To achieve the objective of the project, there are four specific targets to reach:

1. Identify the sources of Euroscepticism among citizens.
2. Increase awareness of the EU contribution to the well-being of its peoples in the fields that matter to EU citizens in their daily lives.
3. Discuss the sources of Euroscepticism with the local leaders and identify possible ways how to address Euroscepticism as a part of their daily work.
4. Spread the knowledge on sources of Euroscepticism and specific attempts to address it in a meaningful way.

In the FIRST STAGE will be organized public debates with citizens in their local environment. The aim of the discussions is to comprehend what are the main concerns, if and how people perceive the role of the EU in their daily lives and what they criticized about the EU most.

In the SECOND STAGE will be conducted interviews and organized roundtables with local multiplicators – actors from local media, citizens journalists, NGOs, opinion makers. The aim of the project at this stage is to identify tools and mechanisms that could change the point of view, in which the EU is presented, especially at the local level.

In the LAST STAGE, the best practices will be shared and success stories presented internationally at European level via several channels. First, a conference will be held in Bratislava with all the partner representatives presenting their experiences and enabling discussion on how to best leverage the local communication for the need of general EU communication. Second, a stakeholder workshop will take place in Brussels to bridge the project results with. In addition to that a policy/strategy paper, and media reports will be published on a pan-European media network.

Project updates and activities www.codesproject.info

During the project PROVIDUS organised:

Five national debates with citizens
Debates took place in various towns across Latvia (Kuldīga, Talsi, Preiļi, Līvani, Ungurpils), from 27/09/2017 to 11/10/2017.

Short description of some debates:

• Kuldīga: We organized discussion in Western Latvia: Kuldīga. There was lively experience sharing and discussion on European Union and euroscepticism. We also watched and discussed fragments from Jean-Claude Juncker’s State of the Union speech.

• Talsi: We organized discussion in Wwestern Latvia: Talsi. There was lively experience-sharing and discussion on European Union and euroscepticism. We also watched and discussed fragments from Jean-Claude Juncker’s State of the Union speech.

Debates involved 95 citizens from Latvia.

Three roundtable-style workshops
Debates took place in Riga and Alūksne, from 27/10/2017 to 08/12/2017.
Some messages from the workshops:
• There is very little EU in the current school curriculum.
• There is no sense of ambition on the EU-related issues at the top levels of political leadership. People cannot be convinced by very technical examples – they need to see their political leaders making important decisions and being respected by their peers.
Debates involved 57 citizens from Latvia.

Leading partner: Univerzita Komenskeho v Bratislave (Bratislava, Slovakia)

Partners:
Capital Foundation (Sofia, Bulgaria)
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik (Berlin, Germany)
EuroPolicy (Bratislava, Slovakia)
Fondation EurActiv Politech (Bruxelles, Belgium)
Social Development Institute Kutato és Elemzo Intézet Nonprofi (Budapest, Hungary)
The World of NGOs (Vienna, Austria)