential. The results gathered from the questionnaires will allow us to develop an idea for a long-term strategy for inter-municipal cooperation and citizen involvement. The Secretariat of the Association developed proposals for questions under 4 different topics, which were assigned to the groups:

1. The state of knowledge and involvement of citizens
2. The state of information and cooperation with local authorities
3. What is the promotional campaign of the Municipalities and the level of knowledge of residents about it
4. The sense of local identity - the state of social marketing

The task of the participants was the partner's discussion in thematic groups and create at least 30 questions for a survey - social research. The groups were international which facilitated the discussion and showed the degree of diversity or similarity in each country.

We are organising a workshop on 28-29.09.2022 as part of the launch of the European Commission project 'Think Global, Act Local'. The project is about the cooperation of authorities with citizens and the opportunities to engage in community activities, increasing the degree of interest in promoting the local community, the degree of interest in travelling to other countries for leisure and healing.

The project is a pilot to bring together cities and municipalities from 5 EU countries (Romania - Union of Baeoclimatic Cities - project leader, Italy, Greece, Spain and Poland) that share the same goal to better involve their citizens in their communities, while creating a sustainable strategy for cooperation and exchange of good practices at EU level.

We warmly invite your city/municipality representative(s) to participate in this dedicated workshop. It is a good opportunity to gain new experiences and to meet partners from Southern European municipalities and to overcome common challenges together!

The workshop (conducted in English) will develop a questionnaire, which will lead to an idea for a long-term strategy for cooperation between municipalities and citizen involvement. During the first day of the workshop the local situation in the partner cities will be presented to enable the workshop work on the questionnaire. The second day will present local best practice examples of how citizens are involved in civic life and what social entrepreneurship looks like.

The project aims to strengthen direct contacts between citizens and authorities from the consortium countries, the exchange of good practices, a transnational brainstorming and consultation process to strengthen the sense of belonging and awareness to the European family.

Participation in the Elbląg workshop will provide you with the opportunity to take part in subsequent workshops organised in the project's partner cities.

The Think global, Act local project partners met today to discuss current project matters. Among other things, these included issues concerning the next two meetings organised by the Association in Elbląg and DIMOS AGION ANARGIRON-KAMATEROU in Greece.

The first meeting in Elbląg will take place on 28-29.09.2022, to which representatives of our member municipalities are invited. The project aims to strengthen direct contacts between citizens and authorities from the consortium countries, the exchange of good practices and a transnational brainstorming and consultation process to strengthen the sense of belonging and awareness of the European family. It is a pilot project that brings together towns and municipalities from 5 EU countries (Romania, Italy, Greece, Spain and Poland) in order to, better involve their citizens in the life of their communities, while creating a sustainable strategy for cooperation and exchange of good practices at EU level.

The aim of the event is to create a survey for local residents to show their availability to get involved in their local community. The meeting in Elbląg is particularly important as partners and invited participants will have the opportunity to get to know each other and the situation regarding cooperation between authorities and residents and their involvement in the life of the local community. Out of work on the survey participants will take part in local study visits, which will introduce foreign participants to the culture and tourism of our region. Details of the agenda will be sent later and interested parties are invited to contact us.

The final work of the survey will take place at the next meeting, this time with the partner from Greece, which is planned for early November.