ETP Slovakia is one of the 8 candidates for the Civil Society Prize

Since 2006 the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)  has been awarding  the Civil Society Prize that rewards and supports initiatives of organizations and/or individuals who contribute significantly to the promotion of European identity and integration that operates at local, regional, national or European level.

ETP Slovakia was chosen as one of the 8 finalists of whom three will be awarded with the prize money totaling 30,000 euros. The winners will be awarded on Oct. 16, 2014 in Brussels.

This year’s theme of the Civil Society Prize is Integration of Roma. ETP Slovakia was nominated for the Prize by two members of the Nomination Committee and was one of 81 very strong candidates from across the European Union.

We are very pleased that our project Building Hope that focuses on self-help construction of low-cost houses was assessed by the European Economic and Social Committee to be innovative and effective in improving the social inclusion of Roma minority.

For supporting our Building Hope Project please visit web portal dobrakrajina.sk where you can make donation that will help us to develop the project further.

Self-help house construction project shows young families from marginalized Roma communities a way to help themselves, as well as the community in which they live. It is a model of self-help construction that requires client’s investment and assumption of full responsibility for the results of construction. The client invests into construction not only money which he saved up but also his own work and time.

The piloting project Building Hope has already brought a number of positive results –it has not only changed the living conditions of owners of new houses, but it also changed their way of thinking.

If you are interested in self-help house construction, watch our video:

After the success of the piloting project we have embarked on further implementation self-help construction model in Rankovce. This time there are 9 participants in the project who have already started with the groundwork. From the money that they had been saving for 12 months, they paid for the land on which their new houses will stand.

More information about the Civil Society Price, as well as about the finalists can be read at www.eesc.europa.eu.