BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:https://github.com/derhansen/sf_event_mgt METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT UID:700-31@www.gbw.at CLASS: PUBLIC SUMMARY:13th Central European Round Table of Green Local Councilors DESCRIPTION:Central European Round Tables of Green Local Councilors (CERT) take place in Vienna annually since 2005, with approx. 50 local officeholde rs from Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, several countries from former Yug oslavia and guests from Western Europe.   DATE 2017:Thursday, 12th Octobe r 2017, 6:00 - 9:00 pmFriday, 13th October 2017, 9:00 am - 6:00 pmSaturday, 14th October 2017, 9:00 am - 6:00 pm LOCATIONS:Thursday:  Haus der Europä ischen Union, Wipplingerstrasse 35, Vienna (district 1).Friday + Saturday: Headquarters of Die Grünen Vienna, Lindengasse 40, Vienna (district 7). PA RTICIPANTS:? Greens and Green-affiliated officeholders and activists from A ustria (and Vienna).? Green MEP's from Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Lithuania , etc.? Elected Green Local Politicians and civil society representatives f rom Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herz egovina, Montenegro, Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Bulgaria and B altic countries.? Representatives of EGP (European Green Party), Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, CDN (Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe), ENGS (European Network of Green Seniors), Green Foundatio ns, etc. More info on the previous Round Tables (reports, presentations, ph otos etc.) can be found here:  http://greeningthecities.wordpress.com/centr al-european-round-table/  ?DRAFT AGENDA  Thursday,  12th October 2017,  6:0 0 - 9:00 pmLocation:  Haus der Europäischen Union, Wipplingerstrasse 35, 10 10 Vienna.Supported by the representation of the European Parliament and th e EU Commission in Austria. Evening galaALTERNATIVE VOICES FROM EASTERN EU ROPE Discussions on the future of the European Union and the ongoing crises not only focus on Brexit, Greek debts or relations with USA and Russia, bu t also on a supposed "drifting apart" of political cultures in Western Euro pe and in new member states ("Visegrád Group") and some applicant countries .Authoritarian tendencies and dismantling of "rule of law" standards, incre asing nationalism, rejection of refugee resettlement, etc. led to mistrust and re-fuelled prejudices and stereotypes on both sides of the of the forme r "iron curtain" that were considered to be overcome 28 years after the fal l of communism and 13 years after the EU enlargement to countries in Centra l and Eastern Europe. The intention of this gala event is to show that "bla ck-white perceptions" don’t do justice to the complexity of the situation. We not only have to admit that there are also authoritarian and right-wing populist tendencies in some West European countries, but also that societie s in CEE countries are much less monolithic than they seem when looking at newspaper headlines.We have invited Green and progressive politicians from Central Europe, the Balkans and the Baltics who closely cooperate with civi l society in their countries to express their commitment to European solida rity and to our common struggle for human rights and democracy. They will e xplain their personal motivation that led them to become Member of the Euro pean Parliament or to be foster pro-European attitudes in their countries. After their statements, there will be opportunity for personal exchange wit h them. Speakers:? Welcome by Monika Vana (MEP, Austria, Die Grünen)? Welco me by Dr. Jörg Wojahn (European Commission, Austria)? Benedek Jávor  (MEP, Hungary, Párbeszéd-Dialogue for Hungary)  to be confirmed? Tamás Meszerics  (MEP, Hungary,  LMP-Politics can be different)? Liljana Popovska  (MP, Mac edonia, DOM-Democratic Renewal of Macedonia)  ? Bronis Rop?  (MEP, Lithuani a, LVŽS-Lithuanian Peasant and Greens Union) ? Indrek Tarand  (MEP, Estonia , independent)? N.N.  (Senator, Czech Republic) ? MPs from other countries   tbc 7:30 - 9:00 pm:Buffet. ?Friday,  13th October 2017: Location:  He adquarters of Die Grünen Vienna, Lindengasse 40, 1070 Vienna. 9:00 -  9:30 am:Opening:Moderation:  Raphaela Njie (GBW Vienna, local councilor in Vien na, district 18). 9:30 - 11:00 am:  Macro-regional strategies and the invol vement of civil society.? Daniela Urschitz (City of Vienna, EU Strategy for the Danube Region, PA 10) ? Stefan Lütgenau (Danube Civil Society Forum, F oster Europe Foundation)A "Macro-regional strategy" is an integrated framew ork, addressing common challenges faced by a defined geographical area rela ting to Member States and third countries located in the same geographical area which thereby benefit from strengthened cooperation contributing to ac hievement of economic, social and territorial cohesion. The first two strat egies have been developed in the "macro-regions" Baltic Sea (EUSBSR, 2009) and Danube Region (EUSDR, 2010/11). The City of Vienna is in charge of Prio rity Area 10 of EUSDR, Institutional capacity and cooperation. One of the m ain tasks is to involve civil society and local actors of 14 European count ries, and to provide low-threshold accessibility to EU funds and projects.T he DCSF is the Civil Society Platform for participation and cooperation in the EU Danube strategies. It has mainly developed and facilitated the parti cipative processes and structures in the strategy on national and supra-nat ional level (annual Participation Days). PA 10 and the DCSF closely coopera te with the macro-regional strategy stakeholders in the Baltic, the Alpine and the Ionian-Adriatic Strategy. 11:00 - 11:15 am:Coffee break. 11:15 am - 12:30: Lithuania - a Baltic Sea country governed by Greens.Presentation an d discussion about Green government politics in Lithuania.Bronis Rop? (MEP) and Tomas Tomilinas (MP)     tbcIn October 2016, the Peasant and Greens Un ion (LVŽS) of Greens/EFA MEP Bronis Rop? sensationally became strongest par ty in the Lithuanian Parliamentary elections - 22% of the vote in the first round, and 54 out of 141 seats in the end. And 1 seat also went to a small er Green Party, the LŽP (2% of the vote).In December, a "green-red" coaliti on government von LVŽS with the Social Democratic Party came into office, w ith Prime Minister and 4 ministers from Peasant and Greens Union. We will l earn how LVŽS won the election, what they could achieve in government so fa r, and about their goals and campaigns. 12:30 - 2:00 pm:Lunch. 2:00 - 4:30 pm: Learning from each other - successful election campaigns and political challenges.Presentations of 3 examples, and discussion.  How can Greens wi n elections in CEE countries?What can we learn from defeats and failures?Jo ining a government: what are the opportunities and threats for Green Partie s? MacedoniaLiljana Popovska (MP of DOM-Democratic Renewal of Macedonia)    How Greens joined the opposition and how they try to find their role in th e current "battle of power" between the Centre-Left/Green/Albanian majority and the right-wing Gruevski block after the Parliamentary election of Dece mber 2016. ZagrebN.N.  ("Zagreb je NAŠ!"  - common list of Za Grad, ORaH, N ova ljevica and Radni?ka fronta)How Greens, small leftist parties and grass roots movements finally managed to enter the City Parliament with 4 seats a nd 7.6% of the vote in May 2017. HungaryN.N.  (3 representatives from parti es and civil society)In 2014, two Green parties (LMP-Politics can be differ ent and PM-Dialogue for Hungary) were elected into the European Parliament, the National Parliament and into some municipal councils. Since then, inst ruments of democratic control have been further weakened by the right-wing Orbán government, and new laws (CEU, anti-NGO, etc.) are aimed at restricti ng freedom of expression and critical policy discourse.What are the startin g positions of Greens and civil society into the election year 2018, which strategies and possible alliances are being discussed? Optional:  Southern Moravia (Regional election October 2016),  Austria (Presidential elections April to December 2016), … 4:30 - 4:45 pm: Coffee break. 4:45 - 5:15 pm: W orkshop "Gender Mainstreaming"     tbc 5:15 - 6:00 pm: Presentation of the Green position on the reform of EU cohesion policy 2021-2027  (MEP Monika V ana and "Transparency & Democracy" Working Group of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament)   6 - 7:30 pm:Free time 7:30 - 10 pm:Dinner in a pub. DTSTAMP:20230219T203412Z DTSTART:20171012T040000Z DTEND:20171014T200000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR