EMPOWERING ROMA COMMUNITIES IN THE EU GREEN DEAL
EMPOWERING ROMA COMMUNITIES IN THE EU GREEN DEAL
Title: Empowering Roma Communities in the EU Green Deal
Countries of implementation: Slovakia and Hungary
Programme: European Climate Initiative (EUKI) under the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK)
Lead partner: FSES UK
Lead partner: RESDI - Roma Environmental and Sustainable Development Initiative, Hiszako Indie, UNEP Vienna Office Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention (associate partner)
FSES Principal Investigator: Jakub Csabay
FSES Research Team: Jakub Csabay, Andrea Figulová, Kristína Rankovová, Lucia Mokrá, Rudolf Škovira, Donald Wertlen, Martin Hochel, Kristína Grejtáková, Juraj Turan
Implementation period: 12/2024-11/2026
Total cost: 498,434.20 €
Project Webpages:
https://www.euki.de/en/euki-projects/empowering-roma-communities-in-the-green-deal/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/euki/
https://www.facebook.com/EUKIClimate/
About the project:
ENG: This project supports the participation of marginalised Roma communities (MRCs) in Central Europe’s green transition via research and bottom-up sustainable social innovation. It aims to provide MRCs from five pilot localities in Hungary and Slovakia equitable access to resources and opportunities via a holistic approach to sustainable development building on five core components: capacity building and municipal planning; innovative solutions; research; education; and network building and advocacy. Key activities include the development of Municipal Strategies for Sustainable Development through participatory methods and technical assistance (e.g., pilot energy audits for social housing); participatory development of locally grounded social innovations (i.e., local energy social enterprises based on comprehensive business plans, energy effectiveness measures or development of locally grounded nature-based solutions); research and education activities and establishment of an Aarhus Platform for Roma Communities; and communication of outputs to local, national, and regional stakeholders.
As part of the research project, the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University Bratislava, aims to bridge the gap between the EU’s Green Transition and Roma inclusion policies, whilst building upon the work of relevant NGOs and national environmental strategies in Hungary and Slovakia. It does so via a five-pronged approach undertaken across five pilot municipalities in both countries through: 1) capacity building and municipal planning supported by the creation of Municipal Strategies for Sustainable Development; 2) the generation of innovative sustainable solutions specific to each municipality (e.g. creation of local energy social enterprises based on comprehensive business plans to boost sustainable employment activities that address energy poverty or the development of nature-based solutions such as planting willow along river beds in flood-prone municipalities); 3) action teaching and learning for the sustainable development of MRCs (including the development of environmental syllabi in municipal schools, the launch of a national student competition, and the design of a university course on the participation of Roma and marginalised groups in Europe’s green transition); 4) interdisciplinary research to inform public policy; and 5) network building and advocacy at the local, national, and supranational level through the creation of an Aarhus Platform for Roma Communities.
This project is part of the European Climate Initiative (EUKI) of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).
The views expressed in this project are the sole responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK).
