Assembly of European Regions – AER

Brief presentation

AER is the largest independent interregional organisation in broader Europe, with around 140 regional authorities as members from 30 countries.

Established in 1985, AER is a forum for regional politicians to engage in interregional cooperation and to voice regional interests on the European stage.
Regional politicians, civil servants and experts collaborate on topics as diverse as regional development, social policy and public health, culture, education, youth, climate, democracy, sustainable mobility and connectivity.
AER launched the Intercultural Regions Network (IRN), a platform that enables regional authorities to share knowledge, resources and experiences to promote intercultural integration at regional level. In this regard, the IRN aims at supporting regions in the design, implementation and evaluation of intercultural integration strategies based on the principles of equal opportunities, recognition of diversity and positive interaction between people from different origins.

Actions within the project

AER is tasked with leading the project component aimed at fostering structured regional exchanges and the dissemination of knowledge and best-practices within its wider network.

In this respect, AER will be providing for, among others, the organisation of five thematic workshops and five webinars structured around the key priority areas of the EU Action Plan on Integration:

  1. enhancing host communities’ integration capacity;
  2. education and training;
  3. integration in the labour market;
  4. access to basic services (housing, healthcare);
  5. active participation and social inclusion.

The workshops are envisioned to bring together target beneficiaries, experts, partners, and respectively representatives of interested social communities, by offering structured opportunities to exchange knowledge and practice at EU level and to drive innovation and potential transnational partnerships among target beneficiaries to enhance TCNs’ (local) integration. The webinars are aimed to create a virtual community beyond the geographical scope of the project to encourage partners, regional and local communities and their stakeholders to exchange practices.
The last workshop will embed the project final conference which will gather project partners, the donor and other relevant stakeholders and beneficiaries to present and disseminate the action’s lessons learned.

While implementing the above mentioned actions, AER will ensure the involvement and cooperation of key players as the Intercultural Regions Network and the Council of Europe.

Contacts

Website: www.aer.eu

Focal point: Johanna Pacevicius – [email protected]

Focal point: Agnese Pantaloni – [email protected]