Active Citizens is a global network of community leaders that is being developed by the British Council and local civil society partners in participating countries. The goal is to build understanding and trust between communities by establishing an enduring global network of community leaders, who can work together to address the global issues of the 21st century. Active Citizens uses international cultural relations to help tackle the major challenges facing communities.

These include issues arising from differences in race, religion or culture, access to sustainable livelihoods, environmental pollution and protection, health and educational opportunities, democratic participation, social exclusion and opportunities for women. Find out more about Active Citizens on our global website.

We work with civil society organizations in a number of ways. To enhance their capacity to play a part in democratic processes in terms of lobbying and policy dialogue representing citizens' interests, to develop their capacity to deliver services either on behalf of government or others and to work for the benefit of under-represented or over-looked sections of society to promote community cohesion.

In 2010–11, the Project was implemented in Egypt in three communities, Cairo, Fayoum and Alexandria through our partners:

• The Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women (ADEW)
• Etijah (Youth and Development Consultancy Institute)
• The Egyptian Cognitive Development Center.

The programme has three main phases – local training, social action and international networking.

Active Citizens 2011–12 is implemented in Egypt in four Governorates: Cairo , Beni Soueif, El-Menia and Alexandria through our partners:

• The Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women (ADEW)
• The Egyptian Cognitive Development Center.

Target areas are the most impoverished in Cairo slums and among the villages of Beni Soueif and Menia. In addition to targeting the students in Universities in Cairo and Helwan.

Read about the experience of one of the Media workshops participants, Yousra ElSharkawy

Tunisia

About 60 Tunisian candidates attended a participatory selection day
on 26 May 2009 at the Tunisian Scouts headquarters in Tunis.
Mr Ali Fathallah, General Commissioner of the Tunisian Scouts,
Dr Ridha Kammoun, President of the Tunisian Association Against Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV/AIDS- Tunis section and
Mr Peter Skelton, British Council Director made opening speeches and welcomed participants who were invited to take part in different activities and pair work. At the end of the session, the lead facilitator and the LICD Project Coordinator in Tunisia conducted one-to-one interviews and selected 33 participants from different backgrounds and from various governorates around the country to attend the three scheduled training modules.  

The first module ran from the 1 to 4 July 2009 and dealt with systems and active networks for positive change.

The second module: Leadership Insights for Peer Support Networks and Active Networks for Positive Change run from 30 September to 3 October 2009.

In this module participants had the opportunity to meet with Scottish Participants who attended Module 2 across the region. Module 2 honoured and celebrated Arab and UK Identities and identify assets for meeting challenges in the communities. Module 2 is designed to encourage participants to think positively about their countries and to strengthen links and connections between the participants in Tunisia and Scotland.

The British Council organised the second module of the LICD project from 30 September to 3 October 2009 in Monastir.

This LICD second module was designed to encourage participants to think positively about their countries and strengthen links and connections between the participants in Tunisia and the UK.

One of the Scottish participants, Pat Elsemie said “The Tunisian performance entertained and informed, while our Scottish efforts challenged everyone's co-ordination skills and aerobic capacity. It was quite a sight seeing so many different national costumes whirling and reeling in the Strip the Willow country dance! Needless to say, lots of laughs were shared by all. We left behind the CD of Scottish music and fully expect all Tunisian colleagues to re-enact the dances during Module 3!”

As for the Tunisian participant, Zied Touzani, he added “The second project module of the LICD project was more interactive and more efficient than the first one. Indeed, we applied the theoretical methods and techniques discussed in module 1 such as the "system thinking”. Thanks to interaction with Scottish participants, we also acquired new philosophies such as "exploring identities and utilising the magic of difference" to learn from each other and combat stereotypes”

It was an opportunity to build on and practice the use of Noticing, Naming, Reframing and Questioning to interact with community leaders, reflect on future activities and share insights on facilitating positive change in the community.

The third module : Ready for Creative Community Engagement took place from 16 to 19 December 2009

In this module, all 31 participants who were selected from different Tunisian associations and NGOs and who attended the first and second module were equipped with the necessary tools, learning partners and opportunities to develop sustainable networks for active participation in community development.

During this module, participants from different associations shared with each other some of the new things learned during the Twinning Exercise. The Twinning Exercise is an exchange visit between participants from different associations. These visits  helped them practice their skills for facilitating learning and change in others.

The participants learnt about the structure of the community projects. British Council invited participants to clarify their own procedures (technical and financial), assist them to come up with ideas and apply the interaction concepts and tools for serving their community. Their project proposals will be conducted and financed by the British Council and partner organisations.

Throughout the programme, participants were members of a network (facebook), in order to stay in touch with fellow participants, share knowledge and access information.

This module was led by two in-country facilitators from our partner organisations and one Egyptian.

For more information on the project, and if you would like to be part of the project and its three components (InterAction training programme, Community Development Projects, and/or Café Society) and its network. please contact ines.zaibi@tn.britishcouncil.org