ESC: Bringing Europe to life in Lyon

The Regional Union of Local Actors of Europe in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (URALE) is a non-governmental grouping of organisations of civil society which works in the field of the social economy. URALE is supported and recognized by the Region as a partner acting for the benefit of citizens. URALE is a group of legal entities whose purpose is to bring together local actors from Europe in the region to enable them, through exchange and coordination, to optimize their means for the design and implementation of information campaigns, education and training in European citizenship, separately or jointly. It brings together 15 European associations, including 5 European Houses (“Maisons de l'Europe”), scattered over the regional territory. In addition, URALE manages 2 Europe Direct labels in the region (that of Lyon and Drôme-Ardèche), which helps to provide assistance to other local European structures and to bring the concept of Europe closer to the citizens of the region. The association aims to facilitate the pooling of the resources of many European organisations and the realization of common activities with a regional emphasis to be more effective for the benefit of citizens. By involving local authorities, it responds to the lack of knowledge of elected officials regarding the European Union and to the local authorities’ need to more easily identify potential interlocutors in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.