0379 – Reclaim our Civil Space!

Name of the lead partner organisation: Ökotárs – Hungarian Environmental Partnership Foundation

Country of the lead partner organisation: Hungary

Project summary: 

“Reclaim Our Civil Space!” aims at addressing the trends of democratic backsliding and shrinking civil space observed for the past years particularly in Central and Southeastern Europe. 

We came together because we believe in our work and in the power of civil society to build healthier societies from the bottom up. Our organizations are from different countries with different backgrounds, but the challenges we face and the changes we strive for in this region bind us together. This project is our common effort to improve the quality of our democracies through strengthening civil society actors in Central and Southeastern Europe.

The project is implemented by 10 organizations from 8 countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Norway as expert partner.

Our main objectives are

• broadening the grassroots basis and constituency of civil society,
• mapping, training and mobilizing activist groups and movements,
• linking this local level to the regional and the European,
• developing together the outlines of a comprehensive European civil society policy.

Activities will be carried out along 3 levels:

1. National: organizing trainings and workshops, mentoring support particularly to organizations/groups in rural regions, while taking into account the specificities of individual countries
2. Regional: holding cross-border workshops and networking meetings with at least 3 countries represented at each
3. European: international conferences in Budapest, Brussels and Prague, developing expert and policy papers.

Our vision is a thriving civil space in a democratic and enabling environment, where people take action, get organized and advocate for their interests together freely, without fear or restrictions. We believe in a society where everybody is capable of improving their own life and environment and is provided with the opportunity to live up to their potential. 

Implementing organisations:

• Members of the Environmental Partnership Association (EPA)
• Bulgarian Environmental Partnership Foundation (Фондация ЕкоОбщност)
• Czech Environmental Partnership Foundation (Nadace Partnerství)
• Hungarian Environmental Partnership Foundation (Ökotárs Alapítvány)
• Polish Environmental Partnership Foundation (Fundusz Partnerstwa)
• Romanian Environmental Partnership Foundation (Fundația pentru Parteneriat)
• Slovakian Environmental Partnership Foundation (Nadácia Ekopolis)
• Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ)
• Civil Society Development Foundation (FDSC)
• Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC)
• Youth Initiative for Human Rights – Serbia (YIHR)