I would have never thought that at the age of 30 I would have such an enriching and formative exchange experience outside of my country. The path I undertook as a volunteer for ACN has first of all formed me as a person, helping me to become aware of my abilities and potentialities, but also of my interests and language skills. Thanks to the experiences I have lived, I have improved in my path as a volunteer, I understood the importance of networking at the European level and not only at the local level, and I understood how necessary it is to build synergies to be more effective towards the achievement of our goals as volunteers. My experience with ACN has led me to study how European policies work, and all those policies that serve activists and volunteers. I also got to know the European model of participatory democracy which, although it still has room for improvement, represents a chance and a fundamental opportunity for us citizens to have our say on so many local issues that can be developed in the European context. In a world in which we are increasingly interconnected and interdependent, these aspects are fundamental for obtaining rights, protection and correct information for the benefit of citizens and patients.
During my internship with Active Citizenship Network, I had the chance to see how civic participation can be a decisive factor in EU policymaking. From the start, I received lots of responsibilities and projects, such as the Launch of the second term of the MEPs Interest Group “Cross-Border Healthcare and Patients’ Rights”, which we held at the European Parliament. Thanks to my stay at Active Citizenship Network, I was able to understand how important discussion among different stakeholders takes place in order to further common goals, such as in the field of Health Policy.
Student in political sciences, interested in the changes in the expressions of "traditional" democracy, thanks to the experience at ACN, I was able to begin the study of a nascent European phenomenon to go back in subsequent years to its origins. A speaker and events manager, I nowadays work for the European Parliament at the Maison Jean Monnet in Paris, which is part of the House of European History in Brussels.
Since 2014, Active Citizenship Network has launched both in Italy and abroad the educational and training program “Active for Young Professionals”, which regularly offers internship and volunteering opportunities to undergraduate students and recent graduates from different universities. Below, read directly from who lived this experience.
Active Citizenship Network’s Community, shortly “ACN Community”, has been launched as a development of the “Active for Young professionals” program, realized back in 2014.
This Community distinguishes itself as a network of individuals rather than associations aiming at fostering the relationship of ACN with the single individuals that ACN has met and gotten to know in the last years through the program. In order to keep in touch with these people, the Community allows all its members the opportunity not only to remain in contact with the network itself but also to interact with each other. Furthermore, reuniting all the interns and volunteers who collaborated with ACN through the years within an informal network to continue to cooperate with them as well as provide them help and support throughout their professional paths makes the initiative mutually beneficial for both ACN and individuals themselves. The Community is addressed to all those young people who, with different roles, have been involved in the program “Active for Young Professionals”, including youths that have been supported in their studies, especially with the drafting of their thesis, youths that have been given the opportunity to work, either as volunteers or as interns, at the ACN’s headquarters, and all those young people and adults, either patients or not, that have volunteered or cooperated with Cittadinanzattiva/Active Citizenship Network to support and promote its work at the national and international level. If you wish to become a member of ACN’s Community, you can write to
For its Brussels office, Active Citizenship Network-Cittadinanzattiva is recruiting a part time EU project manager. The successful applicant will represent Active Citizenship Network-Cittadinanzattiva as a consortium partner in European projects - funded by the EU Commission - already in place, as well as supporting the team in liaising with the EU Institutions, organizing events, contents and the general management of the job. If interested, please read more and send a CV with a motivation letter via email to
Are you interested in an internship in EU policy? Cittadinanzattiva APS is looking for a trainee to contribute to the development of its activities in the European framework. The selected candidate will be part of Active Citizenship Network (ACN) and will work together with the Director of European policies of Cittadinanzattiva and its team, located in Rome and Brussels. The candidate will have the opportunity to develop competencies in the field of European projects, citizen’s involvement, advocacy, and policy making at the European Union level, communication, corporate governance, and citizens’ rights. He or she will also be involved in the management of other European initiatives and projects, particularly dealing with ACN’s Network and having relations with partners, institutions and private and public stakeholders.
Cittadinanzattiva (Active Citizenship) and SiHTA (Italian Society of HTA)have signed an agreement for the promotion of a summer school for civic leaders HTA in November 2011. The agreement is focused on three shared issues: 1) the need to support the development of HTA as a tool of government qualified public spending in a context of strong reduction of resources, 2) the absence in Italy of the citizens' involvement in the processes of evaluation, and 3) the lack of civic leadership aware and sufficiently informed.
Active Citizenship Network has signed an agreement also with Eco Club UNWE, established in 2012 by the Student Council at UNWE. The club is a democratic association of students studying or graduating from one of the programs of the University of National and World Economy (UNWE). The main goals of the Club concern environmental protection and sustainable development.
Recently, Active Citizenship Network has consolidated its network by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the French consumer association Indecosa CGT. Indecosa’s mission is to ensure and develop the protection, training, information and defense of consumers and to follow the implementation of consumer actions with social and environmental values.
Active Citizenship Network has recently signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Instituti per Zhvillim dhe Inisiativa Qytetare. The two have agreed to work together on the promotion and protection of citizens and consumers’ empowerment and rights across the European Union.