Eco Forum - World Environment Day 2006

Celebrating World Environment Day 2006, Action for Cooperation and Trust (ACT) organised a three-day event which brought together over 140 participants from across the island, including local and international experts, academia, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the media, decision-makers, educators and other interested individuals at the Holiday Inn in Nicosia.                                                                                                                     read full story >>

Cultural heritage is a key component of the Action for Cooperation and Trust (ACT) Program and, as the U.S. Ambassador, I am proud that our nation’s foreign assistance funds are assisting Cypriots to care for their ancient monuments. The monuments throughout Cyprus are a tremendously valuable economic resource for the whole island.                                      read full story >>
 

Reducing the Road Death Toll in Cyprus: Lessons from Denmark

The huge loss of human lives due to traffic accidents is a phenomenon that plagues many countries worldwide. For too long now, Cyprus has had one of the highest accident rates in Europe. For example, during the period 1996-2005, Greek-Cypriots have mourned a yearly average of 108 dead due to traffic-related accidents.                                           read full story >>

Bi-communal Adventure on the High Seas

Crewing on a traditional square-rigged sailing ship is an awesome experience. For a first-timer, the combination of physical team-work in a strange and sometimes dangerous environment is life-changing. The Tall Ships Youth Trust, a UK charity founded in 1956, offers this experience to 16- to 25-year-olds as an effective way of developing self-confidence and the ability to get on with people of differing backgrounds.                      read full story >>
 

Cypriot 6th Grade Children Lead the Way to Friendship

Maria Soutzi is a primary school teacher in Pano Polemidia. Last year Maria was one of the main organisers of the bi-communal summer camp that took place at Agios Nicolaos in the Troodos mountains that brought together 40 Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot Children for eight days, giving them the opportunity to spend time together and develop long lasting friendships.                              read full story >>

Islandwide Mycorrhiza Workshop

Mycorrhizae are a symbiosis, an intimate partnership between fungi and plants, which occur naturally on over 90% of land-based plant species on the planet. This partnership has evolved over a period of approximately 460 million years, and is thought to have been instrumental in the colonisation of land by plants.                                                 read full story >>

Youth Camps 2006

Following the success of last year's 11 youth camps implemented under the Bi-communal Development Programme, ACT is launching new opportunities over the next two years for young Cypriots from across the island to meet together and build new bridges for a common future.                                                 read full story >>

Is Dialogue Possible?

Here in Cyprus, we talk a lot about dialogue but it is not always clear that we are all talking about the same thing. Most often, when I listen to Cypriots talking about dialogue, the concept is applied to the longstanding process of interaction between the political leadership of the two communities. But perhaps in this context at least, the word dialogue is not the most appropriate.                                        read full story >>

Global Profit Equals Global Responsibility

Eco Forum 2006 will emphasise the responsibilities of the Cypriot business community towards protecting the island’s rich and diverse environmental assets. In Cyprus, business activities inevitably have a major environmental impact, such as that of Cypriot agriculture, which is disproportionately large compared to this sector’s economic benefits.     read full story >>

International Women's Day

Marking International Women’s Day 2006, Turkish Cypriot education experts organised an educational project for primary school children entitled, “Introducing Gender Perspectives to Children Through Theatrical Plays.”                                                read full story >>

The Spirit of Volunteerism in Cyprus

Aiming to advance efforts to strengthen civil society in Cyprus, ACT organised a brainstorming session for volunteers and organisations that rely on volunteer support on June 28, 2006. Around 80 representatives from different organisations both from the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities participated, along with an expert from the United Nations Volunteers Headquarters, Alissar Chaker.           read full story >>