Civil katalógus - Catalogue of the Civil Organisations in the Ister-Granum Euroregion (Esztergom-Štúrovo, 2004)
Dear Readers, You are holding a pioneer publication in your hands: the database of the civil organisations of the 100 towns and villages that make up the Ister-Granum Euroregion. It is a great pleasure to see that the physical link created by the Mária Valéria Bridge between Hungary and Slovakia has facilitated the birth of new intellectual bridges as well. Non-profit organisations have been amongst the main players creating the Euroregion and ensuring that it operates in a European spirit. Co-operation limited solely to public administration and local government is inadequate: if those living in the Euroregion do not know and do not sense that they are part of a regional cooperation, the initiative will have failed to meet its objective. Self-organised and co-operating communities that enjoy significant social support can play a leading role in introducing regionalism within society and in creating regional identity. In order for people living on both banks of the Danube and civil organisations active in similar fields in the two neighbouring countries to contact each other and create a sense of unity through joint applications and programmes, the publishers deemed it necessary to bring out a database which would contain as many civil organisations as possible. With support from the Embassies of the Netherlands in the two countries, the Eurohid (Euro Bridge) Foundation in Esztergom and the Jövő (Future) 2000 Foundation in Muzla undertook this task. We hope that this catalogue will encourage other similar joint initiatives. We also hope that from within the diverse offerings of the catalogue, potential sponsors will find organisations worth supporting. Esztergom - Stúrovo, 14 April 2004 Tamás Meggyes Mayor Chairman of the Ister-Granum Euroregion Ján Oravec Mayor Deputy Chairman of the Ister-Granum Euroregion 5
