Get Closer to Communities

The aim of the ‘Closer to the Community’ project was to promote the self-organisation of local communities and the active involvement of Roma in community life in 15 Hungarian towns and villages. The programme did not operate as a separate Roma programme, but supported integration through local initiatives that encouraged social participation.

During the project, Autonómia’s staff contributed to engaging with local Roma communities, identifying key actors, supporting self-organising communities, rethinking local integration plans, and developing local capacities and cooperation skills.

In addition to helping the participating local authorities build partnerships, we assisted them in developing well-thought-out, structured and feasible strategies, devising meaningful local initiatives and project ideas, and preparing EU grant applications with the involvement of the local communities.

The participating municipalities were: Babócsa, Bakonya, Báta, Bolhás, Dombóvár, Homrogd, Ináncs, Kazár, Karancslapujtő, Kővágószőlős, Kővágótöttös, Kálmáncsa, Nagymányok, Szuhogy and Tar.

The National Association of Local Authorities participated in the implementation, whilst the ERGO network assisted in presenting the results on the international stage. We documented the development work carried out in the settlements, from which we formulated case studies and policy recommendations, which we presented both domestically and in Brussels with the help of our partners.

policy recommendations:

policy recommendations – long version

policy recommendations – short version

“With financial support from the “Rights, Equality and Citizenship” Programme of the European Union”