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CEE CNReport 2012
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AnnualReport 2012
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Foreword
Mt VargaCo-director of CEE CN
It might be difficult to report 2012 in a clearly positivedimension as we were experiencing deeper and deeperlayers of many-sided crises and all kinds of rhetoricand debates around it. General establishments andstructures were (are) questioned maybe more thanever before, where all actors of the society had tostruggle with redefining orientations and roles.
In spite of all these, it is also difficult to not speak aboutthe certainly positive dimensions, which are all linkedwith mostly similar roots. In the footsteps of crises andindignation promising debates, citizen mobilization andactivism, alternative answers and more sustainablesolutions are also cumulating.
From our perspective it could be already a success thatwe are still on the screen, but I believe we have donemuch more. Looking back to 2012, Citizens Networkkept open, reflective and innovative in positioning.Network events, activities and programs are developingand extending with broader and broader connectionsand cooperation. We are growing and we seem to beattractive.
The big questions are always around our real effects,and it is important to ask them often. Together with theoverall changes the task is also growing:
How to assist better for participation and sustainability?
CEE Citizens Network
Date of registrationJanuary 24, 2005
Place of registrationBratislavaSlovak Ministry of Interior
Reg. numberVVS/1-900/90-25362
StatutoryAnna Karailieva
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ACTIVITIES
Our main activities include:
Citizen Participation WeekAn annual week-long program with simultaneous national and local events toheighten the importance of active citizens
Citizen Participation University An activity which takes place during early summer for people working in this field,
providing time for reflection through a combination of theory and experiences
Action studies The documentation of actual participation experience within Europe, which helps
with analysis and reflection
Promotion of e-participation tools Exploring additional ways in which citizens can more effectively be active
Supporting the work of community organizing Assisting the work of community organizing to mature in the CEE region
Exchanging experiences and best practices Sharingof knowledge about how to better ensure active participation
Encouraging joint activities and the exchange of grassroots initiativesLearning firsthand from each other how they have brought about change
STRUCTURE
Our organizational structure consists of three aspects:
Membership which is open to organizations and individuals in the CEE region whoshare our mission.
A Representative Team with each country having their own representative. Thesecountry representatives meet yearly to set the agenda for the upcoming year.
A Coordinating Team which is elected by the Representative Team.
MEMBER COUNTRIES
Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia,Georgia, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Republic of Belarus, Romania, Russia,Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine
You can find out more about our Network and its activities on our web site:www.ceecn.net
CentralandEasternEuropean
Citiz
ensNetwork
HISTORY
The background for the Network began in 1996 when informalconnection were established between three country projectsaffiliated with the National Democratic Institute and an additionalthree coordinated by the German Marshall Fund. This prompteddiscussions among the groups about working together to shareideas and experiences. Consequently, with the help of FreedomHouse and the Open Society Institute this occurred in 2000. Duringthat year a planning meeting, conference and follow-up session wereheld, which resulted in the decision that the creation of a networkof groups active in citizen participation was viable. Therefore, withfinancial support from the C. S. Mott Foundation, the Central andEastern European Citizens Network formed in 2001 and was officiallyregistered in January 2005. In January 2008, CEE CN received aparticipatory status with the Council of Europe and in 2010 theNetwork celebrated its 10th anniversary. During this celebratoryyear new elements were introduced to the Network, includingmembership standards and fees. Furthermore, the area covered bythe Network was divided into sub-regions, to which coordinatorswere assigned, enabling better communication between membersof the Network.
MISSION
The mission of CEE CN is to promote citizens participation in the CEEregion and provide opportunities for grassroots initiatives to learnand exchange experiences and ideas.
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REPRESENTATIVE TEAM MEETING March 19 21, Bialystok, Poland
In 2012 the annual Representative Team meeting was hosted by our Polish member, theNGOs Support Centre OWOP. Representatives from the member countries evaluatedthe activities organized in 2011 and held general discussion on the CEE CN activities for2012, as well as workingin groups to discuss the following issues related to future work:
Institutional development of the Network
Citizens Participation Week
Options for funding
What are we fighting for? Relations with EU and CoE
CITIZENS PARTICIPATION UNIVERSITYCPU July 9 13, Kunbabony, Hungary
During the second week of July CEE CN held its third annual Citizen ParticipationUniversity with the theme GLOBAL UPRISING AND LOCAL PERSPECTIVE. We invitedseveral speakers to present on socio-political issues and crisis analysis. During the weekdifferent workshops were held enabling numerous discussions to take place, includingreactions to the crises in different countries. Also, we tried to convey solutions forcitizen participation on the local, national and international level. To see full versions ofpresentations given visit the link below:
http://ceecn.net/citizen-participation-university/66-2012/271-cpu-2012
During CPU we also launched the European Platform of Active Citizens see more onpage nr. 28.
Activitiesin2012
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SOME FEEDBACK FROM PARTICIPANTS
Many new ideas, even if some of them seemed at first to bea little crazy, we can analyze them and use them anyway.
Well, thank you for a tremendous CPU. What would life be without it?I feel that this years choice of thematic grouping; crises, actions and solutionswas really good in a way that going from depression to hope in our work canpoint out important ways of new activities.
Thanks for this years great occasion. It has become a true tradition thats hardto be without. Imagine Christmas without Santa...
This years CPU was yet another great, enjoyable and interesting event, and youcan be sure that I will return to that little paradise you have created in Kunbabony!
CPU 2012 by Ioana Traista, PACT Foundation
We can measure the success of an event in many ways: the number of participants, theirfeedback, a wide range of speakers and so on. I tend to speak about an event if I go homewith a decent number of questions. From the 9th 13th July I represented PACT Foundationat the Citizens Participation University (CPU) held in Kunbabony, Hungary. Before going
there the agenda seemed very interesting. It featured topics about the crisis and how it caninfluence civil society, the program promised us a series of solutions and at the same time, itmentioned a wide range of professionals working in the fields of community developmentand community organizing.By taking part in the Citizens Participation University I realized it was more than a gatheringbetween three important networks: CEE CN, ECON and CEBSD, but a state of the mind. Mostpeople knew each other and about the work being done, so in between the sessions theywere exchanging stories and examples of good practices, learning about new changes thathad happened in their organizations and talking about activism at all levels. But the story ofthis years CPU is made up of a multitude of elements.First of all, the location the Residential Training Center of the Civil College has aninteresting history. The community center used to be the local school. The 400m 2 buildingwas transformed into a large family mansion with wonderful gar dens where the sessionswere held. Most of the training held here is for civil and community activists (often Roma
groups, the unemployed and community groups from disadvantaged areas), enabling themlearn how to think from the point of view of their and learn civil action techniques.Secondly, at the Citizens Participation University the three networks CEE CN, ECON andCEBSD launched the European Platform for Active Citizens with the aim of re-thinking therole of the citizen, ensuring their voice is included at the local, national and European level.Thirdly, the sessions were built in such a way to offer a complex perspective on civil societyand participation and how it has adapted to the current situation on a global, as well ason a local level. The first few days focused on the crisis and reactions, while during the fewlast days we talked about chances, solutions, and practices. We talked about trying to findsolutions within the system or to fight the system in order to produce change. Moreover,some speakers underlined the importance of facing the crisis through transnationalsolutions; they raised questions such as what are the steps needed to move from actionsto movements and how to define our role in defining new paradigms. Consequently thequestions and answers are different for all of us. The most important question that hasstayed with me so far is How do we strengthen civil society and the citizens? Most ofthe time we tend to associate civil society with civil society organizations and we have thefeeling we know what is happening with our beneficiaries or target audience in general.The Civicus Report: Broadening civic space through voluntary actions: Lessons 2011 states
that there are two types of gaps that we all are facing as citizens as well as civil societyorganizations representatives. The first one I expected: the gap between civil societyorganizations versus the state and the market. The second one I did not find so obvious:the gap between civil society organizations and the citizens. We tend to forget that we,as NGOs, are not the last and only force within civil society and if we forget to listen toeach other, we might lose contact with reality. I heard stories of local governments workingtogether with the community, other tales about communities that needed someone tolisten to their problems so that they feel they can be a part of the call to change. In itself it isharder for us to listen than to speak and, as civil society, we need to listen more in order tofoster more active citizens and concrete solutions to the challenges we are all facing.Hence, I came back from the Citizens Participation University with many new resources thatI will develop further, but most importantly I brought along several new questions andissues that will help me define better our work at PACT Foundation, and my own work andcontribution as a citizen, as well as a member of PACT Foundations team.
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MEMBERS ACTIVITIES, CPW 2012
The activities which took place included:
Forums for candidates with local representatives,
Websites with pre-elections promises,
Reports about the last mandate and the chairmans periodin local communities,
Panel discussion with citizens and public experts on locallevel and uestionnaire for candidates
Investigation about citizens satisfaction withlocal administration and communal service(including: water, electricity, roads and waste).
Citizens of the small municipality Grubino Polje in Croatia were invited by the CityMayor, Mr. Maeruh to participate in defining the priorities for social developmentin the municipality. This was an interesting occasion for more than 60 citizens,representatives of CSOs, public local institutions, unemployed citizens, farm ownersand other interested citizens to discuss, suggest and plan future projects in theirneighbourhood. The project will receive 70 % of their funding from the NationalFoundation for Civil Society Development and 30 % from the Municipality. The processof public counselling with citizens is facilitated by the Center for Civil Initiatives.
Citizens of the Croatian town Duga Resa suggested to the City Mayor priorities for thefuture development of the town. The City Mayor sat in the front row and listened towhat the citizens had to suggest and took notes!
CCO Eastern Moravia organized three meetings for members from different workgroups within the project Implementation of the processes of social services accessibilityplanning in ORP Bystice pod Hostnem which has been on-going in this area overpast 18 months. The first group was aimed at families, children and young people, thesecond for seniors and the third group for disabled people.
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINACenters for Civic Initiatives
CROATIACenters for Civic Initiatives
CZECH REPUBLICCenter for Community Organizing
CITIZEN PARTICIPATION WEEK 2012 CPWSeptember 24 30, 2012
Since 2005 Citizen Participation Week hasbeen highlighting issues that are aboutcitizens and their communities throughpromoting citizens participation. Localand regional issues and problems andalternatives are put on the agenda.While the notions of participation anddemocracy, and the opportunities foractive citizenship, involvement andlocal action are also discussed, with
an emphasis on good practices. TheCitizens Participation Week presentsEuropean wide advocacy campaigns in20 countries, coordinated by the Centraland Eastern European Citizens Network.
You are kindly invited to learn more aboutCitizen Participation Week 2012 by usinglinks below:
CPW web sitehttp://www.ceecn.net/citizen-participation-week/cpw-2012
CPW on Facebookhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/CitizensParticipationWeek/107893082602567
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The engagement of citizens in decision making plays a big part in this project and we
made sure that all participants knew that the meetings had been organised during theCitizen Participation Week (CPW). They were informed about the problematic issue ofcitizen participation, about the importance of public involvement in local activities andabout the idea of CPW in general. Moreover, representatives from the municipalitywere also present so the spirit of citizen participation was spread to higher authorities.
Through CPW in the Czech Republic, CCOCentral Moravia organised a survey of theMembers of Parliament, Ministers, NationalInstitutions and mass media platforms abouttheir activities in the European Year of Citizens2013. CPW information is disseminated withthis survey.
The promotion of citizen participation duringCPW was as part of our activities in Georgiaand Turkey as well as in the Czech Republic.
The 2012 Citizen Participation Week in Georgia was held the week before parliamentaryelections on the 1st October. This was a challenge for CPW on the one hand thepublic was mobilized and ready for the e lection but we had to be ca reful that the civicactivities were not considered to be party propaganda.
Taking into account these issues, Civitas Georgica conducted the following activitiesduring 2012 CPW:
1. Seminar on Civic ActivismA seminar was conducted in Akhaltsikhe for students and teachers. A partnerorganization and member of the CEE CN, Agora CE from Czech Republic alsotook part in this event. During the seminar the importance of Civic activism andyouth participation in decision making was highlighted. This seminar was alsothe official launch of CPW in Georgia.
2. Student Debate CampCivitas Georgica has organized 4 day camp for students from the GeorgianInstitute of Public Administration future public officials on the issues oforganization and conducting public debates. 12 students took part in camp. Itwas organized in the municipality of Patardzeuli, S agarejo.
3. Strengthening the role of associationsCivitas Georgica launched a new project oriented on strengthening the role ofassociations in Georgian villages. It will target five municipalities of Georgia andfocus on increasing participation in local decision-making
4. Student debating finale - on the way to the ParliamentThe final of the debating competition among secondary school students wasorganized at the Rabati museum. The competition was the final round of ayearlong debating project supported by the Polish and Czech ministries offoreign affairs.
Moreover, partners of Civitas Georgica organized several events in regions of Georgiarelated to CPW. For example, Guria Youth Club collected 2000 signatures for petitionon the rehabilitation of the city park; Citizens League from Khashuri distributedleaflets among local citizens on their right to participate in local decision making anddiscussions about the budget; Lanchkhuti information center organized specialseminars on the rights and procedures of elections forfirst time voters.
CZECH REPUBLICAgora CE o.p.s.
GEORGIAInternational AssociationCivitas Georgica
ic, CCOof theational
s aboutCitizensed with
duringGeorgia
ivities
ap rtnerli
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Our most important result, that we were able to keep the scale and level of ourmovement to strengthen citizen participation, while democracy has been under attackin the country in several forms. Hungarian results briefly:
A total of 129 programmes/actions were organized all around the country onmore than 60 municipalities with the cooperation of more than 100 groups/organizations/institutions.
CPW priorities were defined during community planning processes, where finally
several aspects of social, democratic, community, economic sustainability wereframed and later targeted in actions and events.
Around 30 events were organized by newly active organizations, includingcooperatives and for-profit companies (!).
Related to the forms of activities,many more street actions andflash-mobs were organized in 2012than the years before.
CPW developed from the onlineaspect as well. All channels weremore progressive, modern and upto date, while 4 online campaigns/initiatives also joined the Week.
Media was not supportive thisyear. We had less than 50 signi-ficant media articles (half of last
years) which is also very muchconnected with present the Hun-garian public conditions.
More than 3000 citizens filled ourquestionnaire about the quality ofcitizen participation.
Several new cooperation, smallmovements, networking devel-opments were set up/strengthe-ned during CPW 2013 in Hungary.
HUNGARY
Hungarian Associationfor Community Developmentand Civil College Foundation
POLANDNGOs Support Centre OWOP
,opments wer
e uring C
FAIR OF SOCIAL ECONOMY: Social economy entities had an opportunity to presenttheir activities and offers. They were able to promote themselves, get to know theenvironment, establish contacts and strengthen cooperation.
NGOS INITIATIVES FORUM: enabled discussions, exchange of experiences, informationand mutual education on the most important issues related to the development of civilsociety.
A workshop on INFRASTRUCTURE OF COOPERATION CREATING CONDITIONS FORSOCIAL ACTIVITY: A training event in the area of the cooperation model betweenNGOs and public administration. The model was developed on a national scale in 2011.
Citizens Caf under the theme of HOW TO PROMOTE ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP IN THECITY?.
1. Public debate on financing political parties and electoral campaigns.
2. Citizens Participation Caravan in five communities from the Straseni district.
REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVATerra1530
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21st September 2012
Workshop on Citizen Participation insocial businesses organized by the SocialEconomy Development Foundation inCraiova. The social entrepreneurs fromCraiova discussed their66 businesses andhow to generate citizen participation tocontribute towards their funding. One
idea that was debated at this workshopwas street crowd funding and this willbe tried in October, during the City Days.
26th September 2012
Round table organized by CRONO at Calafat (S-W Romania) on Citizen Participationthrough philanthropy for salary donations. The meeting was hosted by Local ActionGroup Calafat, and the participants (NGO members and volunteers, union leaders,employers, local journalists) debated the legislative initiative of the Coalition forIndividualPhilanthropy which claims the tax exemption of salary donations.
27th September 2012
Round table on Citizens taking a stand in the communityorganized by BrainstormingConsulting Romania at Cumpana. The meeting was hosted by the Town Hall of Cumpana(County of Constanta) and the participants debated their role in taking a stand againstanti-social behaviour and the support needed from the public authorities in this respect.
The conclusion was that the citizens are prevented from taking action in some casesbecause of the lack of support from the authorities and this should be supplementedthrough organising and solidarity.
28th September 2012
Round table and press conference organized by CRONO at Craiova on citizensparticipation at philanthropy through salary donations. The meeting was hosted by DoljCounty Prefecture, and the participants (NGO members and volunteers, MPs, unionleaders, employers, journalists) debated the legislative initiative of the Coalition forIndividual Philanthropy which claims the tax exemption of salary donations.
Photovoice exposition organized by the public school Mircea Eliade in Craiova.The children from the primary school presented hundreds of pictures to their teachers,parents and neighbours about how they see their community. The exposition wasorganized in the public park near their school.
The two round tables which were held on the 26 th and 28th September were sur-
rounded by the dramatic situation of the bankruptcy of Romanian NGOs due to poormanagement of Structural Funds by the Romanian authorities. The proposals made bythe participants were sent to the Romanian Ministry of Finance to be included in theFiscal Code.
During this years Citizens Participation Week, a debate was organised on the28th September by the PACT Foundation Partnership for Community Action andTransformation (www. fundatiapact.ro) at the Constantin Cantacuzino TechnologicalHigh School in Baicoi, a small city located in Prahova County, in the South of Romania.The topic of the debate was Citizen Participation during town hall meetings should becompulsory and was chosen by members of the debating club from the high school.
Baicoi was chosen as the location for this event due to the presence of a new project
in the city which started at the beginning of September 2012. The project focuses ondeveloping a community based organisation (CBO) in the city. The purpose of thisCBO is to work with the community and to find participatory solutions for its needsand problems. As there is only one visible NGO in Baicoi the CBO aims to develop andreinvigorate the civic spirit in the community as well as engaging in new projects andactivities related to social and economic well-being.
Before the debate started Georgiana Cune the Community Development Projects Co-ordinator within the PACT Foundation and Istvan Szabo an experienced CommunityFacilitator, Consultant and Trainer collaborating with the PACT Foundation gave a shortpresentation about CEE CN and its projects focusing on CPW and the regional meaning.
The debate was organised in Baicoi with the help of the Constantin CantacuzinoTechnological High School and the City Hall. Around 30 participants were involved,including pupils, teachers, parents and other willing members of the community.
ROMANIA
Association CRONO and SocialEconomy Development Foundation
ROMANIAFoundation PACT Partnership for CommunityAction and Transformation
ance to be includ
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The importance of tax policy in the context of financial sustainability of CSOs was thetopic of Dragan Golubovi, from ECNL, presentation. Dragan Popovi, Policy CenterDirector, stressed transparency, good governance and independence of CSOs as themain factors of their non-financial sustainability, while Mia Vukojevi, BCIF ExecutiveDirector, spoke about CSOs sustainability from the local donors perspective. MarkoKouti, from the Association of Mentally Disabled Persons Blue Bird, from Kula,served as an example of good practice regarding new models of financing and thediversification of financial sources.
Consultative Meetings of Signatoriesof the Civil Society OrganizationsCode of Ethics
On the consultative meeting held inKragujevac on 25th September, re-
presentatives of the CSOs whichsigned and supported the Code ofEthics, discussed mechanisms thatcan secure its implementation andpromotion. This meeting was also anopportunity for exchanging ideas onhow to improve good governance incivil society organizations and increasetransparency of their work. The common opinion reached during the meeting is thatCSOs should work on the promotion and visibility of the Code in the local media, aswell as among small local CSOs. CSOs from all parts of the country, as signatories of theCode, agreed that they will continue to promote the Codes values and principles at thelocal level. As one of the simplest but most effective ways to increase transparency,CSOs recognized publishing their annual narrative and financial reports and projectresults on their websites.
V. session of professionaldevelopment for Civic Education
TeachersWithin the Europe through Our Eyesprogram, the fifth session of profes-sional development for 21 teachersof Civic Education was held on 29thSeptember in Belgrade. Teachersfrom Belgrade, Novi Sad, Pancevo andUzice talked about zero tolerance inschools and prepared to process thesame theme in their classrooms withthe aim to educate students aboutthe concept of zero tolerance as apossible solution to reduce violencein schools.
Youth Volunteer Actions
Within the Lets Create Together action, the informal youth group InovARTistsorganized the opening of an international exhibition in the new adapted gallery onSeptember 26th 2012. In the scope of this action, young people arranged and revivedthe space obtained from the City of Belgrade for the use of the association Livingtogether. Owing to their dedication and participation of a large number of volunteers,beneficiaries of the day care for persons with developmental disabilities now have aplace for socializing and for practicing different activities.
Youth organization Collage Collective, in scope of the Out of sight, out of mind action,invited all interested young people to propose a visual solution of posters that wereprinted in large formats. The topic of this competition was to draw attention to theposition of children and youth who are living and working on the streets. On the 29 thSeptember 2012, in the centre of Belgrade, street actions were delivered together withchildren and youth from the day care centre.
The two volunteer actions were conducted within the Youth is the Law projectimplemented by Civic Initiatives as the resource centre for the territory of the City ofBelgrade. Civic Initiatives provided logistic help and financial support.
The Center for Community Organizing (CKO) together with the active citizens from ourneighbourhoods organised events to gain the attention of local citizens to promotecitizen participation, local activism and CP Week. Two local initiative groups from twoneighbourhoods actively organized local events in order to increase participation intheir neighbourhoods. One nationwide initiative Open Eyes Slovakia (OOS) waspreparing nationwide discussions in different cities on the topic of Citizen Participation
and Local Activism.
SLOVAKIA
Centre for Community Organizing
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The first one was held in the neighbourhood of Sasova in Banska Bystrica. Thecommunity organised a festival called Leto v Haji (Summer in the Haji park). The aimwas to get the citizens outside of their homes and to bring attention to the Haji asmall abandoned park in the heart of the community. On the 20 th September, a weekbefore the festival, CKO was in the main square of Banska Bystrica at the Market ofNon-governmental Organizations to promote its activities. The day after, as part ofthe volunteers day, children from schools actively invited people to the festival andundertook some research about the local Community Centre. On the 21 st September,more than 60 pupils were involved in this activity and were spread around theneighbourhood.
On 25th September, in order to bring attention to the activities being held in the parkthe festival organizing team marked the area with tape saying I dont like this. Thiswas part of a nationwide initiative to encourage people to think about the areas theywould like to change in their surroundings. From the 27th September the citizens had
a chance to change the park themselves. Together they prepared the park for thefestival, voluntarily tidying it and collecting rubbish. For three days the park was fullof people and a variety of different activities were held and were attended by citizensfrom various age groups. Thematic discussions were held every day to enable citizensto discuss the most important issues related to the neighbourhood. All activities wereorganized in cooperation with local institutions and organizations. During the CPW,more than 1000 citizens got together, participated in activities and had fun while alsogetting to know each other and their own potential within the community. There weremany positive reactions with people showing an interest in not just participating innext years CPW but on a more permanent basis. The festival got noticed as the firstcommunity festival in Slovakia and was a big success, involving numerous volunteersand citizens from the neighbourhood, as well attracting people from nearby towns andvillages.
The second successful neighbourhood activity was organised by Initiative ZvolenZapad within their neighbourhood. The activities in Zvolen were held over the entireweek and were far-reaching. Between the 22nd and 30th September activists fromthe initiative organised the redevelopment of a playground in the neighbourhood,sponsored by the City of Zvolen.
A number of discussions were held on the topic Dogs in the neighbourhood as wella discussion between primary school pupils, the vice mayor of the city and severalmembers of the local government and local NGOs where problems and potentialsolution were highlighted. A discussion was also held on safety in the neighbourhoodwith local citizens, representatives of the city police and the vice mayor present.
As a result of the dialogue between the local government and citizens a new play-ground for dogs was opened and shows that co-operation between citizens and localgovernment is possible. Lastly, on the Sunday, a social game was organised Man dont be angry where players including citizens, members of the local government,police representatives, teachers, scouts etc. participated as live markers on a very largegame board made especially for the event.
Already third year in a row, Institutefor Electronic Participation took partin the Citizens Participation Week2012 by presenting possibilities andadvantages of using internet for civicparticipation, activism and communitybuilding at the LUPA NGOs festival inLjubljana.
A the stand of the Institute for ElectronicParticipation (INePA), hosted by Centrefor Information Service, Co-operation andDevelopment of NGOs (CNVOS) as a partof the non-governmental organizationfestival LUPA, visitors and passers-bywere informed about e-participation ande-democracy presented in INePA brochurewell Puzzled by Policy project aiming toprovide citizens with an engaging andeasy-to-use on-line platform, where theycan learn about and give their voice topolicy issues concerning immigration in
the European Union.
At the end of September (24. 30. 2012) in the Donbass region Citizens ParticipationWeek was organised. This year RDA Donbass with four partner organizations in localcommunities Rassypnoye, Krasny Luch, Olkhovatka and Bryanka organized practicalinformational forums in the format of OPEN SPACE.
Open Space meeting is a new form of citizen activation in small, local and predominantlyrural communities. Open Space Technology is one way to enable all kinds of people, inany kind of organization, to create inspired meetings and events.
Lju jana.
SLOVENIAInstitute for ElectronicParticipation
UKRAINERegional Development Agency
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In Open Space meetings and events, participants create and manage their own agendaof parallel working sessions around a central theme of strategic importance, such as:What is the strategy, group, organization or community that all stakeholders can supportand work together to create?
This year for the Open Space meetings duringCitizen Participation Week the chosen topic wasMy initiat ives in solving local key prob lems.
Approximately 450 people took part in OSmeetings within selected communities.
Results were prepared into outcomes and protocols from the different groupsaccording to the locally identified problems i.e. homelessness, health care for theelderly, improvements in primary education, improvement in rural infrastructure, roadsand water supplies and local unemployment.
In November 2012 the manual Open Space a tool forcitizen activation will be published for local leadersin Ukrainian.
CITIZEN PARTICIPATION STUDY
The first phase of the study was completed by the end of 2011 and in 2012 we launchedthe second phase. This will enable us to produce a document which can be publishedand promoted during the 2013 European Year of the Citizen. It has been agreed that theintroduction will be extended, additional country chapters will be added and six cross-cutting chapters that address issues raised in the country chapters will be included. Theconclusion will also be updated.
CEE CN E -PARTICIPATION
Since 2009 CEE CN has established itselfas a key regional civil society network,promoting and using the internet tostrengthen democratic participation, civildialogue, citizen activism, communitybuilding and grass-roots campaigning.The main activities, which are presentedbelow, were implemented in 2012resulting in better online involvementfrom citizens in activities hosted bythe network, as well as establishing an overview of the needs of our members andsubsequently prioritising and planning e-participation activities for the upcoming year.
1. E-participation study
The second stage of the online survey Do you e-participate? was implemented fromJanuary to April 2012 with the aim of establishing an overview of the preferences andneeds regarding the use of internet tools for democratic participation among themembers of the CEE CN. 20 member organizations and individuals took part in thesurvey and identified the following priorities:
e-participation education & training to enable the use of e-participation tools on-line social networking & community building projects generation e-participation project ideas on national and international level supporting local projects with e-participation know how
The main recommendations from the second stage of the e-participation study are tofocus on strengthening CEE CN e-participation leadership and coordination, enhancethe online community building of Citizen Participation Week, provide e-participationtraining working as part of the Citizen Participation University and upgrade thee-participation information on the CEE CN website.
A detailed report from the first stage of the survey is available online at:http://www.inepa.si/images/stories/datoteke/CEE_CN_e-participation_questionnaire_2011_report.pdf.
The overall results of the survey were presented at the Citizens Participation University2012 in Hungary.
e u saccordin
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2012 WORK OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITYORGANIZING PROJECT
Founded in 2008, the mission of the European Community Organizing Network (ECON)is to promote, support, and expand community organizing in Europe. With members in9 countries ECON provides training, consultations, and other resources to organizationswanting to implement community organizing.
In 2012 ECON continued to promote and develop community organizing in Europethrough participation in a US State Department Professional Development ExchangeProgram. Through this program 32 young professionals from Bulgaria, Hungary, Romaniaand Slovakia spent six weeks in the United States where they learnt about communityorganizing. In return 16 American community organizers visited Europe to learn andalso share their experiences. Furthermore, 3 individuals from Hungary, Slovakia, andGermany have been involved in extended community organizing internships in the
United States with the Virginia Organizing Project.
At the local level, with ECONs consulting and training assistance, community organ-izations experienced positive victories in numerous neighborhoods and villages withissues relating to parking, poor infrastructure, public assistance for poor families andimprovements in outdoor spaces e.g. parks. In cooperation with a Grundtvig LifelongLearning Partnership which supported site visits, two conferences, and the sharing ofbest practices, ECON described community organizing and these local accomplishmentsin a Handbook on Citizens Participation Community Organizing as a Tool of EnhancingCitizens Participation. Also with assistance from ECON, community organizing beganworking in Budapest, Hungary and Katowice, Poland. Groups in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainereceived training in 2012 and are seeking funding to begin work.
ECONs partnership with the Center for Community Change based in Washington, DChas supported three visits a year by American community organizers, trainers andconsultants since 2009. This partnership will continue into 2013, focusing on the chal-lenges facing community organizing in Europe namely the building of long-term,multi-issue, and sustainable community organizations with democratic decision-makingprocesses, as well as, increased fundraising capacity.
2. Eparticipation workshop at CPU 2012
In July 2012 an e-participation workshop wasorganized as part of the Citizen ParticipationUniversity in Hungary. The workshop in-troduced recent conceptual and applieddevelopments on the use of internet in orderto strengthen democratic participation bynon-governmental organizations. The secondpart of the workshop focused on present-ing results from the stage of the CEE CNe-participation study as well as case studiesfrom the European e-participation projectPuzzled by Policy.
Presentations from the workshop areavailable on-line at: http://www.ceecn.net/citizen-participation-week/cpw-2012.
3. Citizens participation week 2012
In September 2012 the Citizen ParticipationWeek subpage on the CEE CN website wasupgraded. CPW Facebook newsfeeds, Googlemaps of events, country specific Facebookprofiles, videos and dissemination materialswere added. Also, an archive of previous CPWevents was developed.
These resources can be found at:http://www.ceecn.net/citizen-participation-week/cpw-2012 .
During CPW 2012, members of the CEE CN participated in the distribution of activities
on Facebook resulting in a considerable increase in CPWs online community.
4. Crosscutting chapter on New Technologies and EGovernment
As a part of the CEE CN Citizen Participation Study Learning for Local Democracy,a cross-cutting chapter on New Technologies and e-Government is being prepared. Thischapter is aimed at providing information on the use of internet technology as a factorin shaping local participation. Both conceptual aspects and case studies from non-governmental organizations from across Europe with practical ideas for strengtheninglocal online participation will be presented in the chapter.
Report prepared by Simon DelakordaM.Sc., Institute for Electronic Participation
Ljubljana, 28th November 2012
anc l online p rticipa
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In April 2012 the Friends of ECON was formed consisting of Americans seekingcooperation with ECON members around themes and strategies of mutual interest.At ECONs Annual Meeting in October 2012 the membership team voted to join theEuropean Platform for Active Citizens and also to identify and work on themes ofmutual interest with CEECN and CEBSD.
Photo caption #1 Staffand volunteers from the Resource Center for Public Participation(CeRe) celebrate the major renovation of a family and childrens park won throughcommunity organizing in Bucharests Callatis neighborhood.
Photo caption #2 Members of Forum Community Organizing (FOCO) and local com-munity organizing projects speak to the Social Committee of German Parliament aboutthe need to reform and improve Germanys public assistance program for poor families.
EPAC European Platform for Active Citizens
The Central and Eastern European Citizens Network (CEE CN), the European CommunityDevelopment Network (CEBSD) and the European Community Organizing Network(ECON) have a history of working together in building the capacity of citizens to beactive players in the public life/sphere. The three networks share many values. They a lsohave a belief that democracy is about a shared community of people and is capableof delivering better lives for them. We agreed that an enormous democratic potentialexists and that it includes an understanding that everyone is capable of participating.But we also agreed that we are far from accomplishing a democratic ideal. There isa realization that this requires an investment of effort, creativity, and resources toachieve the potential of empowering citizens and building stronger communities ableto be proactive in their development.
While we share many values and aims, we recognize the differences in our approaches.We agree however that through our complementary approaches we could make alarger impact and achieve our common goals. This is why in 2012 we agreed to form theEuropean Platform for Active Citizens (EPAC) as a vehicle to unite our efforts.
We organized the following events enabling the leaders of these Networks to discussa long term plan of future cooperation:
Joint meeting of CEE CN, CEBSD and ECON leadership groups January 18 19, Budapest, Hungary
Launching the European Platform for Active CitizensJuly 10, during CPU in Kunbabony, Hungary
First EPAC meetingOctober3 7, Orebro, Sweden
PARTNERSHIP IN OTHER PROJECTS
WTD Working Together for Development project
CEE CN is a partner in the Working Together for Development (WTD) project implementedby the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA). This is a 30-months projectwhich aims to foster the role of local authorities associations and civil society networks inthefield of development; enhancing their capacities to act as development agents insideand outside of Europe, partnering with the European Institutions in the implementationof the EC development policies.
WTD Alliance Trainings on Decentralized Cooperation and European DevelopmentDays 2012, 15th 17th October, Brussels, Belgium
In the framework of the EU-funded project WTD Working Together for Development,ALDA, in partnership with 21 international partners and associates from 16 differentcountries of the enlarged Europe organized a training session on the Decentralised
Cooperation and a WTD creative caf session during the European Development Days2012.Chuck Hirt and Lucian Zuleanu represented CEE CN at this event in Brussels.
Action and Reflection for Engaged Citizens project
One of our Romanian members, CeRe (theResource Centre for Public Participation) invitedus to be a partner in their project funded by theEuropean Commission through the Europe forCitizens program. Through this program weanalyzed the current state of citizen participationin 4 EU countries (Belgium, Romania, Slovakia andPoland) and recommendations were put forwardin order to increase citizen involvement in localpublic decision-making.
roups
.
ct
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Announcements
Citizens Network received EU Operating Grant
In 2012 the Citizens Network receivedsupport from the European Commis-sion through the Europe for CitizensProgram. The operating grant ensuredfunding to support all the plannedactivities for the year. Furthermore, thisyear our organization was chosen for amonitoring visit which took place at theend of November. This gave us an op-portunity to discuss our activities andprojects with an EACEA representative aswell as visiting two of local citizen groupswhich we are helping to build as a result
of the funding from the operating grant.
Support for our administrative office
We received additional help this past year thanks to cooperation with KABA Slovakiaand their full-time vocational training, funded by the European Leonardo da VinciProgramme. During the latter part of 2012, Nathalie Kopecky undertook a 10 weekplacement with us. During spring 2012 Irina Pop undertook an internship with CEE CNas part of her masters studies at the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy, at the ErfurtUniversity, in Germany.
Membership
The following organizations are no longer members of our Network because theycould not (for different reasons) fulfill the CEE CN membership standard requirementsincluding the payment of the membership fee:
Community Foundation Sibiu ROMANIA Institute for Social and Humanistic Initiatives RUSSIA Association of Economic Development of Ivano-Frankivsk UKRAINE Ukrprostir NGO UKR AINE
On the other side we now have seven new members from organizations whichapproached us due to association with an existing member:
Estonian Village Movement Kodukant ESTONIA DARTKE Association HUNGARY Social Economy Development Foundation ROMANIA Mehedinteanca Association ROMANIA MilleniuM Training and Development Institute MOLDOVA Regional Foundation for Local Development Zamah CROATIA Center for Rural Initiatives CROATIA
We believe that our membership will continue to grow and stablise and we are still opento new members from the CEE region especially in countries where we currently haveno members. To see the updated membership list please go to page pages nr. 33 35of this report or visit our website http://www.ceecn.net/membership/listofmembers .
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CEE CN members Xfounders of the Network
ALBANIA Urban Research Institute www.uri.org.al
ARMENIA MILLENNIUM Association for Educationand Researchwww.millennium.am
Analytical Centre on Globalizationand Regional Cooperationwww.acgrc.am
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA Centers for Civic Initiatives X www.ccibh.org
BULGARIA Sustainable Development Association SDA
www.sda-bg.org CROATIA Center for Civil Initiatives www.cci.hr
Organization for Civil Initiatives www.ogi.hr
Regional Foundation for Local DevelopmentZamah
www.zamah.hr
Center for Rural Initiatives
CZECH REPUBLIC Center for Community Organizing X www.cpkp.cz
Agora Central Europe, o.p.s. www.agora-ce.cz
ESTONIA Estonian Village Movement Kodukant www.kodukant.ee
GEORGIA International Association Civitas Georgica www.civitas.ge
HUNGARY Hungarian Association for CommunityDevelopment
www.kka.hu
Civil College Foundation www.civilkollegium.hu
Csaba Madarasz individual member www.madaraszcsaba.info
Cromo Foundation http://cromo.hu
Dartke Association www.dartke.hu
Members
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MACEDONIA Biljana Zashova individual member
POLAND NGOs Support Centre OWOP www.owop.org.pl
REPUBLIC OF BELARUS Center of Social Innovations www.csi.by.com
Education Center POST www.post.adukatur.net
REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA TERRA 1530 www.terra1530.md
MilleniuM Training and DevelopmentInstitute
www.millenium.md
ROMANIA Pro Democracy Association Brasov Branch X www.apd.ro
Asociatia CRONO www.crono.org.ro
Association for Community PartnershipBraov
Foundation PACT www.fundatiapact.ro
CREST Resource Center www.crest-center.org
Resource Center for Public Participationwww.ce-re.ro
Social Economy Development Foundation www.fdes.ro
Mehedinteanca Association
RUSSIA Citizen Foundation http://nfst.mccinet.ru
SERBIA Civic Initiatives www.gradjanske.org
SLOVAKIA Center for Community Organizing X www.cko.sk
SLOVENIA CNVOS www.cnvos.si
INePA Institute for Electronic Participation www.inepa.eu
UKRAINE Regional Development Agency www.ard.dn.ua
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FinancialReport 2012
ECON members
BOS NIA Tuzla Community Foundation
GERMAN Y Forum Community Organizing (FOCO)
HUN GARY Hungarian Anti-Poverty Network
Civil College Foundation
MOL DOVA Association of Citizens with Initiative
Craion Contact Cahul
POLAND Bona Fides
ROM ANIA Resource Center for Public Participation
Romanian Association for Counseling and Support
SLO VAKIA Center for Community Organizing (CCO)
SWE DEN St. Johannes Parish Norrkoping
UKRAI NE Opora Lviv
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38 39
BUDGET ITEM Expenses2012
3 362,81
822,00
2 540,81
3 892,67
3 892,67
15 200,00
2 800,00
12 400,00
2 000,00
2 000,00
16 334,96
3 662,03
12 210,86
462,07
95 601,06
38 586,62
5 388,89
14 247,49
14 433,21
168 257,27
Operating grant European Commision
C. S. Mott FoundationCEBSD
Open Society Fundation
Other
Total income
INCOME SOURCE Income2012
BUDGET ITEM Expenses2012
Awareness of Citizens
Web-site maintenance fee
Printed materials
Citizens Participation Week
Promotion materials and local actions costs
Studies
Study for Cere
Citizens Participation Study
E-participation
E-participation pilot project
Citizens Participation University
Travel and travel insurance
Accommodation and meals
Materials
ECON
Annual training
Coordination of Network
Training and Consulting Visits with LocalECON Partners
Local comunity organizing
Translations
Translation of study and other materials
Cooperation with CEBSD
Services and meeting
Leadership of Network
Regional Coordination
Coordinating and representative team meetings
Travel and travel insurance
Accommodation
Administration
Executive salary
Network Coordinator
Financial Manager
Office supplies and equipment
Rent
Audit
Communication (internet, post, phones)
Travel and subsistance staff
Total expenses
48 311,47
4 682,32
5 353,00
10 276,15
28 000,00
2 670,00
2 670,00
7 115,44
7 115,44
7 961,23
1 997,00
5 964,23
4 315,33
1 648,90
64 078,69
14 700,00
13 884,00
14 326,00
1 511,01
5 411,86
2 000,00
1 829,34
10 416,48
168 257,27
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We would like to thank the donors who have provided
support in 2012 year and made our work possible:
C.S. Mott Foundation
European Commission
German Marshal Fund
Open Society Foundation Slovakia
We would also like to thank all members for theircontributions in form of the membership fee andespecially to the NGOs Support Centre OWOP, Poland
and Civil College Foundation, Hungary for hosting CEECN activities in 2012.
For information about how you can help support theCentral and Eastern European Citizens Network ingeneral or a specific activity, send an e-mail to [email protected] or contact the administrative office at the
address listed on the back of this report. Thank you.
For more information about members and activities ofCEE CN check the web site: www.ceecn.net.
Acknowledgem
ents
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Administrative office
CEE Citizens Network
Kapitulsk 13974 01 Bansk Bystrica, SlovakiaPhone: 00421 | 48 | 412 38 80
E-mail: [email protected]
Chuck Hirt director| [email protected] Varga co-director| [email protected] Karailieva coordinator| [email protected] Havlikova financial manager| [email protected] Huba web master| [email protected]
Written by: Team of authors
Editors: Anna Karailieva and Nathalie KopeckyPhotos: CEE CN members,Anna Karailieva and Nathalie KopeckyIllustrations: Pavol BorodovkDesign and Production: Graphic studio Inak | www.inak.skPrinting: PRESS GROUP, Bansk Bystrica
