ESC: Eco-Ambassadors of European Values

The House of Europe Bordeaux-Aquitaine (MEBA) was created in 2009 at the initiative of all the territorial authorities, namely the City of Bordeaux, the Bordeaux Metropolis, the Gironde Department and the New-Aquitaine Region, thus proving the strength of all the local institutions' commitment to a common idea of Europe. An association governed by the law of 1901, it is at the same time a resource center on Europe, an incubator of European projects and a place where citizens come to debate on Europe-related topics. The MEBA had very quickly become an essential place for meetings and exchanges with the public, especially through numerous events bringing together, according to the time and the subjects, people of all ages and all horizons. Like all associations under the French law of 1901, its governance is ensured by a board of directors, which represents the founding territorial authorities, the legal entities and the individual members. An office emanating from this board of directors, composed of a president, a treasurer and a secretary general, ensures the executive management of the association. An ordinary general assembly is held every year in June and an elective general assembly once every three years. The MEBA’s objectives, as they appear in the article 2 of its statutes are: • To promote the "process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe" (Article 1 of the TEU) by working to a better understanding of European cultures in their diversity • To build the unity of Europe by contributing to a better understanding of its values, institutions, and policies by the citizens • To explain, help to create and/or strengthen an active European citizenship • To make Europe concrete in the daily life of every citizen • To offer activities strengthening the European citizenship and to bring together the European cultural actors in Bordeaux and the region of New-Aquitaine. The MEBA’s activities are linked to the above-mentioned objectives. They can be categorized as follows: * Firstly, the interventions we make in cooperation with our 192 partners, mainly schools, youth centres or sports clubs, via the ‘Ambassadors of European and Olympic values’ scheme, which is only made possible by our participation in the ESC programme. * Secondly, the in situ programme called "the European season", offering year-round conferences, debates, projections, exhibitions, language cafés, literary cafés and concerts completely free and open to the general public. * Thirdly, the ‘Festival of Europe’ taking place in May, during which the MEBA proposes a series of very diverse events, that allow us to reach between 20,000 and 40,000 people every year. * Finally, the MEBA is actively present in the local media, both as an expert on European issues or as an animator of several radio shows. All the above-mentioned activities provide the MEBA with an exceptional influence. During a year of standard activities - excluding the pandemic period - we reach an average of 74,225 people.