Description
In the crisis period a flexible and vibrant civil society capable of high degree of self-organization, able to respond adequately in changing society conditions and that has high organizational skills is crucially needed. Project’s aim is to encourage broad and flexible networking of civic activities in Slovakia, particularly in regions outside the traditional centers, promote regular communication among “older” and “newer” CSOs and initiatives. The project will also strengthen process-related expertise and leadership skills of CSOs. 15 CSO development consultants working mainly in Eastern and Central Slovakia will be newly trained, development of strategic plans (business plans, communication plans, fundraising plans) for at least 40 CSOs and civic initiatives. Other activities include series of open training courses and webinars on current issues and 10 peer-coaching series for CSO leaders.
Summary of project results
The aim of the predefined project was to enhance the infrastructure of the civic movement, particularly in those regions outside the traditional centres and facilitate a more intensive networking of civic activities in Slovakia. The project created opportunities for frequent face-to-face and on-line communication among the so-called “older” and “newer” CSOs, focusing on specific issues. These issues were related to the contribution of CSOs to their communities in times of crisis, public participation, promotion of active citizenship and building of partnerships between CSOs and public institutions. Specific topics were based on a needs assessment that was elaborated in the early stages of the project. In total the project organized 20 networking activities including bar-camps, round tables, seminars and conferences, attended by 557 participants in total. Two features of the civil society in Slovakia were specifically considered in designing the strategy of the predefined: first, while well-developed civil society organizations are operating in the larger cities, especially in the capital Bratislava, active citizens and their voice in the public space are much weaker in many regions throughout Slovakia. Secondly, in recent years we have seen the emergence of a new generation of leaders and new citizen initiatives, which are much more (but not only) present and active in the virtual world of social networks. Among these project activities, we would like to mention prominent conference "Civic actors in conflicts, How to lead a dialogue on sensitive topics: values, refugees, extremism", held on 24.-25. September 2015 in Bratislava. The event brought together over 100 participants and number of interesting speakers from whole Europe. Media devoted special attention to speaker at the conference Tom Olsen from Norway, once a neo-Nazi leader of the Ku-Klux Klan branch, who today helps the police as coordinator of youth crime prevention programmes. Through the networking and peer-coaching meetings for leaders of civil society the project enabled to share their specific problems relied to leadership and managing civil society organizations. 15 newly trained coaches (training in an extent of approximately 200 hours) have assisted to nearly 50 NGOs and informal civic groups that reported advancements in their skills and operations.
Summary of bilateral results