JCI celebrated the 2020 Active Citizen Day online!
Almost 50 JCI members across Belgium attended the Active Citizen Day on 5 December 2020 online.
This year, despite facing the challenge of not celebrating the event in person due to corona measures, we did not want to lose our enthusiasm and dedication to celebrate such an important day for our dear JCI family members.
Active Citizen Day (ACD) was a joint collaboration between JCI Belgium and JCI The Heart of Europe to celebrate our inspiring members and successful projects in 2020.
The topic of this year was ‘Digital Activism’ - as active citizens of our countries and local communities, we have now, more than ever, the opportunity to explore the benefit digitalization brings and that empowers JCI to keep creating positive change in society. We looked into:
- How a variety of digital means enabled to continue making an impact during the Covid-19 pandemic
- How JCI can take the best out of digital transformation.
The Active Citizen Day Conference, hosted by JCI The Heart of Europe, took the format of an online webinar where recognized guest speakers and other JCI fellow members were keen to share their knowledge and advice concerning the use of digital tools and how to make the best out of them when running successful digital projects:
Guest speaker 1: Tarik Hannen, Senior Marketing & Communications Manager at Beebonds
Tarik shared his professional experience in successful fundraising and how to financially support NGO projects online.
Guest speaker 2: Katinka Estrade, Events & Protocol Consultant at Events by KM and President of MPI Belgium
As an experienced event organizer, Katinka showed how to successfully organise online events in no time.
Guest speaker 3: Louise Hisayasu, Events Coordinator at Tactical Tech
Louise helped us demystify technology by walking us through the Glass Room Misinformation Edition.
In between sessions, JCI Arlon surprised us with a dynamic video showcasing their digital projects while JCI Mechelen shared a few words on their brand new concept called JCI Blind Date which has rapidly become popular among JCI members across countries.
After the Active Citizen Day Conference, the participants attended also the JCI Belgium 2020 Awards. Tom Staelens, National President 2020 of JCI Belgium rewarded amazing local organisations and projects from the past year with an award.
We want to congratulate again:
JCI Aalst, JCI Dendermonde, JCI Arlon, JCI Malmedy Hautes-Fagnes, JCI Leuven, JCI Damme, JCI Lier, JCI Gent Artevelde, JCI Hasselt, and JCI Centre Ardenne.
“…these awards are proof that JCI still matters, and maybe even more than ever. It also showed that our organisation can be resilient and can be agile in times of uncertainty. It is up to us as members to lead by example and show others the opportunities and solutions. Let us keep doing this, the world can use more of that” – Tom Staelens, National President 2020 of JCI Belgium
The most special moment of the evening was the Staines Memorial Award that was handed out to Gregor Velz who showed us consistently how to lead by example while staying humble and dedicated to his work.
On behalf of the organisation team, we want to thank everyone for participating in the ACD Conference and JCI Belgium National Awards! You again demonstrated that JCI is not just an organisation but also a team spirit always ready to create positive change in the world.
Andreea Cristina Udrea
VP External Relations 2021, JCI The Heart of Europe