Today, 27 citizens’ projects from eight Central and Eastern European countries were awarded for their winning ideas for how EU funds could be well spent on sustainable and environmentally friendly local initiatives. The award ceremony, hosted by CEE Bankwatch Network and Friends of the Earth Europe, and opened by Elisabeth Schroedter MEP, highlighted that EU money doesn’t need to only support massive infrastructure projects.
The projects presented were winners of national competitions in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Macedonia, Poland and Slovakia. The competitions were organised to show that citizens can actively participate in the EU budget-spending process through grassroots initiatives and small-scale projects, as well as to encourage them to do so.
The projects ranged from an urban bee farm to a mountain bike track to a sustainable animal shelter. Although the scope and focus of the projects varied hugely, they all had one important connecting factor – small sums are all that is needed to fund citizen-led initiatives that are good for the environment and local communities.
