We live in Lugo, we are Europe - 13Testi22253

As a public administration that governs a wide territory, the Lugo Provincial Council has executed projects co-financed by the European Union for more than 20 years. Programs such as EQUAL, FEDER, FSE, LIFE, INTERREG, LEADER and LEONARDO, among others, contributed to strengthening our territorial cohesion, rural and environmental regeneration, and to promoting the social welfare of our citizens. In recent years we have also opted for initiatives that favour the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Additionally, we have participated in the last three editions of the Week of Regions and Cities: in 2019 we participated as attendees in Brussels, in 2020 we lead a workshop, and in 2021 we participated through a testimonial video.

During the 2020 and 2021 editions we talked about our network of public care centres for older people. It is a public management model, in proximity to the clients' place of residence, that focuses on quality of care and which puts people at the centre, promotes well-being, active ageing and quality of life. It offers older people and their families piece of mind without removing them from their environment. Additionally, it generates economic return in rural areas, as it creates sustainable employment and contributes to population growth. The effectiveness of this management model – which has already been corroborated at local and internal level by the experiences of users, family members and professionals – was reinforced by participating in the EURegionsWeek.

Participating in the EURegionsWeek introduced our project to the world, receiving very positive feedback from other national and European organisations interested in this management model, especially after discovering that this work can be extrapolated to any rural territory in the European Union. Due to a purely physical and demographic issue, our territory is far from the centres of power as it is located in the westernmost tip of Europe.

In our testimonial we want to show how participating in the EURegionsWeek allows us to feel more European, to demonstrate new public management practices, and to maximise the reach of our initiatives. The magic of this event allows the voices of small territories with a lot to offer – and which are very close to citizens – be heard throughout the European Union.