"Our Common Future"

WECF network conference in Budapest 2004: 100 European women's leaders build capacity on participation in policy making

01.03.2004 | WECF Event

Countries: Hungary
Donors: European Commission, DG Environment, Netherlands Ministry of Environment
Partners: all WECF members
Issues: Health, Chemicals, Environment, Sustainable Development, Gender, Agriculture and Food
Duration: 03/2004 - 06/2004

Multimedia pan-European Women’s Conference

European women as catalysts for achieving enlargement and public participation in shaping the future of Europe

The conference "Our Common Future" took place from June 26-28, 2004 in Budapest. A total of 100 women NGO leaders  from 25 countries took part, the participants came from 25 countries of the pan European region. The 3,5 days conference program combined plenary presentations on 6 themes with presentations of best-practice case studies and work of working groups on the 5 themes.

Theme 1: EU Chemical Policy and Women’s Health

Women, health and chemicals. The workshop focused on toxic chemicals in our daily lives and the new EU chemicals policy plan, REACH.

Issues:

  • Why is it important to women? (gender aspects)
  • How women from Eastern Europe defend themselves (and their countries) from cheap products with low health standards; what other possibilities are there?
  • What is REACH all about?
  • How can women’s organizations from new Member States help in strengthening their position towards toxic chemicals?

Theme 2: ‘Enlarging‘ Women’s Influence on EU Policy Making

Malin Björk, European Women’s Lobby, Eastern Europe officer
Ulrike Röhr, Coordinator working group on gender, WECF and FrauenUmwelNetz Germany
Kitty Bentvelsen, gender expert (Femconsult, WECF)

Issues:

  • What are the benefits of organized women’s lobbies and of gender mainstreaming in local, national and European policy making?
  • How is this applied to environment and health policies?
  • Situation in new EU member states and EEAC countries, challenges for east–west cooperation.

Theme 3: Clearing up the Misunderstanding about Gender 

Using theater as a tool in communicating. A workshop on communicating environmental problems and solutions at community level, with a gender approach, by Berith Danse, the Theater Embassy (Netherlands). 10 of the participating women developed communication skills, and presented the results in the closing ceremony on the last evening, where all participants where engaged in an inter-active theater performance.

Theme 4: Women Lobbying the EU and Developing a European Social Model

Key issues for pan-European women’s organizations. Why is a gender approach in European policy making beneficial and what are the barriers to be overcome, strategies and lessons learned & challenges for WECF? Malin Björk, European Women’s Lobby

Theme 5: Meetings of Working Groups

The participants split into 5 groups:

  1. Water & sanitation
  2. Health & environment (focus this session on chemicals)
  3. Gender:
    a. “Gender mainstreaming” in policy for environment, health and sustainable development. The proposed EU constitution from a gender perspective.
    b. Theater as communication tool: developing a pilot performance on gender and environment at local level
  4. Sustainable agriculture & rural development
  5. Energy & climate change

Discussion Points and “Our Common Future” Work Plan

The 5 groups discussed the following points, and came up with key recommendations for WECF’s work plan “Our Common Future" in 2006.

  • Where are we now and where do we want to go as a working group?
  • Exchange of experience and knowledge, discussion of common problems and how to solve them.
  • What issues we want to give special attention in the next two years in national and international lobby or projects?
  • What things need immediate improvement to make the working group and network function better?
  • Discussion on working group initiatives for training, capacity building, developing cooperative projects, fund-raising.

Theme 6: Promoting Inter-Cultural Dialog

The participants shared good practices in the UK and Romania, where Women’s organizations have acted as catalysts for the Inter-Cultural Dialog.

  • The sustainable gardens of immigrant women in the UK (example of the inter-cultural dialog and a strategy to reduce vandalism and increase quality of life in impoverished residential areas), with video Urban Agriculture for Women (WEN UK: 15 min)
  • The Roma children identity and dialog project in Romania (example of reducing barriers and increasing cooperation and understanding) by Elena Nuica
  • Experiences from living with rural Roma and Romanian families during our project in Garla Mare, Anna Samwel

This was followed by a theater performance of the working group on theater as a communication tool.

Multi-media Evening

On 26 of June, a multi-media evening was organized, where WECF members gave Video and CD-Rom presentations:
  • Water Mamas (Ukraine, 20 min) a film about the activities of a women’s environment NGO to provide access to safe drinking water in Ukraine was presented by Svetlana Slesarenok
  • No Drinking Water (Romania: 20 min), a film about the activities of a women’s environment NGO to help a Romanian village where all drinking water wells are polluted with nitrates and pesticides, was presented by Michaela Vasilescu
  • Aral Sea (Uzbekistan: 15 min), a film about the activities of a women’s environmental NGOs activities to combat poverty and help ill children was presented by Gulbachar Izentaeva
  • Composting, urban garden project UK (15 min), a CD-Rom produced by Women’s Environmental Network UK, shows how women in dilapidated suburbs in England, bring back some of their culture and wellbeing by food growing in the city, using among other their home-made compost.

Publication “Our Common Future – Future of Europe : Vision of European Women’s Environmental Leaders”

As a result of all the project events, WECF summarized some of the key statements of the participants in a leaflet “Future of Europe”. This publication is available from the WECF office, and can be downloaded from the WECF website. The publication summarizes some key concerns and recommendations of the European Environmental Women’s Leaders movement.

Press

A press release was send to all the Hungarian offices and foreign correspondents in Budapest (see appendices).
On the morning of the 25th, a press conference was given in the Central Eastern University. The action was shown on Hungary’s main TV channel TV2 (4 min), on DUNA TV and interviews carried out with the organizers on two local TV stations. The conference was also reported on by 3 radio station and in 3 newspapers.

A second press action was held at the Ministerial Conference. The press-release can be seen on the WECF website.

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