More information
Description
Insufficiently united and coordinated actions are one of the reasons why civil society associations do not take part in policy- and decision-making. The project provides for a new approach to influence public processes. The project aims to help NGOs start working and developing their potential together, from capacity building to promoting their image in the society. The developed network of new kind will boost the sustainability of local civil society organizations. They will continue to cooperate with each other actively and support causes of public importance in line with their specific goal. The project will reinforce the organization’s role of uniting regional NGOs and informal groups. The experience accumulated, practical skills and preparedness for civic involvement and support will boost their capacity. The network’s synergy will guarantee new attitudes to achieve publicly important and useful goals. The discussion forum will reconsider efficient communication and dialogue with local authorities and public institutions. An agreement for joint activities will make the new network legitimate. The short success stories will boost its reputation. The stories will reach the media and the public. Certificates will be issued to prove the acquired communicative skills. The major issues identified and a common vision for useful causes will be translated into a map of the future for the region. The end users will be 15 regional NGOs and informal groups. The network will attract new supporters and benefits for the public.
Summary of project results
Insufficient joint and coordinated actions are part of the reasons why civic associations do not participate in policy formulation and management decision-making. The Network Synergy project proposed a new approach to influencing social processes: NGOs to work and develop their potential together - from capacity building to establishing their authority in the public space. The project fulfilled its goal: A new type of network was built, a consolidated community of 16 regional civil society organizations and informal groups was formed. The strength of NGOs is in their unification. Practical media training accumulates in the participants knowledge and skills how to work with the media, how to tell about themselves inspired and positive and to present themselves more successfully in the public space. Such modern forms of association acquire the synergy and the chance for positive influence for social change. Active local organizations, informal groups and institutions showed empathy and concern for social processes and as their unifying cause they chose the popularization of the regional literary heritage and traditions in the region. Guided by the idea of being useful, collaborating and working together, the organizations involved in the project shared their success stories and working civic practices. Their short first-person stories are collected in the book "Communities" published under the project. The level of conscious inclusion and integration achieved in Network Synergy is a very important result. In the course of the implementation, the project activities were regularly reflected on the Facebook page of the Open Society Club - Stara Zagora: https://www.facebook.com/klub.otvorenoobshtestvo. The idea of consolidating energy and merging the connections between the organizations included in the Network, their desire to work for the benefit of the community, led the project to a successful finalization.