The aim of the project was first to work directly with families on common values, such as coexistence, social inclusion and civic participation, in order to achieve safer European towns and cities, in cooperation with schools and local authorities. We have pursued through citizen participation: Parents' Associations, Neighbourhood Associations and Youth Associations and other institutions in the four partner cities, working together to create strong, stable families, which we have considered the basic principle to achieve children with higher levels of well-being and more positive academic results. We started by bringing together all the representatives of the families within the partnership and creating in them a spirit of European citizenship and coexistence. At first, we wanted to do it face to face, but the pandemic forced us to do it virtually through the TEAMS platform where we have created two types of access, one for partners and the other for families and non-formal associations. Although we knew that our main target were the families, we never lost sight of the need to work with the direct surroundings of the children, such as the schools they go to. The partners in each country have visited these centres several times and we have organised informative meetings with the management teams and the Coexistence coordinators. The third level of scope of this project was to work with the municipality or city in which they live, because individuals are sociable by nature and relate to and interact with other people on a local basis. This work began with the non-formal associations of the project, other associations or NGOs, neighbourhood associations, etc. Thus, the third element in which these families live, the villages or towns, came into action as part of the project. This was an ambitious process and for this reason, once the social fabric of citizen participation was created, a great effort was made to find legal and regulatory channels to support these channels of participation, which is why it was necessary to approach the leaders of each of the cities. The support of the city councils of Vienna and Villamayor (the latter was also the legal representative of the project) and of the Provincial Director of Education of Salamanca, who was present at the opening of the Villamayor training course, was requested. In the city of Carlisle (UK) we were lucky enough to count on the support of the Head of the region of Cumbria to the extent that he attended the family training course held in Villamayor. In the city of Volos (Greece) we obtained the support of the president of the Region of Magnesia, who was also so involved that she attended the meetings in Villamayor and Vienna, participating actively in both. All this institutional support allowed us to create one of the goals sought with the creation of the Sectoral Council: to strengthen the sensitive links between organisations active in education (Parents' Associations and schools) and society in general at local level, with the aim of allowing this good practice to become a mirror in which other European towns and cities can look into when they seek good coexistence among their people. This great work carried out over two long years has led to educated and active families who are moving towards good coexistence, working side by side with the schools, but with the support of the local authorities who will create the necessary legal mechanisms to create the bodies for citizen participation that will give kudos the efforts of families and neighbours in the fight against violence. This consortium, working with an active methodology based on work and evaluation by skills, using Google forms sent to the stakeholders, has created a real school for families in both virtual and face-to-face formats, at the service of all the families of the consortium and other European families who can access through the web portal www.safecityplan.eu or the SAFECITYPLAN APP in both IOS and Android formats. A "SCHOOL FOR FAMILIES" to train parents in their natural functions that surpass any other known activity in terms of relevance, time, effort and dedication, and yet there is no formal training to prepare them. Finally, we have produced a guide called " Coexistence Plan promoting safe municipalities and cities" which explains in a visual and didactic way how to use each of the resources of the SAFECITYPLAN School for Families.
The aim of the project was to work directly with families on common values such as coexistence, social inclusion and civic participation in order to achieve safer European cities and municipalities in collaboration with schools and local authorities. Therefore, it was necessary to approach the leaders of each community: we had the support of the Town Councils of Villamayor and Vienna, the Provincial Directorate of Education of Salamanca, the governor of the Region of Cumbria and the President of the Region of Magnesia who supported us with their presence at the training course in Spain. All this institutional support enabled us to achieve one of our goals, the creation of the Sectoral Council for Coexistence to strengthen the sensitive links between organisations active in education (parents' associations and schools) and society in general at a local level, creating a real family school to serve as a mirror for other European localities seeking good coexistence among their inhabitants. Despite the pandemic, we have achieved educated and active families focused on the fight against violence.
Why did you apply for this project? ¿Which needs have been addressed? This project was requested because in Europe today, 30% of all problems of coexistence in schools are cases of bullying, insults and false accusations by families. The consortium had worked a few years ago on school safety and felt the need to address citizen safety. Together with non-formal partners, parents' association and schools, the consortium addressed the need to train parents who have responsibilities beyond any other known activity in terms of relevance, time, effort and dedication. However, there is no formal training that prepares them for this role. This is why we have created a real school for families, in both virtual and face-to-face formats, at the service of the consortium and other European families, which can be accessed through the web www.safecityplan.eu or the Safecityplan APP in IOS and Android formats. To facilitate access to this battery of resources, we have prepared the guide " Coexistence Plan promoting safe municipalities and cities” which explains in a clear, visual way how to use each of the resources of the SAFECITYPLAN School for Families.