A project co-financed by the CEI Cooperation Fund
Project promotion: The Slovene Research Institute (SLORI)
Project management: Dr Zaira Vidau
Collaborator: Dr Devan Jagodic
Project implementation period: 2016
This international conference took place in the main auditorium of the Narodni dom in Trieste on Friday, 17 June 2016 and focused on political participation and self-governance models of ethnic minorities in CEI member states. The topics of discussion were the following: political representation models of ethnic minorities in electoral bodies and models governing the separation of powers; consultation mechanisms used by ethnic minorities; self-governance models of ethnic minorities, including political and civil society organisations; the involvement of minorities in cross-border cooperation policies and programmes. The conference saw the participation of representatives of academic institutions, research institutes and ethnic minorities from ten CEI countries: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Serbia. This event was an opportunity to carry out a review and a joint assessment of the state of affairs in relation to the focus topics and exchange best practices. Particular focus was given to the transfer of such practices from EU member states to non-member states with a view to encouraging non-member states to join the EU.
The conference was sponsored by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Autonomous Region, the Municipality of Trieste, the Province of Trieste, the General Consulate of the Republic of Slovenia in Trieste, the Slovenian Cultural and Economic Union (SKGZ) and the Confederation of Slovene Organisations (SSO). The event also received funding from the bank ZKB – Zadružna kraška banka.