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POWER info

European Network of Women Mayors for Equal Opportunities in Citizens’ Life

The POWER project involves a network of towns governed by Woman Mayors or Deputy Mayors as an example to promote the participation of women in political and social life. Through their stories and experiences, Woman Mayors bring a valuable contribution informing citizens and towns, promoting political participation and discussing those issues that constitute an obstacle in today's life e.g. gender pay gap, devaluation of female professions, reconciliation of family and work life, etc. ..

The project foresees the organization of 6 international events in Pollina (ITALY), Ciudad Real (SPAIN), Labin (CROATIA), Tetovo (MACEDONIA) and Blagoevgrad (BULGARIA). Through these events (meetings, visits, discussions, workshops) Women representatives and citizens have the opportunity to reflect about the political and social situations in each territories, focusing on which practices and policies exist in each European countries, in order to raising-awareness about EU policies promoters of gender equality and to sensitize, encourage and support Citizens to participate actively to the democratic and political life.

The final aim of the project is the creation of a WOman Mayors European Network (WOMEN) able to foster the cooperation among representatives and to promote equal opportunities by sharing best practices.

POLLINA, ITALIA

4 – 6 December 2014

Participation: The event involved 126 citizens, including 

• 6 participants from the city ofCiudad Real (Spain),
• 4 participants from the city of Blagoevgrad (Bulgaria),
• 4 participants from the city of Labin (Croatia),
• 4 participants from the city of Tetovo (Macedonia),
• 1 participant from the city of Vilnius (Lituania)
• 1 participant from the city of Wien (Austria)
• 3 participants from the city of Pittsburgh (USA)
• 5 participants from the city of Buenos Aires (Argentina)
• 5 participants from the city of Hamburg (Germany)
• 1 participant from the city of Rotterdam (Netherlands)
• 2 participants from the city of Liverpool (UK)
• 1 participant from the city of Uppsala (Sweden)
• 1 participant from the city of San Marino
• 88 participants from the cities of Pollina, Montagnareale, Castelbuono, Sinagra, Vita, Geraci Siculo, Rimini (Italy),

Location/ Dates: The event took place in Pollina (Italy), from 4/12/2014 to 6/12/2014

Short description:

The first day of meeting started with the welcome of the Mayor of Pollina, Mrs Magda Culotta, to the public audience and to the European delegations from partner organizations such as the Municipality of Tetovo (Macedonia), the Municipality of Ciudad Real (Spain), the Municipality of Labin (Croatia) and the Association South Western Municipalities (Bulgaria).

They presented their Municipalities with a particular focus about gender policies realized.

Secondly, partners had the occasion to discuss technical issues concerning the project implementation in particular the organization of activities, the calendar of project events, and the budget management and communication / dissemination strategies.

Moreover a specific moment was reserved to the signature of the partnership agreement by all Mayors and ViceMayors of Municipalities involved.

A guided tour of the town of Pollina followed this meeting, in order to let participants discover historical, cultural and social features of Pollina‘s territory.

In particular, the programme organized a visit to the Museum of Manna that represents an excellence – in fact Manna is produced only in this territory.

In the afternoon the activities continued at Auditorium I.C. Pollina in San Mauro Castelverde (Finale) for a social meeting with local associations (Apollonia cultural music association-Pollina New Age Association - I Saracini Folk Association- Sicilia Bella Association.) and citizens, precious occasion to get in touch with musical and culinary traditions as well as folklore.

The folk group "I Saracini", composed by girls and boys of different classes of the Comprehensive School "A. Gagini" in Pollina, welcomed the participants with a dance and music performance.

On the second day of the event it was organized a round table titled “The women protagonists in local development processes in Sicily and in Europe- examples of good practices by the municipalities guided by Women Mayors”.

During the first part of the round table three Woman Mayors coming from Sicilian municipalities such as Filippa Maria Galifi (Municipality of Vita), Anna Sidoti(Municipality of Montagnareale) and Vincenza Maccora(Municipality of Sinagra) presented their experience and good practices to participants. Following their interviews, each representative of European municipalities presented its good practices in different fields (Environment, Work, Welfare, Education, Sustainability and Tourism, Mobility etc.) .

After these presentations, respecting one of the milestones of the POWER project, the Mayor Magda Culotta presented her personal and professional experience as well as the Pollina’s good practices. The biography is a precious tool to encourage and foster participation of women in political and social life, with the transfer of good practices and experiment methodologies on the target groups involved.

This meeting hosted also a photo exhibition of the Slovak photographer Nina Kalinova “The faces of women”.

Mrs Kalinova was born in Bojnice in Slovak Republic, but she lives and works in Finale di Pollina for 15 years. The ethical revolution and the fight for civil rights are among the foundations of his photographic art.

The second part of the round table has been dedicated to the conference “The responsibility of being a woman mother and leader”, with the participation of a group of local women with different professions that shared their personal and professional experience. Citizens and participants heard five different stories, in particular: Antonella Cancila - Headmaster of the Comprehensive Institute, Arianna Attinasi - Editor of the Publishing House named Arianna, Fiume Marinella - Teacher, Writer and First Woman Mayor in Sicily, Giuliana Maria -Teacher, Cuggino Rossella – Anesthetist and First Aid Doctor.

This second day ended with a social dinner introduced by a musical concert of the municipal band "A.C. M.Apollonia" and followed by a theatrical performance of the actress Patrizia D'Antona, who played an humorous show about being women at all stages of life, particularly menopause.

The third and last day the programme proposed a guided tour in Palermo focused on the discovery of the Palermo of women, with cultural walks through the squares and streets of the historical center where women, in particular heroines, artists, rebels and embroiderers have left their mark and of which we have lost the memory.

16-18 March 2015

Ciudad Real, Spain

Participation: The event involved 126 citizens, including 

• 3 participants from the city of Blagoevgrad (Bulgaria),
• 4 participants from the city of Labin (Croatia),
• 4 participants from the city of Tetovo (Macedonia),
• 3 participants from the city of Pollina (Italy)
• 2 participants from the city of Rimini (Italy)
• 110 participants from the city of Ciudad Real (Spain),

Location/ Dates: The event took place in Ciudad Real (Spain), from 16/03/2015 to 18/03/201

Short Description:

The first day of meeting the POWER audience has been welcomed by the Mayor of Ciudad Real, Ms. Rosa Romero Sánchez.

During the morning the partners discuss technical issues concerning the project implementation in particular the budget management , communication/ dissemination strategies as well as the upcoming activities.

In the afternoon, it has been organized the debate focusing on “Presentation of the political career of female councillors in the Province of Ciudad Real”

The debate has been moderated by the Councillor for Economic Development and Tourism, Dolores Merino and the main interventions have been conducted by Helena López (Councillor for Equality), Encarnación Medina (Mayoress of Villarubia de los Ojos), Mª Teresa González (Mayoress of Torralba de Calatrava), Ana López (Mayoress of Carrión de Calatrava)

In the evening the programme continued with a visit to the historical centre of Ciudad Real as well as with the presence to the musical performance “Musical Monday” organized at the Old Casino of Ciudad Real, Paseo del Prado.

On the second day it has been organized the roundtable: The role of women in political life in Spain and the EU. During the roundtable all political representatives from Spain and EU gave their contribution presenting the main data and surveys conducted on their countries.

In the first part of the roundtable participated Rosa Romero, the Mayor of Ciudad Real, who presented here personal and professional experience, Carmen Casero the Councilor of Economy and Employment and Tourism, Junta de Castilla – La Mancha, the Representatives of Pollina (Italy);Tetovo (Macedonia);Ass. of Municip. of the Southwest (Bulgaria); Labin (Croatia) and Women politicians and representatives of associations of rural women and of the Province of Ciudad Real.

Furthermore the second part of roundtable focused on the topic of “The situation of women in decision-making positions in the business and social environment”.

The roundtable has been moderated by the Secretary of Equality CSI-F, Mª Ángeles Mur

The main presentations have been conducted by Dª Mª Jesús Alarcón (President of the Provincial Court) Ana López – Casero (President of the Fundación Caja Rural Castilla - La Mancha), Isabel Rodríguez Teruel (President of the Provincial Association Petrol Stations), BeatrizCabañas (Vice Rector of Students of the University of Castilla La Mancha) and Carmen Quintanilla (Congresswoman and President of AFAMMER)

On the last and third day of meeting, partners had a techinical meeting to plan future initiatives and in particular to discuss how to implement and disseminate the European network of Woman Mayors, on of the main objective of the POWER project.

LABIN (CROACIA)

3 – 5 September 2015

Participation: The event involved  126 citizens, including

• 4 participants from the city of Blagoevgrad (Bulgaria),
• 4 participants from the city of Tetovo (Macedonia),
• 6 participants from the cities of Pollina, Rimini (Italy)
• 5 participants from the city of Ciudad Real (Spain),
• 15 participants from the city of Banovići (Bosnia Herzegovina)
• 11 participants from the city of Velenje (Slovenia)
• 81 participants from the cities of Labin, Pazin, Pula, Rijeka (Croatia),

Location/ Dates: The event took place in Labin (Croatia)from  03/09/2015 to 05/09/2015

Short description:

Labin hosted the third meeting of the POWER project. The Town Gallery collection was opened by the Deputy mayor of Labin Mrs Eni Modrušan that welcomed the audience sharing her personal and professional experience as women in leadership positions in local government.

The meeting was attended, among others, by the representatives of Pollina (Italy) Magda Culotta, Tetovo (Macedonia)Slavica Serasimovska, the Association southwestern municipalities of Blagoevgrad (Bulgaria) Nadezhda Vladimirova Blagova, the Municipality of Ciudad Real (Spain), Manuela Nieto.

Each European municipality presented its best practises and activities on gender equality to the public audience.

After this presentation, the event continued with a conference on Women in politics where Parliament members, Regional government members and Local community leaders were present to share their experience. In particular, the main presentations have been conducted by Nancy Tireli (Member of Parliament), Giuseppina Rajko (Deputy Prefect of Istria), Gloria Paliska Bolterstein(Mayor Municipality of Raška) and Mirjana Galant (Deputy Mayor of Pazin).

After the conference the programme continued with a visit to the firm of Nadia Paliska Smoković. Owner of DIVES –Flowers cultivation and sell company since 1995.Nadia is 52 year old, married with 2 kids. Today her company is one of the biggest flowers supplying company in Istria county.

In the afternoon it was organized a guided tour to the old town of Labinto discover the historical and cultural features as well as the local gastronomy with olive oil tasting with expert explanations of William Negri, Labin oil producer.

The meeting continued with a visit at the Labin museum that offers an overview of the history of Labin through a selection of important events shown in chronological order, thematic units and interactive displays. A particular section is dedicated to Giuseppina Martinuzzi, an Istrian teacher and a revolutionary who stood up for the rights of workers, especially women and children. Giuseppina Martinuzzi’s bust and furniture from her Labin apartment are exhibited, along with her works: elementary school textbooks, Mnemonic Manual and notebooks.

The visit ended with a visit to the permanent exhibition related to the four hundred year history of mining in Labin.

The second day the meeting continued at Hotel Hedera (Rabac) with a workshop together with Mate Blažinahigh school students on the topic of involvement of women in politics and government positions.

Renata Kiršić, on behalf of the Youth Association of Alpha Albona and in her capacity of President of the Youth Council of the City of Labin, participated in a panel discussion on women and politics, in which she presented the context of youth policy in the Republic of Croatia, work and activities of the Youth Council and the recently enacted Local Youth Programme of the City of Labin, the first strategic document on youth work at local level.

During the conference women entrepreneurs from Labin and Istria region Ombreta Ilijašić, Jasna Jaklin Majetić, Gordana Deranja and Dolores Jenkel were invited to talk about their entrepreneurial experiences.

The third and last day was dedicated to a technical meeting among EU partners, where they discussed technical issues concerning the calendar of events, communication/ dissemination strategies and upcoming activities.

3-5 February 2016

Tetovo (Macedonia) 

Participation: The event involved 126 citizens, including

• 6 participants from the cities of Ciudad Real (Spain),
• 8 participants from the cities of Pollina, Rimini, Rome (Italy)
• 6 participants from the cities of Labin, Zadar(Croatia)
• 7 participants from the cities of Sofia, Garmen, Blagoevgrad(Bulgaria)
• 2 participants from the city of Copenaghen (Danemark)
• 2 participants from the city of Tirana (Albania)
• 1 participant from the city of Boston (USA)
• 1 participant from the city of Frankfurt (Germany)
• 1 participant from the city of London (UK)
• 6 participants from the city of Pristina (Kosovo)
• 1participant from the city of Sarajevo (Bosnia)
• 85 participants from the city of Tetovo (Macedonia)

Location/ Dates: The event took place in Tetovo (Macedonia), from  03/02/2016 to 05/02/2016

Short description:

The Mayor of Tetovo, Ms. Teuta Arifi, welcomed guests from Europe and Macedonia to the fourth meeting of European Network of Women Mayors for Equal Opportunities in Citizens’ Life (POWER) project, held from 3-5 February 2016.

On the first day the participants attended the conference where Ms. Arifi shared with participants a wealth of information about Tetovo as well as her administration. In the afternoon there was a visit to the most notable places of Tetovo, the Painted Mosque and the Visual Arts Gallery. An exhibition of female painters was specifically prepared for the Power guests.

A concert of folkloric dance and music was the next activity proposed for the evening. The performance of the cultural-artistic association “XheladinZeqiri” was met with great enthusiasm among those present.

The second day began with the high school students’ exhibition, where the students presented their works. The schools involved were the two gymnasiums of Tetovo, the medical high school, the economics high school, the agricultural high school as well as the professional textile school.

The visit continued at the South East European University, where the participants were greeted by the Pro-Rector of the University, Mr. Andrew Goodspeed. He thoroughly explained the vision and mission of the University, which encompasses the multicultural element of Tetovo.

The itinerary was followed by a visit to the artisanal shops’ street and then to the exhibition of traditional food and clothing, where the participants had the chance to see and taste the traditional food of Tetovo and to meet local women interested in share their traditional recipes.

The third day began with a roundtable on the topic “Women’s challenges in the road of success”. Members of the panel were: Teuta Arifi, Mayor of Tetovo;  Shpresa Hadri, Member of Parliament; Svetlana Karapetrova, Member of the Parliament; Mimoza Thaqi, Businesswoman; Qanije Selimi, Businesswoman; Lejla Halimi Lumani, Musician; Lejla Abazi, Pro-rector in the SEE University; Xhane Kreshova, NGO Women’s Forum; Merije Vejseli, Gynecologist.

The roundtable was moderated by Nial Memeti, head of the Local economic development sector in the Municipality of Tetovo.  The participants had the chance to freely express and share the experiences in their different professions, the challenges through which they encounter, etc.

The day ended with a social dinner and a musical band’s show at the Hotel Scardus.

During the fourth and last day of the Power event, the participants were taken on a tour through the city of Skopje, where they had the opportunity to enjoy the old bazaar with its traditional food and stores.

1-3 June 2016

Blagoevgrad & Garmen (Bulgaria)

Participation: The event involved 129 citizens, including

• 10 participants from the cities of Madrid,A Coruña, Malaga, Ciudad Real (Spain),
• 4 participants from the cities of Pollina, Rimini (Italy),
• 1 participant from the city of Izola (Slovenia)
• 4 participants from the cities of Labin, Zadar (Croatia),
• 8 participants from the cities of Tetovo, Strumica,Pinot (Macedonia),
• 11 participants from the cities of Grien, Pelplin, Cracow, Oswiecim, Warsaw, Wadowice, Lodz(Poland),
• 4 participants from the cities of Cuba (Portugal),
• 2 participants from the cities of Lviv(Ukraine),
• 2 participants from the cities of Baku (Azerbaijan),
• 3 participants from the cities of Instanbul, Ankara (Turkey),
• 1 participant from the city of Trencin (Slovakia),
• 1 participant from the city of Targoviste (Romania),
• 1 participant from the city of Marsa (Malta),
• 77 participants from the cities of Blagoevrad, Garmen, Strumiani, Simitli, Bansko, Razlog, Petrich (Bulgaria).

Location/ Dates:

The event took place inBlagoevgrad and Garmen (Bulgaria), from 01/06/2016 to 03/06/2016

Short description:

The fifth meeting in Blagoevgrad started on 1stof June 2016, when all project partners, many guests and citizens attended the morning conference at the Municipality Hall “22 September”.

The conference started with welcome speech from Mr. RadoslavTaskov – Chairman of the Municipal council of Blagoevgrad and Mr. Ivo Nikolov, Deputy Mayor of Blagoevgrad Municipality for Financial department, who was representing the mayor of Blagoevgrad Municipality Mr. Dr.AtanasKambitov.

The first presentation and speech was held by Mrs. MinkaKapitanova, Mayor of the Municipality of Garmen. The topic was: Personal and professional experience. Mrs Kapitanova shared to the public her challenges as a Woman Mayor and her way of finding the work-life balance.

Mrs Kapitanova’s speech was followed by the showing of a video. The video is about the Woman Mayors in most of the Association of South Western Municipalities members and it included short Q&A with:

Mrs. MinkaSaragiozova – Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Petrich; Mrs.  FidankaKoteva – Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Strumiani; Mrs. Evgeniya Georgieva – Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Simitli; Mrs. MinkaKapitanova – Mayor of the Municipality of Garmen ; Mrs. SuzanaSarieva – Representative of the Business in the Municipality of Garmen ; Mrs. SashkaVachkova – Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Bansko; Doctor MariyaKopanarova – Taseva – Chairman of the Municipal council of Razlog ; Mrs. ZornitsaKraleva – Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Blagoevgrad; Mrs. HristinaShopova – Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Blagoevgrad.

The first part of conference ended with a discussion related to the topic “Difficulties in reconciling work and family life”, where each project partner made a presentation with data related to their countries.

The second part of the conference started with speech from Mrs. Shopova – Deputy Mayor for Culture and Humanitarian Activities in Blagoevgrad Municipality. The speech was about the difficulties in reconciling work and family life.

About the EU and National Strategies & Action Plans on Gender Equality talked Miss LiliyaYakova, Project Manager and co-founder of Association Euni Partners.

A visit at National High School of Arts and Humanities in Blagoevgrad was the next activity planned for the first day. At the school hall all partners were involved into a discussion with the students. The students were curious about their way of managing the work-life balance and challenges in reconciling work and family. Students asked several questions to Women representatives who answered by telling their experiences and stories.

The programme of the second day (June 2nd) was organised in the Municipality of Garmen, with the opportunity to visit some of villages of the municipality, where tourist and economy potential were presented. During the traveling, all partners visit historical and unique monuments and open museums - Village of Leshten, Gradishteto at village of Garmen, The city of Nicopolis Ad Nestum.

The last day (June 3rd), the meeting continued with a visit to the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria - The Monastery of Saint Ivan of Rila, better known as the Rila Monastery. The partners took a tour around and into the monastery, which is one of the Bulgarian properties inscribed into the World Heritage list of UNESCO.

29 September - 1 October 2016

Pollina (Italy)

Participation:

The event involved 126 citizens, including:

• 6 participants from the city of Ciudad Real (Spain),
• 4 participants from the city of Labin (Croatia),
• 4 participants from the cities of Garmen, Blagoevgrad (Bulgaria),
• 5 participants from the city of Tetovo (Macedonia),
• 3 participants from the city of La Plata (Argentina),
• 2 participants from the city of Moscow (Russia),
• 1 participant from the city of Kiev (Ukraine),
• 1 participant from the city of Stockholm (Sweden),
• 4 participants from the city of Berlin (Germany),
• 2 participants from the city of Lisbon (Portugal),
• 4 participants from the city of New York (USA),
• 1 participant from the city of Genève (Switzerland),
• 1 participant from the city of Paris (France),
• 88 participants from the cities of Pollina, Castelbuono, Finale di Pollina, Cefalù, Castel di Tusa, Palermo, Isnello, Licata, Bagheria (Italy).

Location/ Dates:

The event took place inPollina (Italy), from 29/09/2016 to 01/10/2016

Short description:

The sixth and final event of the POWER project, started on Thursday 29thSeptember 2016, with a guided visit to the touristic path “Fiumarad’arte” located in Castel di Tusa, near Pollina.Fiumarad’arte is a park of sculptures created by the artist Antonio Prestiwho blends the contemporary with the rugged beauty of the place.

The official start of the meeting took-off in the afternoon, at the Assembly room of the Municipality of Pollina at the presence of the POWER partners, Municipality of Labin (Croatia), Municipality of Ciudad Real (Spain), Municipality of Tetovo (Macedonia) and ASWM – Association of South Western Municipalities (Bulgaria) and citizens. The Mayor Magda Culotta welcomed the audience and introduced the overall reflection on the 2-year project experience: each partner shared points of view on the activities realised and results achieved.

The meeting continued with a first session dedicated to the technical aspects about the end of the project: final activities, reporting and future cooperation.This was followed by a second one focused on the presentation of the two main POWER outputs: the POWER DVD and the POWER BOOK. The POWER DVD collects biographies, experiences and best practices of Woman Mayors and other women involved in the project’s actions as well as all materials shared during the project activities and events. The POWER book collects biographies, experiences and best practices of Woman Mayors involved in the project’s actions as well as leader women such as members of Parliament, local business women, members of Associations, NGOs, Institutions and Citizens.

The first day ended with the presentation of WOMEN - Woman Mayors European Network. The WOman Mayors European Network (WOMEN) is a European network composed by Woman Mayors and other women in decision-making positions in political, administrative, social and economic field, who aim to improve the participation of women in political and social life - through their experiences and best practices – and, as a consequence, to promote democratic life for European citizens.

All POWER Woman Mayors gave birth to the WOMEN network by signing the Covenant of principles and actions, with which they commit themselves to the promotion of the initiatives of the network and widen its members among cities and organisations with which they cooperate locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

The second day of event (September 30th), continued at the Town Hall of Pollina with a public conference entitled “Women success stories”.  The Women that have participated to the Conference were: Mrs Francesca di Gaudio/ University Assistant Professor and Chemical-health Manager, Mrs RosaliaStadarelli/ Mayor of Misilmeri, Mrs TizianaCascio/ Businesswoman (Enterprise for the processing and preserving of bluefish), Mrs Marina Scialabba/ Mechanical Engineer, Mrs Maria Giuliana / German language teacher and Touristic promoter.

The morning ended with a visit to the historical centre of Pollina and to the Tower of Stars,Maurolico Museum,realised on 2016 by the local administration to enhance the architectural and historical complex of TeatroPietra Rosa.

In the afternoon the programme included two visits to two enterprises led by women in Castelbuono. The first enterprise was Castelbontà–a slow mobility and touristic company managed by a group of young women which offered a guided tour of the Castelbuono historical centre by electrical cars. The second company visited was the fashion atelier of GiusiCusimano, fashion designer of Castelbuono, who founded her personal label and who creates her fashion collection taking inspiration from the Italian Renaissance art and architecture.

The third and last day partners (October 1st) participated to a Steering Committee to organize the final steps of the project before the officially closure of the activities.