PEACE GAMES is a cooperation project, in several areas, between places in Europe where relevant Peace Treaties were signed, which are framed by a legal Association, formed in May 2010 and which currently has members in 10 European countries. This project includes 7 partners from 6 European countries, of which 5 are EU Member States (Portugal, Spain, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria) and 1 European Neighborhood Policy country (Ukraine). .It is a project that aims to expand the Culture of Peace in Europe, based on the experience and collective historical memory of all the places that integrate it. To achieve this objective, the project will promote the circulation of groups and artists from different areas (Music, Theatre, Crafts, Visual Arts and Sciences/History) from all the countries that integrate it with the aim of creating products that appeal to and promote Peace among the European Peoples.

At the end of the project, it is intended that such products be made available to the European peoples, as a mark of their feeling of Peace.

The project’s diversity is guaranteed from the outset by the inclusion, as partners, of groups and artists from 6 culturally very different European countries and with very specific traditions. The integration of a Ukrainian partner will allow the project to assume itself as a form of defense (and solidarity) of/with the cultural and creative sectors of that country ravaged by a war with very serious consequences for its people and its culture.

Finally, the locations included in the project, in addition to the obvious geographic diversity, present a great social and economic diversity (4 are small towns inserted in a rural environment, 2 are small cities inserted in semi-rural environments and 1 is a medium-sized city) ensuring that inclusion will be one of its main guidelines.

PROMOTING CULTURE OF PEACE IN EUROPE

The project responds to the need to implement the European peoples’ sense of belonging to the European Union based on the exchange of experiences, on the one hand, and the creation of intercultural products with the participation of groups and artists from very different countries.

The project also responds to the need to implement a Culture of Peace in Europe, namely from the perspective that Peace is not a given (as the current war situation in Europe proves) and will draw attention to the primacy of negotiation as a way of conflict resolution, a basic principle of the European Union.

The project will target, on a first line, the populations of the participating locations, on a second line, the populations of the countries that integrate it and on a third line, the European population, through the visibility of the products that will be created throughout the project, in the various areas that will integrate it.

DECENTRALIZED PROJECT WITH A EUROPEAN DIMENSION

The European dimension of the project results from its central theme – Peace – the main objective of the European Union and its transnational character is guaranteed by the participation of 7 sites from 6 different European countries, located from the westernmost tip of the EU territory to its easternmost border, including Ukraine.

In a first phase, the project will have an impact on the countries that are part of it, but it is the intention of the project that the products created throughout its implementation in the different areas it covers will have an impact on all European countries and can make an effective contribution to the defense and consolidation of peace in Europe.

With the implementation of this project, the countries that integrate it will be directly benefited, that is, Portugal, Spain, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria and Ukraine. Indirectly, all European countries could benefit, as explained above.

Activities will take place in Alcáçovas (Viana do Alentejo, Portugal), Évora Monte (Estremoz, Portugal), Alcañices (Spain), Vasvár (Hungary), Zadar (Croatia), Kaynardzha (Bulgaria) and Khotyn (Ukraine).

A STRONG PARTNERSHIP GUARANTEES PROJECT SUCCESS

The partnership for this application is made up of public entities from 6 European countries, all of which are effective members of the Association European Network of Places of Peace (ENPP) legally constituted in Portugal on May 28, 2010, which brings together several locations in Europe where Peace Treaties were signed and whose main objectives are the development of a Culture of Peace in Europe based on the historical experience and memory of the places that integrate it, namely among the younger generations, as well as the appreciation and promotion of these sites.

Thus, the public entities partners in this application have been working together for a long time, regularly participating in the joint activities and decision-making of the ENPP, in its General Assemblies, etc. and will continue to do so for the correct and complete execution of the activities foreseen in this application.

The partnership of this application was not created extemporaneously for this application. The submission of this application, as well as the partnership which sustains it, was the subject of a joint decision at the last General Meeting of the ENPP held in Portugal on October 14, 2022. For these reasons, the partnership is sufficiently solid and not only provides guarantees of capacity to carry out the project as well as to give continuity to it after the 4 years in which it will be carried out.

In addition to the financial contribution of each partner, each will assign the necessary personnel to monitor and execute the application. All of this staff is made up of technical staff from the Departments of Culture and Community Projects of the respective Municipalities, who, for the most part, already know each other through their participation in other projects carried out by ENPP.

Each partner will carry out a survey of local actors from the different areas of the project (Music, Theatre, Crafts, Visual Arts and Sciences/History) who, after careful selection, will form part of the multinational groups to be created in each area to carry out the activities envisaged in the project.

The following public entities are part of the application: