ECCAR WORKING GROUPS

ECCAR WORKING GROUPS

Facilitating bottom-up good practice exchange between ECCAR member cities

What is a Working Group?

The ECCAR working groups are a fundamental part of the thematic work of our network and support a better mutual understanding. They give the Coalition the possibility to benefit from synergies, intensifying the exchange of knowledge and good practices between member cities and enabling peer-to-peer learning structures.

ECCAR working groups are built bottom-up based on the needs of the member cites. The continuous exchange of good practices and an in-depth study of specific topics are of great benefit not only to the participants of the working groups, but also to all cities and the network itself. Therefore, working groups share a short report about their process and outcomes during the annually ECCAR General Assembly.

 

How can your city start a Working Group?

The proposal to set up a working group can be made by any city of the network both during an official meeting (SC, GA, GC) but also at any time through a direct communication to the ECCAR office.

The proposal must be made by (at least) three cities in at least two countries. The working group is automatically constituted by notifying the office, and the office notifies all other cities that may wish to participate, taking care to provide the leading city and contact details in order to establish effective communication. Of course also one city can approach the office with an idea for a working group and the office will send the request to the other ECCAR cities.

If only one or two cities want to propose a working group, they have the possibility to do so, but only when the number of participants reaches the minimum of three, they will officially become an ECCAR working group. A special section on the ECCAR website informs about the existence of the working groups, their member cities and the contact persons of the lead cities.

Cities may decide to join a working group at any time by notifying the city that holds the chair and the office (which will also update the list of components on the network's website). Civil society associations or other networks of interest may also participate in working groups. The working groups decide for themselves how often they meet and if they want to meet online or offline.

The working groups do not constitute an additional expense for the annual budget of the network for its own meetings, but if there are specific project ideas that need funding, the working groups can approach the ECCAR board.

To facilitate constant knowledge exchange between the working groups and the rest of the network, the working groups shall give a brief report on their work at the annual General Assembly. The report is approved by the assembly and will be shared on the network’s website and the ECCAR social media networks. Each year, during the General Assembly, the working groups shall indicate whether they consider their work completed or whether they intend to continue it in the following year.


An ECCAR working group should be output-oriented and create learning opportunities for the ECCAR network as a whole. Thereby the outputs can look different depending on the specific needs and ideas of the working groups. Examples could be: policy papers, online seminars, panel discussions, guidelines for specific topics, peer-to peer learning formats. The ECCAR office can be approached to support the working groups in finding the most suitable output for their work.

You want to get to know the work of other cities on a specific area of the fight against racism? You are stuck in a project and in need of other perspectives? You just finished a project successfully and want to give others the opportunity to learn from your work? You are curious to learn from other cities? You want to get inspired by the work of others? You want to get feedback about your own work? – Start a Working Group!

 

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