Be a Part of the Whole!
Campaign for Citizenship and Democracy
Citizen Participation Week 2007


The Honorary Patron for the event was Mrs. Kinga Göncz, Minister of Foreign Affairs

International organizer and co-ordinator: Central and Eastern European Citizens Network (www.ceecn.net)
Main organizers in Hungary:
Civil College Foundation
Hungarian Institute for Culture
Association for Developing Community Involvement
Vocational Network for Supporting Community Initiatives
Hungarian Institute for Culture and Art

Between 24th and 30th September hundreds of civil organizations ran a campaign for raising awareness on citizen participation and local action at 205 local, small regional and regional events.

Similarly to previous years, the programme was following two main threads: a national random sample survey, and local and national events.

Survey:
In contrast to previous years, this time the questionnaire was completed with inquiries on both the European dimension of participation and identity and the attitude of citizens towards community enterprising and co-operative action.
(www.arh.kozossegfejlesztes.hu) .
The survey was conducted in Slovakia and Hungary in a parallel way, and around 5000 questionnaires are expected to be returned from the two countries.

Opening Event (24th September).
The opening event of the Citizen Participation Week was held on 24th September on Nyugati Square, downtown Budapest. With the involvement of volunteers and passersby, a labyrinth made of styrofoam was built in a collective manner. The idea behind the labyrinth was: “Look for ways to participate, and write a message on the wall for the politicians of the future!” Other spectacular elements displayed on the square were also serving the cause of putting people in the mood for building in a collective way.
(www.magyarhirlap.hu, www.nepszava.hu stb.)
Closing Event (29th-30th September)
We have hosted the members of our network, the organizers of the Citizen Participation Week, and 10 Slovakian activists at a closing event held in Kunbábony, where the experiences from the Week were shared, and lectures were given on practical actions, citizen participation, and civic initiatives.
Szekszárd, 28th September: ‘Free Opinion at a Free Place’
“The programme started at 2 pm with the Human Oratory and a speech by the deputy mayor. With the involvement of artistic groups from local civil organizations, it went on until 6 pm, with loud music played in the breaks. As a final accord to the event, doves of peace were set free, while the finale of a famous Hungarian musical was sang together with those present on the square. In the meantime, a total number of around 100 questionnaires were filled out, and 3 giant message boards were filled with a total of 180 messages” (for further info and pictures on the event please visit www.arh.blogol.hu and www.tolnainepujsag.hu ).
Nyíregyháza, 27th September
“The meeting was organized for those who disagree with the grandiose and extraneous construction projects similar to the one taking place on Jókai Square, and for those who are directly and negatively affected by the latter project.).
Despite the heavy rainfall, the members of our group went to the site in Wellington boots and overalls, and engaged in some really spectacular action. Since the building under construction lacks in windows almost completely, the group started to carry light into the building in the form of torches put into sacks. With the light carried in sacks, we meant to symbolize the fact that constructing a building in such a way is just as foolish as to think that light can be carried in sacks.” (for the complete text, see www.arh.blogol.hu or www.szon.hu)

Pécs, 24th September
A decades’ old tradition was revived in the Mecsek Mountains in the South of Hungary, when civil organizations lit guard fires on the Zengő, Hármas, Misina, Tubes and Jakab hills. Through this action they wanted to raise awareness about the dangers threatening the hills and the power of joining forces. (www.pecsinapilap.hu )

Budapest, 28th September
The Freedom on Information Day is held on 28th of September in around 40 countries around the world.
In 2007, the event was organized by the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union for the first time in Hungary, in the framework of the Citizen Participation Week. On this occasion, the TÁP Theatre has presented a street performance on how the Hungarian political elite are feathering their own nests. (www.index.hu)


Similarly to previous years, the Citizen Participation Week discussed issues that were about people and their communities, and not about the constantly and artificially generated usual political and media themes. Local and small regional issues, problems and alternatives were put on the agenda, while the notions of participation and democracy, and the opportunities for active citizenship, involvement and local action were also discussed, with an emphasis on good Hungarian practices.

Photos: www.arh.blogol.hu
The results of the survey, further reports, and the entire media coverage will soon be published on www.arh.kozossegfejlesztes.hu

This report written by: Máté Varga, Civil College Foundation
Public Activity
Local and European Identity


Implemented by the Civil College Foundation, the Hungarian Association for Community Development and the Community Development Department of the Hungarian Institute for Culture and Art between 15-30 September 2007

In the second half of September 2007 a group of Hungarian community development organizations conducted a nationwide non-representative survey in the framework of the Citizen Participation Week, a series of events for raising awareness on citizen/ community participation and for calling the attention of politicians and the media to the importance of citizen participation. As a natural result of the awareness raising process, the appraisals performed in frames of this series of events take place in a social environment that is more ’elevated’ and active than the usual Hungarian social environment. In some instances, this may have influenced the data recorded during the process.
The survey presented hereby is partly related to the appraisals organized during previous years. In frames of the Citizen Participation Weeks of 2005 and 2006 we were analyzing the attitudes and conditions related to public trust and confidence (identical questionnaires were used in both years, which gave a good basis for comparison). The questions in those surveys also included inquiries about questionees’ relations with local civil action and the level of their involvement in public life. In 2007 the 3500 random samples filled out mainly focused on people’s involvement in community and public life (voluntary work, active involvement in civil organizations, the articulation and protection of interests, and participation in elections). Some of the questions were related to European Identity and people’s attitude towards the European Union.
The questioning process was performed by volunteers Many thanks for the contribution of professionals and volunteers in the Vocational Network for Supporting Community Initiatives, the staff of the Slovakian Center for Community Organising (CKO), and Zsuzsa Hunyadi for her contribution in processing data and figures
in Budapest and in 17 Hungarian counties. The random sample survey was not meant to be fully representative, but, except for the variation of the place of residence, our sample is characterized by nearly representative proportions, which was achieved through post weighting data according to gender, age and education. What could not be corrected was the fact that a large part, perhaps the majority, of questionees were interviewed during the events of the Citizen Participation Week, which means that a significant part of the questioning process was performed in the circle of citizens who were already more active than others.
Since our Slovakian partners have performed the same survey at the same time in similar circumstances and with almost identical questions, in some cases we shall refer to their results in order to give a more demonstrative rendering of our results through comparisons. ’Eight out of every ten citizen of the European Union consider helping others voluntarily as an important aspect of their lives, although only three out of ten are involved in community work’, a recent survey suggests. In Hungary, the proportion of those involved in active community work is about half of the number in the EU.
FigyelőNet, January 2008

Summary

The results of the survey conducted at the end of September 2007 showed an unusually (at least in Hungarian terms) high level of civic/public activity and, at the same time, a rather embryonic state of European identity.
An important and favourable result of the survey was that over two thirds of the questionees do voluntary work regularly, and one third of those considering themselves active do so in more than one areas.
The questionnaires offered a range of selections much wider than usual, which could have influenced (strengthened) the frequency of positive answers. Furthermore, the results also reflect a large proportion of hobby and sports activities, which can only be partly related to public activity.
Through merging the 15 different voluntary activities, we have created several types that could be summarized as follows:

Proportions of activity types in the circle of those performing voluntary work
%
Self-interested activity
39,3
Social help activity
22,7
Activity targeting children and the youth
22,6
Interest promotion
19,1

It can also be concluded that these activities are, in most instances, performed on a regular basis; most of the people concerned perform these activities at least once a month, and 28,1% them do so several times a week.
An important message is unfolded by the information that 26,1% of the questionees doing voluntary work are not active in non-profit organizations or civil organizations, and perform this work in some other form. This means that a large part of voluntary action is performed in a “non-organized” environment. This phenomenon must obviously have strong influence on the agendas of professional organizations dealing with the voluntary sector.
Beyond the characteristics of voluntarism and organizational membership, our sample suggests the conclusion that, in parallel to an increasing level of civic action, the need for a participation-based democracy is also on the increase in Hungary. 44% (!) of those filling out the questionnaire indicated that they had taken part in some public assemblies, forums, demonstrations or filing petitions, with an intention to promote their interests. In comparison with our earlier researches (Public Trust 2005, 2006), this proportion is rather high, and well-exceeded our original expectations. Interestingly, the parallel survey conducted in Slovakia reflected a higher level of involvement in voluntary work and organizational membership, but in Hungary the tools of participatory democracy are more extensively used for promoting people’s interests. Naturally, the new data could be referred to the hectic events in Hungarian politics and public life, indicating that these developments may have contributed to the high level of activity observed in 2007. At the same time, it can be argued that although in 2006 Hungarian society experienced even more elemental shocks, in that year we did not experience such a high level of citizen activity. (Allowing, of course, that the political events were mostly concentrated on the capital, while the survey involved rural areas as well).
Even if these macro-level happenings did exert some influence on the above results, we are inclined to relate the higher level of citizen activity to the changes taking place within civil society, and to an increasing sensibility towards local political issues, which is often linked to a demand of being heard that results from earlier violations of people’s interests.


According to our experiences, the young generations are far less active in the area of voluntary work than adults. It is rather regrettable that less than one fifth of those under-18s who regularly perform voluntary work indicated that they had used the listed democratic tools for expressing their opinion. Less than one third of young adults (18-25 age group) gave a positive answer to the same question. Nevertheless, over half of the middle-aged (36-45 year olds) and above-45 questionees have given account of such practice. These data have confirmed our recent experiences showing that the acquirement of democratic skills is given few conscious opportunities or organized practice during the early years of socialization. On the other hand: from the aspect of a healthily developing society it is indispensable to satisfy the social need for having more goes at passing on democratic skills and tools, while enhancing the democratic experience of the youth. Justifying this is the fact that almost 50% of our sample did not take part in any activities or events for promoting their interests or expressing their opinion during the previous year. The majority of this 50% are members of the younger generations.

This is justified by the fact that almost 50% of questionees have not take part in such events or actions for protecting their interests or making their voice heard during the past one year, and that the majority of them are members of the younger generations.

The analysis of the questionnaires has also shown that the ranges of those participating in public action(s), those active in an organizational framework, and those performing voluntary work for articulating community interests and needs, often overlap with each other. This means, for example, that someone who is active in voluntary work and also a civil organization, will more likely take the initiative or take part in the promotion of community interests as well.

Compared to the national or broader dimensions, the significance of locality can also be measured by the frequency of participation in the election procedure. In the past period, twice as many answerers have voted at local governmental elections than in EU elections, which are considered more distant in terms of validity.
On the other hand, the level of bonding to one’s native soil and place of residence does not follow the same logic. We find it interesting that this sort of emotional relationship does not tend to change linearly when considering its broader and broader levels, with the individual as a starting point. This sort of bonding follows another logic, with stronger and weaker forms of bonding adding up to the final ranking. When asked to mark the answers in relation with which they feel a strong sense of bonding or belonging, the majority of questionees considered belonging to their country and city/township/village as most significant, only then followed by their local neighbourhood and county of residence. With the appearance of new (small regional, regional and European) organizational levels, however, the system of relations dominant in the past period has changed in its framework, which allowed us to assess the present state of relations with the new levels of organization. The sense of belonging to one’s small region is weaker than on the former “traditional” and spatial organizational levels. The sense of belonging to one’s region is even weaker, with the European Union ranked at the very end of the list.
The answers related to identity justify the conclusion that it shall take a long time for citizens to build closer relations with more distant, less comprehensible, developed or familiar institutional systems, and to obtain enough experience to develop a steady foundation for identifying with them to a greater extent.
It is worth noting that although the survey conducted in Slovakia also found that people ranked belonging to their country and place of residence at the first two places, in Slovakia ’belonging to the EU’ was ranking at the third place.
Coming back to the Hungarian results, we find it rather encouraging that people, especially the 12-25 age group, are looking for a stronger bonding with other countries of Europe, mostly in the form of international job experiences and network contacts. Around one third of our sample have considered the option of working abroad, and this is most evident at the 12-15 age group, where 65-70% of questionees have working in the EU among their plans.

The Questions and the Answers

The first question, which investigated public activity, was linked to the issue of voluntary work.
Over two thirds (70%) of the answerers have marked one or more of the 15 areas of voluntary activity specified. Considering our general experience from practice and the results from some comprehensive Hungarian surveys, this can be regarded as an eminently high proportion.



(Links with Voluntary Work
- has been involved in voluntary work (in at least one areas of the 15 specified)
- has not been involved in voluntary work at all
)

When investigating the contents of voluntary activities it came out that the highest proportion of those performing some kind of voluntary activity did so in relation to the elderly (21,5%). Also significant was the percentage of those performing voluntary work related to children and the youth in the environment of educational institutions (17,5%) and a closely related out-of-school environment (10,74%). Further characteristic areas were health care and social work (14,4%), hobby and leisure (13,9%), and sports (13,1%).

For each type of voluntary work, please tick a box to say whether you have performed this type of activity in the past 12 months.
No. of people ticking at least one box (N=3582)

%
Elderly groups (e.g. pensioners’ clubs)
21,5
Non-educational activities of children and youth educational institutions/schools (e.g. parent-teacher associations)
17,5
Health care and social help groups (self-help groups, home visits, elderly care, blood giving, etc.)
14,4
Hobby and amateur groups (arts, culture, leisure, local history, social club, etc.)
13,9
Sports club / association (e.g. as an organizer or trainer)
13,1
Other groups, clubs and associations
12,3
Religious/church activities (e.g. charity work)
11,7
Out-of-school activities for children and the youth (local children and youth government, child welfare, drug prevention, etc.)
10,7
Local residents’ groups (neighbourhood watch, tenant associations, lobby groups)
8,9
Adult education (learning, giving lectures, etc.)
8,4
Environmental and animal groups
8,2
Politics (political parties, movements, local political life)
6,8
Trade unions
3,9
Justice and human rights
3,1
Security and rescue groups
2,5

On the basis of their contents, different voluntary activities were grouped into 4 main types: we tried to link voluntary activities with similar (or related) motivations and contents. The following types were established:
- activities targeting children and the youth,
- interest promotion & lobbying in the locality and the wider range,
- healthcare/social/religious activities, mainly charity,
- ‘self-interested’ activities mostly for developing individual skills and capacities

The 4 types were present in the following proportions:

%
Activities targeting children and the youth
Non-educational activities of children and youth educational institutions/schools (e.g. parent-teacher associations)
17,5
Out-of-school activities for children and the youth (local children and youth government, child welfare, drug prevention, etc.)
10,7
Total number of questionees ticking at least one
22,6
Interest promotion & lobbying
Security and rescue groups
2,5
Environmental and animal groups
8,2
Justice and human rights
3,1
Local residents’ groups (neighbourhood watch, tenant associations, lobby groups)
8,9
Total number of questionees ticking at least one
19,1
Social help
Religious/church activities (e.g. charity work)
11,7
Health care and social help groups (self-help groups, home visits, elderly care, blood giving, etc.)
14,4
Total number of questionees ticking at least one
22,7
Self-interested activities
Sports club / association (e.g. as an organizer or trainer)
13,1
Hobby and amateur groups (arts, culture, leisure, local history, social club, etc.)
13,9
Elderly groups (e.g. pensioners’ clubs)
21,5
Total number of questionees ticking at least one
39,3




It is fully visible (and is a well-known phenomenon in Hungarian non-profit organizational statistics) that the proportion of the sports/hobby/elderly category is extremely high (almost 40%) among those giving account of some sort of voluntary activity. The proportions of those active in the other three areas are similar: around 20% in each of the social ‘work/healthcare/charity work’, ‘children and youth work’, and ‘interest promotion’ categories.
The latter category could have been further strengthened by the 3,9% of trade union activities, but we were too cautious to regard this movement, and the role it fulfils in today’s Hungary, as independent, civic, or one that serves the promotion of interests.

Comparing Hungarian data with the Slovakian results, it strikes the eye that the Slovakian sample has given account of an even higher proportion of voluntary activities than the Hungarian one: almost twice as many people perform activities targeting children and youth; over twice as many perform social help activities; and around three times as many perform voluntary activities related to interest protection and lobbying. Similarly high (even in comparison with the seemingly outsanding Hungarian results) is the level of participation in non-profit organizations (see detailed account later on).

Regarding gender it can be said that men are mostly active in sports, (relatively) in politics, and in local residents’ groups, while women are more active in health care and social help.

Involvement in voluntary work is also strongly divided by age. It is obvious that the level of involvement increases together with age: while around 80% of above-36s perform some sort of voluntary work, only around 50% of under-25s follow the pattern. At a closer look: the children/youth area it is evidently dominated by the stakeholders (26-45 age group who are likely to have children of such age); while the majority of those active in the religious/political/health care/social help area are members of the above-45 age group. At this point, we must again refer to the fact that a much more deliberate investment of social capital would be required in Hungarian practice, especially with regards to the younger generations. The data we have obtained confirms that there is a striking lack of national and local programmes that promote community socialization at an early age and provide younger generations with genuine community experiences.

As for education, it is apparent that people with a low level of education (less than 8 elementary classes) and people with a higher-educational degree are most active in voluntary work. This statement is also justified by the fact that, in the range of environmental and ecologist organizations, people with a low level of education (15,6%) and people with a higher-educational degree (15,2%) seem to be most active. The adult education and health care/social help areas involve an outstandingly high proportion of people with a higher-educational degree

Regarding the categorization by the size of the answerers’ place of residence, it must be noted that sports activities are mostly performed in rural areas (local communities with less than 5,000 inhabitants, and 5,000-30,000 inhabitants), while environmental and legal protection, and the involvement in local residents’ groups, is more chracteristic of people living in Budapest, the capital city. Residents’ campaigns and protests related to the violation of people’s interest are more typical in Budapest and other big cities, which may be of some explanation to the previous statement.


It is also to be noted that almost one third (32%) of the questionees marked more than one areas in which they performed voluntary work during the previous 1 year. This was especially true of above-36s and those with a higher-degree.


In case you participated in any of the above activities during the past 12 months, how often have you done so? (If you did more than one activities, think of the one you have done most frequently!)
.
Percentage in entire sample
Percentage of those performing voluntary work
(N=1998)
Several times a week
16,0
28,1
Once or twice a month
17,0
27,9
Severak times a year
7,1
10,8
Occasionally
16,3
24,2
Other
2,3
4,1
I don’t know, no answer
1,6
4,9
Does not participate at all
39,7
-
Total
100
100

Over half of those performing voluntary work do so at least once a month, and almost one third of them do so several times a week.

In the following part, we inquired about people’s involvement in classical non-profit organizations: associations and foundations.


In the past 12 months, have you been involved in the work of an association or foundation?



(KÉP: Have you been involved in the work of an association or foundation?
- Yes, in an organization
- Yes, in several organizations
- No
- I don’t know
- No answer)


33,9 % of our sample have been active in one organization and 12,7% in several organizations during the previous 12 months. 74,3% of those giving a positive answer have been involved as members or activists, and 22,3% as founders or leaders.

We were also curious about the overlap between the circle of people performing voluntary work and the membership of classic non-profit organizations, that is, the extent to which voluntary work is performed in organizational frameworks.

Kíváncsiak voltunk az önkéntes munkát végzők és a klasszikus nonprofit szervezetben tagságival rendelkezők közötti átfedésre, azaz arra, hogy milyen arányban jellemző az önkéntes munka szervezeti keretek közti végzése.

The proportion of those active in voluntary work and/or in associations/foundations (considering all sorts of voluntary work)

%
I have been involved in voluntary work
26,1
I have been involved in the work of an association/foundation
2,9
I have been involved in both voluntary work and the work of an association/foundation
43,7
I have not been involved at all
27,3
Total
100,0

Although the proportion of those active in both voluntary work and organizational work is rather high (43,7 %), this number is reduced by 10 percent (33,5%) if the so-called ‘self-interested’ volunteers (who perform sports and other leisure activities) are filtered out. It is important to point out that over a quarter (26,1 %) of questionees have noted that they perform this kind of work outside the framework of non-profit organizations. This may be a new important viewpoint for professionals working in the Hungarian non-profit sector, as this form of voluntary work needs to be supported through different professional activities and methods.

As already indicated in the Introduction, our surveys conducted in similar circumstances during the preceeding two years also included questions for assessing the level of people’s involvement in interest promotion/lobbying. The present questionnare also contained this kind of inquiry:

In the past 12 months, have you participated in any of the following: a student meeting, a village assembly, a public hearing, a meeting of local elected members, a tenants’/owners’ assembly, some kind of demonstration, protest, or filing a petition?.

%
Yes
44,0
No
42,7
I don’t remember
6,3
No answer
7,0
Total
100,0

A very high proportion of questionees (44%) have participated in some kind of action targeting the promotion of community interests, with a similar proportion (42,7%) staying out of such sort of activities. Also, it is interesting to look at the details in the answers given to this question: over half of the middle-aged and aged questionees gave a positive answer to this question, while only a much smaller proportion of young people have engaged in such sort of activity during the previous 1 year. Also prominent is the high level of activity in the circle of people with a higher-educational degree. It is also interesting that the employment of such techniques and instruments is most frequent in local communities with less than 5,000 inhabitants and in Budapest, the capital city.

While people in the Slovakian sample have demonstrated a much higher level of involvement in voluntary work and organizational membership than people in the Hungarian one, in the area of interest promotion/lobbying there is an opposite kind of polarization: half as many Slovakians are involved in such sort of activities than Hungarians. One of the reasons for this may be the political atmosphere created by the events that have taken place in Hungary during the last 1-2 years.

The following table shows the collective relations of answers given to 3 of our questions. This can be interesting because a collective occurrence can greatly improve the chance of a succesful public/community action, and/or because people who gave positive answers in several interrelated areas may be more committed to change. In this case, the most strongly represented voluntary activity in our survey (hobby, sports, pensioners’ clubs) has been taken out of the ‘collection’, thus narrowing down the proportion of voluntary work, yet complementing it with other types of activities with (potential) public/political contents.

Relations between the involvement in public actions and the group of people performing voluntary work in the area of interest promotion and/or in an organizational framework

%
I have been involved in public actions and the work of an association/foundation
27,9
I have been involved in public actions and voluntary work related to interest promotion
11,2
I have been involved in public actions and the work of an association/foundation and voluntary work related to interest promotion (all three)
8,7
I have been involved in public actions and/or the work of an association/ foundation and/or voluntary work related to interest promotion (done at least one of the three)
66,1


As suggested above, several versions of the collective occurrence of the three kind of activies are possible. According to the data, public action (involvement in a student meeting, a village assembly, a public hearing, a meeting of local elected members, a tenants’/owners’ assembly, some kind of demonstration, protest, or filing a petition) is most often paired up with formal non-governmental organizations (28%). The proprtion of those involved in interest promotion-related voluntary work and public actions is 11,2%; and the collective occurrence of all the three activities characterized 8,7 % of questionees. Obviously, the latter is the most determined and promising behaviour, yet it is evident that the collective occurrence of the three variables requires a particularly conscious public or political commitment/involvement.
Nevertheless, the interlinking of the three types of activities is rather remarkable in the respect of how often at least one of the variables is present. A 2/3 (66,1%) proportion indicates an outstanding activity potential.

The level of participation in elections indicates a minimum level in the interest towards public life, the usage of democratic tools, and the level of expressing opinions. The data from the last elections were no surprise for us. We expected that a more palpable local public/political life can still make the impression that we can exert some kind of influence on the things taking place in our environment, and that in a well-perceivable environment people are more aware of the significance and possible outcomes of their own moves; accordingly, twice as many questionees have been active in local elections than in European elections, which are regarded as more distant.

Have you voted in the following elections?

%
YesNoI did not have the vote yetNo answerTotal
Local governmental elections
72
17
6
5
100
General elections
62
20
6
11
100
European Parliament elections
37
33
7
23
100

Our research has had the deliberate purpose of learning about people’s relations with European identity. The following questions investigated this aspect principally.

In the past 12 months, have you been involed in international youth or community work within the European Union? (workcamp, international volunteer programme, exchanges, programmes of twin citites, cross-border co-operation, international projects, etc.)

%
Yes
9,0
No
85,0
No answer
6,0
Total
100,0

The proportion of ‘Yes’ responses given to this question was 9%. Most positive answers came from the circle of 26-35 year olds and people with a higher-educational qualification. From a geographical point of view, the proportion of people from the County of Győr-Moson-Sopron was outstandingly high (almost 30%) among those giving a yes response to this question.
Connected to this question is some data showing that only 3,6% of questionees have indicated that they are involved in some European network or dicussion group.
The following question was investigating whether questionees were planning to find a job in another European country in the near or distant future. The proportion of definite ‘Yes’ responses was 9,7 %, while 19,2% have given a little bit more uncertain, but positive answer (‘One day I’d like to do it’) to this question. The two types of positive answers (‘Yes’, ‘One day I’d like to do it’) characterized almost one third of the answerers, while the proportion of those definitely refusing the idea (‘I’m ceartanly not’) was 44,7%. Young men under 35 were perceptibly more resolute in giving a positive answer to this question.

There is a connection between community work performed in the EU and the ambitions to find a job abroad: a significant part (43,5%) of those who have already been involved in some sort of community activity (and had a chance to get to know this sphere) would be ready to take a job in the EU now or in the near future. Only 28,2% of those who have never performed such an activity (and probably lack adequate connections and information about this sphere) were planning to make such a move.

In order to investigate the context of local and global identities, the questionees were finally asked to evaluate the extent to which they feel they belong to their local neighbourhood.

How strong do you feel you belong to the following?

Average of 1-10
Your country
7,7
Your village or town/city
7,5
Your neighbourhood
6,3
Your county
6,2
Your small region
5,8
Your region
5,6
The European Union
4,9

The answers were located between 4,9 and 6,3 average points. Two dimensions of belonging were empasized: belonging to one’s country (7,7 points) and belonging to one’s village or town/city (7,5 points). Hence, ‘the power dimensions of belonging’: country, village/town/city, neighborhood, county, small region, region, and European Union. Obviously, the rate does not change along the increase of distance. (Please note that the results of the Slovakian survey had belonging to the EU at the third place, right after country and village/town/city.)

The sense of belonging is slowly growing together with age, and this is true of all the types of belonging. It can also be said that belonging to the closest locality, the neighborhood, or one’s village or town is stronger in local communities with fewer inhabitants. The sense of belonging to a locality gradually decreases as the number of local residents grows.


The last question concerned future plans and inquired whether questionees were planning to work in some kind of community enterprise, non-profit organization, or the newly introduced social co-operative form. It is remarkable that 20,1% of the questionees gave a ‘Yes’ response to this question, while 75,3% refused the idea altogether by giving a ‘No’ answer.
This report written by: Ferenc Péterfi
Community Development
Professional


Sponsors of the Citizen Participation Week:

Co-financed by the European Union within the programme "Europe for Citizens" 2007 – 2013.