The Ministry of Social Welfare and Family Affairs (through the General Management for Civic Action) has awarded the 2003-2004 prizes for civic behaviour this year in a formal act held in the auditorium hall of the Palace of the Generalitat, Government of Catalonia.

The civism awards are divided into three different categories: The Serra i Moret category for works of art or projects of civic significance, which celebrate their XXII edition this year; the Jaume Ciurana category, for civic actions by young people, in its XVIII edition; and finally, the Civic Attitudes in Mass Media category, which sees its ninth edition in 2004. 

The Essay award, with a prize of 6,010 euros, for the work “A canvi de res” (In exchange for nothing), by Sergi Pardos i Prado from Barcelona. The criteria governing the selection of this piece for this award were the reflection this work makes on the concept of voluntary work in our society and the emergence of new moral values.

In the category of educational projects, endowed with a prize of 3,005 euros, the award went to the “Open Centre for Preju-Unión Project– We Lizards are involved!”, created by the Union Group Association from Sant Adrià de Besòs and presented by Josep Maria Vergara Gaínza. In this work, the stimulus and knowledge of the people involved, as well as the voluntary work of the children and young people, were the bases for it being chosen. Moreover, a special mention has been made of the pedagogical project entitled “Intercultural Communication Programme”, by Ruth Vilà i Baños, from Sant Boi de Llobregat.

The winner in the Comic category, of a prize worth 2,404 euros, was Lidia Peyret i Castro, from Premià de Mar, for her work “New parks”, for its outstanding artistic and technical drawing quality and the effectivity and clever resolution of its script.
There is a special mention in the same category for the work “Any morning in a large city”, by Jaume Rofes i Borràs, from Reus, for the script’s surrealist originality and the strong satire in the drawings.

Finally, the last Serra i Moret award for works of art or projects of a civic nature, worth 1,803 euros, has been awarded to the script of the short film: “El somni dels perduts” (Lost people’s dream), by the Girona resident, Pere Vila i Barceló, for its complex and full story, relating the subtle nuances of the life of a woman who looks after old people.
This category has also included a special mention for the Barcelona resident, Maria Gasol Boncompte’s short film, “Packaging”, for a story to fight against anorexia. 

The jury for the Serra i Moret awards for works and acts concerning civic issues was chaired by Francesc Simó, director general of Community and Civic Actions, and consisted of Joaquim Ferrer, Aureli Argemí and Fèlix Martí, in the essay module; Carme Romia, Antoni Petrus and Jaume Funes, in the educational module; Pilarín Bayés, Mercè Canela and Xavier Carrasco, in the comics area, and, finally, Anna Solà, Antoni Kirschner and Miquel Porter in the short film script section.

The Civism in Mass Media Prizes is awarded for four different categories: television, radio, printed press and Internet.

The 6,010 euro prize in the TV category has been awarded to the documentary entitled “Recuperar la pau” (Winning back peace), shown in the series called 30 minuts on Televisió de Catalunya and created by Llibert Ferri, Lourdes Guiteras and Walter Ojeda. It describes the daily life in a slum area, with up to 40 per cent immigration, which runs the risk of a social explosion and of the solutions put into practice to avoid such a disaster.

In the radio category, the award of 3,005 euros has been given ex aequo to the documentary “60-80”, by Sílvia Mateu, broadcast on the “Catalunya Ràdio” morning slot, and for the collection of chats with senior citizens, broadcast every week on Ràdio Castellar del Vallès. The topic raised “60-80” about elderly women, as well as the weekly chats with their consistent programme offering senior citizens the chance to speak out in that town, have been the motives for this selection.

In printed press, fourteen articles on immigrants to the region of Osona, published by Víctor Palomar and Mariona Casas in the 9 Nou, have won this year’s prize of 3,005 euros, for their literary quality and the vital life story of the people described in them.

A special mention has also been made for the series of articles published in the “Diario de Navarra” by Gabriel González and Sonsoles Echavarren, for the reporting of problems caused to immigrants by the lack of planning by the administration, with a certain tone of denouncing this situation and therefore helping to solve the problem.

The prize to the web site with civic content, valued in 3,005 euros, has been ceded ex aequo to the bulletin “Senderi”, an initiative of various institutions from the world of education, for its contribution to the debate on the teaching of values, and the website of the Autonomous Solidarity Foundation, for the work carried out by this organisation.

The 2003-2004 prize jury has been chaired by the minister, Anna Simó and formed by the director general of Civic and Community Actions, Francesc Simó, the journalists Neus Bonet, Rosa Marqueta, Santiago Ramentol, Bru Rovira and the Ministry’s press officer, Vicenç Relats.

The following are the winners of the series of awards given by the Ministry for Social Welfare and Family Affairs of the Generalitat which are designated to reward civic actions on the part of young people in the categories of “Improvement of the Environment” and “In Favour of People”. There are three awards in each category. 
In the Improvement of the Environment category, the winners have been the Joves de l'Esplai Riallera (Riallera Youth Club), from Solsona, for their "Community action to prevent accidents in the Solsonès region". The second prize went to the monitors and adolescents of the Centre d'Esplai "L'Eixam" (L’Eixam Youth Centre) from Rubí, for carrying out the project: "La Bossa de l'Eixam”, aimed at raising citizens’ awareness about recycling waste. The third prize for this category has been given to the Unitat Rangers/Noies Guies de l'Agrupament Escolta de Fontcoberta (the Fontcoberta Scout Group of Rangers and Girl Guides Unit), from Pla de l'Estany, for the Work Camp created to resurface and condition a section of the footpath GR 11, in l’Alta Garrotxa.

In the next category, called “In Favour of People”, the winners were the Grup de Joves “Iniciació", (Iniciació Youth Group) from Lleida, who come from a selection of different institutes and schools throughout the city, and who have worked as volunteers all year in educating infants, mainly of gypsy origin, in the Old Part of Lleida. The second prize has gone to the monitors of the ASDIVI Youth Club, in Viladecans, for the project to commemorate the European Year of the Physically Challenged. Finally, the third prize went to the “Sol de Ponent” Youth Organisation, from 'Alguaire’, in Segrià, for organising a three-way football competition among the most representative groups in their town: Catalans, North Africans and Romanians. 

The Jaume Ciurana award jury for civic actions by young people consisted of Francesc Simó, director general of Community and Civic Actions; Dolors Llevado, Joaquim Parera, of the Youth Secretary General; Manuel Subirà and Ramon Bossa, from the   "Alumni and Friends of the Sant Jordi Boy Scouts/Girl Guides of Catalonia” association.