EUROMED FEDERATION OF SOCIO-CULTURAL AND NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS

Who we are?

EFS- Euromed Federation of Socio-cultural and Neighbourhood Centres – is a new NGO created in 2022. It includes associations from national and local levels from 17 countries. All members are Euro – Euro-Mediterranean and are also members of the International Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers (IFS). This one is a global movement of more than 11000 local and national member organisations in more than 30 countries on 5 continents. They are active across in the fields of social, economic, cultural, educational and environmental needs in their communities. The members have in common to do their activities with people and not for them. We believe in Equality and Democracy and we act for Inclusion, Empowerment and Social Justice. EFS was created to promote dialogue and cooperation among its members in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

What do we do?

The mission is to:

• Coordinates and extends the cooperation activities between the community organisations of the Euromed area;
• Fosters meetings, exchanges and other relevant activities connecting the members of several countries in the Euromed area;
• Provides mutual support and identifies the issues of Euromed area, for the executive board and IFS members to pay attention to them;
• Provides technical assistance to its members in the field of information, training and analysis of their needs;
• Elaborates and emphases the Euromed and its network members towards institutions and local, European and international communities;
• Ensures representation at the European institutions.

Best practices

➔ I.F.S. Fostering Social Justice, a project funded by the Erasmus Plus Programme, under the line of European Youth Together, took place between 2021 and 2024. The 14 European partners are working on exchanges of good practices and tools among organisations on adult non-formal education, especially in situations of marginality (poverty, prisons, migrants and all forms of exclusion). A strong component of the project lies on Advocacy, finding the common issues and policy asks from south, centred and northern European organisations, with the aim to redact a White Paper on the Status of Adult Education within Community Based Organizations. To learn more about the project, follow this link.

➔ RE-ACT IN II, project funded by Erasmus Programme 2024 – 2026, will focus on exploring new ways of creating spaces capable of welcoming youth without discriminating, becoming incubators of a prosperous social capital. This entails reflection on how to co-construct and create a shared public space that serves as a breeding ground for the development of youth activities. Planning and creating shared spaces, whether physical or virtual, will facilitate community cohesion through bottom-up approaches aimed at including people from the beginning. The project has been designed with a community-based approach with the direct involvement of grassroot organisations which are already engaged in non-formal education activities with youth and carry out practices of re-appropriation of public spaces for youth.

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