5TH EUROPEAN CONGRESS OF THE EUROPEAN NETWORK OF FAMILY- FRIENDLY MUNICIPALITIES

FREE TO STAY, FAMILY AND COHESION POLICIES FOR TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT

Creating inclusive, welcoming, and cohesive policies for community development is a core pillar of a family-friendly Europe.

We are looking to hear about best practices in your municipality at the 5th European Congress of the European Network of family-friendly Municipalities, which is set to take place in the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) in Brussels, Belgium, on 11 February 2026.

If your municipality would like to present a good practice in the Congress, please let us know as soon as possible at info@elfac.org.

REGISTRATION IS OPENED HERE

Wednesday 11 February 2026

BRUSSELS, COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS, ROOM JDE 51

From 9:30am to 17:00pm

Draft Program

09:30 Welcome and registration

Moderator: Raul Sanchez, secretary general of ELFAC

10:00 Opening

• Radoslaw Waszkiewicz, president of ELFAC
• Regina Maroncelli, coordinator of the Family Cities Network

10:10 How local family policies can improve European cohesion

• Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms, European Commission. 

10:15: Delivery of diplomas to new municipalities members

10:30 Territorial attractiveness, innovation and people

• Luciano Malfer, Research and Family Development Manager, Fondazione Bruno Kessler (Trento, Italy)

11:05 Cohesion policies for family friendly regions

• Vania Freitas, secretary general, Assembly of European Regions (AER)

11:25 Towards a resilient future of Europe: the role of municipalities in the demographic change

• Michał Michalski, President, Institute for Family and Society Studies Foundation, (Poland)

11: 45 Cooperation between companies and local authorities

• Mercedes Hernandez,  director for alliances and international relations, Fundacion Masfamilia (Spain).

12:05 Questions and answers

12:20 Signature of the agreements between ELFAC and MasFamilia Foundation (Spain), and with Bruno Kessler Foundation (Italy)

• Family photo with participants.

12:30 Lunch

14:00 Presentation of the European Network for Family-Friendly Companies

• Regina Maroncelli, coordinator of the network, vice president of ELFAC
• Practical case: Corporate welfare designed for families: support for parenting – Anna Cattaneo and Alessia Pezzotta, Plastik SPA (Italy)

14:30 2nd KINCS Family Friendly Settlements Expo

• Árpád Mészáros, Vice-President of KINCS Institute for Demography and Family Policies (Hungary).

14:45 Presentation of local best practices from municipalities and companies

• Tackling the housing emergency: The Calico project of co-housing – Juliette Schmetz, Brussels capital region (Belgium).
• Kraków – an open and family-friendly city. Selected solutions for strengthening the cohesion of social and migration policy and territorial development (good practices) – Malgorzata Wawrzynska, Municipality of Krakow (Poland)
• The Alghero Family Festival – Maria Grazia Salaris and Mauro Ledda, Municipality of Alghero (Italy)
• Youth Communication Program – Alberto Vidal Guerrero, Municipality of Castellon (Spain)
• Demographic Change and Territorial Cohesion: Local Family Policies in Albergaria-a-Velha – Catarina Mendes and Mariana Letra, Municipality of Albergaria-a-Velha (Portugal)
• Best practices in family support – Municipality of Galapagar (Spain)
• Empowering Families – The Foligno Model – Lorenzo Schiarea, Municipality of Foligno (Italy)
• “Elefantes de Papel”: municipal program for families with children with disabilities – Mª del Carmen Portugal and Juan Octavio Sempere, Municipality of Orihuela (Spain)
• Brașov, a family-friendly city – Diaconu Pamela Maria, Municipality of Brașov (Romania)
• To be born and raised in Torres Vedras – Sílvia Silva, Municipality of Torres Vedras (Portugal)
• Living in a Small Mountain Village at the Beginning of the Third Millennium. Is It Still Possible? – Elisa Bolis and Diego Mosca, Municipality of Berbenno (Italy)

16:45 Questions and answers

17:00 Conclusions