In mid-November, ECF co-organised two important Euro-Mediterranean civil society gatherings in Barcelona, bringing together hundreds of leading activists, human rights defenders, and civil society organisations working on human rights, peace, justice, democracy, and anti-authoritarianism.
The Nonviolence Factory (12-14 November), now in its third edition, convened representatives from social movements and communities under threat from across the Mediterranean and Europe, including Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Western Sahara, Tunisia, and several EU countries. Designed as an advanced professional education programme on civil resistance, the training created space for deep reflection on the interconnected threats of shrinking civic space, militarisation, authoritarianism, systemic oppression and injustices.
Participants engaged in plenaries and small-group discussions on the pressures facing civic actors in the region, and on why authoritarianism gains ground through fragmentation and fear.
Our European Civic Academy was based at the Nonviolence Factory, and included key sessions titled “Reclaiming the Narrative: Counter-Narratives or Our Own Narratives?” and “From Narratives to Implementation”, guiding the nearly 50 participants through imagining alternative futures and transforming shared visions into concrete strategies for action for democracy and human rights, against political apathy and authoritarianism.
The Unsilence Forum (14-16 November), which followed immediately after in Barcelona, brought together hundreds of activists, organisations, professionals and citizens of Barcelona dedicated to peace, feminism, environmental justice, and anti-authoritarianism. The Forum served as a collective call to break the silence that enables oppression and violence. It also marked the launch of the Act X Palestine campaign, a global initiative led by Palestinian organisations and supported by European partners, including ECF, aimed at confronting the politics of silence that takes form in genocides and systemic oppression.
ECF contributed throughout the Unsilence Forum. Our Co-President Raffaella Bolini delivered a speech during the opening ceremony, emphasising the importance of civic activism led by young people in Europe, and the shared responsibility Europe and the EU have for fighting authoritarianism, the oppressive legacy of colonialism and complicity in today’s conflicts around the world. She also later spoke in the plenary “Rearmament, militarism and the plural meanings of peace”, calling for an approach of common and broader security and building trust and emphasising broad wellbeing, instead of increased militarisation, as well as moderating a working session on building a movement against militarisation in Europe.
Our Senior Policy & Advocacy Officer Aarti Narsee, spoke in the panel discussion “Unsilence Palestine – Freedom of Expression in and around Palestine”, addressing restrictions on civic freedoms affecting Palestine solidarity movements across Europe. ECF’s Vice-President Jan Robert Suesser contributed to the roundtable “Defending democracy and civic space in the Euro-Mediterranean region amid the global rise of authoritarianism.”
In addition to the public event, our Co-President Veronika Mora and Vice-President Jan Robert Suesser also took part in the delegation of the Forum’s international organising committee and attended an official reception hosted by the Spanish Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun.
Both events strengthened cross-border solidarity, deepened collective analysis, and reinforced the shared commitment of civil society to resist authoritarianism, defend fundamental rights, and build a just and peaceful Euro-Mediterranean region. ECF thanks all partners and participants for their powerful contributions.