3 days of intensive work, exchange of experiences and networking are behind us within the annual Central Europe Civic Forum, which took place this year in Warsaw on September 11-13.
The Central Europe Civic Forum is an annual venue for civil society leaders from the Central and Eastern Europe to share their experiences leading organizing efforts in their communities, demanding responsive and accountable governance at the national and local levels, and effecting change. During the discussions, great emphasis is placed on promoting transparent governance processes and emphasizing the role of decision-making in a way that recognizes the widest possible spectrum of opinions of people creating individual communities. The Forum is an opportunity to reflect on both the current situation and the state of democracy in selected European countries and a field for discussion on possible actions to counteract identified challenges.
The second edition of the Forum, entitled “Time to Deliver: Advocacy and Accountability Outside the Election Cycle at the National and Local Levels,” hosted over 50 activists from various countries of Central and Eastern Europe. They met to exchange experiences from activities undertaken in various social contexts aimed at counteracting the retreat from democracy and violations of the rule of law. Their task was also to jointly develop the most effective ways of influencing the shape of decisions made by the government and aimed at increasing the transparency of public life.
EVENT AGENDA
The first day of the event began with a discussion on the current state of democracy in Central European countries, including identifying current negative trends and formulating recommendations on what can be done to reverse them and counteract the departure from democratic principles. The common point of the discussion was the observation that democracy requires continuous work, regardless of the situation we find ourselves in. In addition, the role of civil society was emphasized, which, although extremely diverse, is crucial for defending basic democratic values. It was pointed out that civil society should not be afraid to formulate general postulates regarding the ideal state we should strive for. In order to make the implementation of these long-term goals more realistic, we all need to remember to work not only with people who are already convinced and who share our values but also the ones who might share different beliefs. Donors, on the other hand, should remember to support not only recognized entities in individual countries, but also reach out to smaller communities, more distant from the capitals, and finance organizations operating within them. The panel discussion was attended by:
Daniel Hegedüs – German Marshall Fund, Hungary
Elżbieta Korolczuk – Södertörn University, Poland
Grigorij Mesežnikov – Institute for Public Affairs (IVO), Slovakia
Cezara Grama – Expert Forum, Romania
Moderation: Filip Pazderski
Later the discussion moved on to the challenges to the democratic system related to the occurrence of corruption. The experts who participated in it talked about proven practices of civic organizations’ activities aimed at increasing the transparency of public life in the country. During their presentations, participants focused on showing both the activities taken at the local level and aimed at controlling local government authorities, as well as examples of effective advocacy activities that allow for the introduction of mechanisms for combating corruption at the national level (specifically the act on the protection of whistleblowers). The panel participants were:
Miklos Merenyi – K-Monitor, Hungary
Šárka Míková – Oživení, Czechia
Grzegorz Makowski – Batory Foundation, Poland
Moderation: Aleksandra Kobylińska
The second half of the day was thematic workshop groups devoted to different aspects related to the functioning of democracy, such as: practices of increasing transparency of public life, the voice of disadvantaged groups, strengthening the position of women in leadership positions, the membership position in the European Union as a way for social organizations to gain influence or supporting local activism. Experts in individual topics discussed specific solutions responding to selected challenges to democracy. They also presented strategies for strengthening the participation of selected social groups in making decisions concerning them. The discussions were preceded by short introductory presentations, inspiring the exchange of experiences. Debates about the discussed experiences were then a contribution to the development of solutions suitable for application in other countries. During two workshop sessions, parallel discussions were held on the following issues:
R Promoting Women’s Leadership in Civic Organizing – how to shift feminist power to CSOs management and systemic solutions
R Transparency in Public Life: Digital Governance and the Use of New Technologies Tailored to the 21st Century – solutions of a systemic nature and specific tools
R Civic Strength from a Younger Perspective: Reinforcing Youth Participation in Policymaking and Civic Activities
R Cooperation and Deliberation at the Local Level: CSOs as Intermediaries with Citizens and Watchdogs of Those in Power
R How to Amplify the Voices of Disfavored Groups: Inclusion of Migrants and Other Minority Groups in Advocacy Strategies and Public Policies
R Europe is Us: CSOs’ Role in Shaping the European Agenda and Overseeing the Implementation of its Policies
The second day of the Forum was dedicated primarily to activists and their daily work. The opening sessions of the day focused on the challenges that accompany activist work. The first one concerned the protection of activists from attacks and hate speech, with a special focus on strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs). Introductory presentations were given by:
Peter Čuroš, Via Iuris, Slovakia
Jarosław Jaruga, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Poland
Marzena Błaszczyk, Citizens Network Watchdog, Poland
The second session was devoted to improving the working conditions of activists by counteracting activist burnout and strengthening support for people involved in social organizations. Examples of such practices were shared by:
Anna Tomaszewska and Bogumił Kolmasiak, Action Democracy, Poland
Ágnes Fernengel, School of Public Life Foundation, Hungary
Although the topics were difficult, experts indicated that change and better protection of activists is possible, although this is a process that requires support not only from social organizations themselves, but also from the government and donors.
The latter was the subject of the final panel of the Central Europe Civic Forum. Selected representatives of donor entities discussed the possibilities of changes in the method and scope of support for civic organizations, so that they could better respond to the real needs of the activists they work with. The conversation also served to mutually understand the perspectives of donors and recipients of their support. Importantly, the discussion emphasized that the change in the method of supporting civic organizations is already taking place, and donors are open to moving away from financing only specific project activities towards institutional support as well. The latter allows social organizations to more freely dispose of the funds received, so that they can also respond to current events and the needs related to them. The discussion was attended by:
Ewa Kulik-Bielińska, Batory Foundation
Chris Abrams, United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Balazs Jarabik, Dexis Consulting Group
Moderation: Genevieve Shea
The Central Europe Civic Forum showed both the willingness of civil society to continue working to defend democracy and allowed us to identify many challenges that we all face on the way to building stable social organizations and increasing the transparency of public life in the Europe. However, we did not stop there – for each problem, multiple proven solutions were also showed, all of which were previously developed and implemented by CSOs in their countries!
The Forum was organized as part of the Central Europe Civic Engagement Project (CECEP), in cooperation with the National Democratic Institute and with financial support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project aims to strengthen participatory processes in Central and Eastern Europe and promote collective action to reinforce democracy. See more on this initiative on its website: https://www.isp.org.pl/en/central-europe-civic-engagement-project.