As far back as 1909, Barcelona hosted Spain's first anti-bullfighting protest, and in 2004 more than 80 per cent of Catalans were opposed to the practice. The civil society Platform Prou (Stop!) formed by animal protection activists had presented the Initiative Legislative Popular that had received the important support of personnalities such as the Dalai Lama. Now the initiative has been adopted by the Catalan Parliament, a great achievement for a vibrant civil society.
News
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Ramon Margalef Prize goes to North American ecologist Simon A. Levin
The Government of Catalonia has decided to award this year's Premi -Award, Prize- Ramon Margalef in Ecology to North American Simon A. Levin, a leading mathematical biologist and specialist in the use of mathematical modelling and empirical studies in the understanding of macroscopic patterns of ecosystems and biological diversities.
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The Parliament of Catalonia approves the 2011-2014 Cooperation Plan
The plan is the roadmap of the Government on development cooperation that provides the principles, values, geographic priorities and strategic objectives. The new plan concentrates the aid geographically and by sector, it strengthens the participation of different Catalan cooperation cooperation and also strengthens the mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation. It is expected that in 2015 the Catalan government will contribute 0.07 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for development cooperation.
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Make your stay in Catalonia meaningful: Banc dels Aliments Foundation is looking for 3800 volunteers
In Catalonia, 20% of the population lives on less than 60% of the minimum wage and more than 500,000 people do not reach 40% of this salary. There are now more than a million hungry people and in a few years the poverty rate has doubled. This situation means that every day the food banks receive more requests for food assistance.
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OTAN Summit Lisboa November 2010
At the next NATO summit meeting in Lisbon from November 19th to 21st 2010, the new NATO strategy will be adopted. The NATO concept from Washington 1999 will be newly formulated. It should be more than a further development of it. The new strategy should “lead NATO through the uneasy and dangerous times at the beginning of the 21st century”, as formulated in the contract for the development of the new strategy at the summit of heads of states and governments in Strasbourg in April 2009.
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About Spanish deportees in the nazi camps
On 7 and 8 September a conference in Berlin will address the fate of the Spanish and Catalan people who fell into Nazi’s hand in 1940 after crossing to France to escape Franco’s regime. This is an initiative of the Memorial Democràtic of Catalonia created in 2007 with the support of the European Commission. At the end of the Spanish Civil War, hundreds of thousands of Spaniards fled from Franco’s repression by crossing over to France. There, they were sent to internment camps. Thousands of these men joined the Compagnies de travailleurs étrangers (Companies of Foreign Workers), many of which were responsible for building defense structures in the northeast of France.
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Spain cancels Haiti debt
Following the earthquake in Haiti, Catalan social organitzacions and 82 townships had requested the Government to cancel Haiti’s debt without conditions. The Govern has now decided the cancellation. A good new!
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Peace Bag for Euromed Youth
18 EuroMed Organisations have met in Alexandria from 10 to 16 July for the 3rd Phase of Peace Bag for Euromed Youth. This is a long-term project of the Anna Lindh Foundation and Fundació Catalunya Voluntària that aims at creating a toolkit for youth organizatons about different ways to incorporate peace and intercultural dimension in youth work.
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10:10 campaign in Catalonia and Spain
It is a global campaign to cut carbon by 10% a year starting in 2010. The campaign that follows the results of Copenhaguen and consider 2010 as a key year in the fight against global warming is now arriving in Catalonia and Spain through the work of two organizations based in Barcelona: 350Barcelona and Eco-union.
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European campaign against child poverty
The "End child poverty now!" campaign has been launched in the European Union countries by organizations working with children facing poverty or social exclusion. The FEDAIA, the federation of Catalan organizations working with homeless children and young people or at risk of social exclusion and Eurochild, the European network of organizations working for children, have asked this week to the Spanish and Catalan political leaders to join the campaign.
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Campaign: 'Put a roof over Barcelona'
In the context of the year 2010, which marks the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, Fundació Arrels, based in Barcelona launches a campaign to raise awareness on the situation of the more than 2000 homeless in the city and to help «Put a roof over Barcelona».
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Catalan Office for Climate change: new website
The mission of the Catalan Office for Climate Change is to introduce policies for fighting climate change so as to mitigate its effects and seek the most appropriate means of adaptation. Likewise its role is to contribute to the fulfilment of the Spanish Kyoto Protocol objectives. Now you can learn more about its work and climate change in Catalonia through a new climate change portal.
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Barcelona MarrocFest
From 14 to June 20 took place in Barcelona MarrocFest, a program of cultural exchange activities between the Moroccan community and the rest of Catalan society. This initiative has been designed as a sample of everything that Moroccan and Catalans have in common and want to share.
