Inter Alia was established in 2013 with the mission to contribute to the advancement of the EU as a political community. Our work is inspired by and registered in the constitutional values of the EU – freedom, human dignity and human rights, solidarity, equality, democracy – and aims to uphold the rights that derive from them. We assert this through small actual changes and thought-provocation, activating deeper processes of change in the longer term. Our activities focus on different groups and are carried out in collaboration with relevant social actors, aiming at having an effect on all involved parties; they are, in principle, participatory, empowering, inclusive, transformative, intersectional, cross-disciplinary, innovative and accessible.
Our activities aspire to broaden and deepen engagement and knowledge; they are participatory and influence participants on several levels:
- Personal: Participation is a need and an attitude as much as a means for the attainment of goals. Through our work, we aim at developing skills and personal awareness, building communities and inspiring passion and willingness to promote social change.
- Group: In the aftermath of their involvement, participants act as multipliers of the results, spreading them further to their direct environment, friends and networks. After enhancing their connection to civil society and becoming more aware of the associated opportunities, it becomes easier for them to generate their own ideas and take initiative.
- Societal: Our activities enhance networks and connections between citizens, organisations and social actors across Europe. Involvement of new populations, not previously socially active, provides new resources in social processes. Inclusion of remote communities and marginalised populations increase the awareness on social, educational and cultural affairs, their importance and potentials channels of action. New ideas and recommendations towards policy and decision makers promoting inclusive reform processes at all levels.
The overall impact of Inter Alia’s work depends on the engagement of participants in different phases of each action – design, application, planning, implementation, dissemination, follow-up and continuation. While this is not always possible due to practical limitations, all our activities should, at least, abide by the following principles:
- The harder to reach and involve a person, group or community, the more resources are invested in participant selection and engagement.
- The more specific the target group (as to its identities or experiences) the more responsibilities ascribed to the project teams.
- The more remote a community, the more intense the deliberation prior to the actions.
- The more specialised the venture and the deliverable, the more intense the involvement of participants and the less the engagement of the general public.
Inter Alia seeks the engagement of groups based on: a. the potential impact that the activities could have on persons and communities, and b. the power they possess, seen as the capacity or potential of mobilising persons or resources for initiating or enhancing transformational processes. These primarily include:
- Organised civil society: Civil society organisations as well as networks and unions of actors and stakeholders of the third sector active at local, national and European level
- Non-organised civil society: Grassroots actors are key for upholding European values and guaranteeing the quality of democracy. Inter Alia connects with and promotes actions of grassroots organisations, and disseminates their work and agenda.
- Policy makers: Inter Alia promotes deliberative democracy by pushing policy makers for opening processes to the public and facilitating citizens’ involvement.
- Decision makers: Open channels of interaction between decision makers and citizens and the civil society enables wise decision making that promotes social peace and integration.
- Youth: Youth is a core target group of Inter Alia. Active citizenship of youth, as it was proved in the recent EP elections, has the potential to revitalise the European demos, improve democracy and make the voices of youth heard.
- Marginalised groups: Roma, disabled, LGBTQI+, asylum seekers, refugees and migrants are targeted both individually, through specialised activities, and collectively, as groups that suffer oppression in the context of the existing power structure.
- Local communities: Small and remote communities across Europe are involved in cultural activities, awareness and advocacy campaigns with a view to highlight the wealth and diversity of European societies.
- Groups with intersecting identities: Intersectionality is a key aspect of Inter Alia’s activities. Enhancing democracy starts from empowering the least represented groups to articulate their needs and be heard.
- Women: Inter Alia and its team members have a feminist and intersectional orientation. Putting forward a feminist agenda and attacking patriarchic structures and institutions will cause the improvement of women’s position in daily life and representation.
Inter Alia is among the highest ranking organisations in Greece in its main fields of action with regards to its effectiveness (social and economic impact), organisation and transparency as measured by Thalis II, the only thorough and extensive research of the third sector in the country.