OPEN CALL FOR CSOs IN ROLE OF CONTRIBUTORS AND PARTICIPANTS
EU TACSO 3 project is announcing the ,,Community Resilience Forum” and inviting CSOs and CSO networks from the Western Balkans and Turkey to apply as contributors to the Forum sessions or participants of the event.
The Community Resilience Forum will be held on 20 – 21 October 2021, in Belgrade, Serbia, in the form of physical event in line with the required COVID-19 epidemiological measures in the country. Limited Forum sessions will be available on-line. The exact location and link to the on-line sessions will be provided prior the event.
The Community Resilience Forum addressed one of the most critical issues for civil society as identified in „Assessment on the State of the Enabling Environment and Capacities of Civil Society against the Guidelines for EU Support to Civil Society in Enlargement region, 2014-2020, for the period 2018-2019 “ , i.e. CSOs relation with constituencies and genuine activism. CSOs have detached from their constituencies which affects their legitimacy, relevance and finally their impact. Community-based organisations, those working at the local level, grassroots, informal groups and citizens’ movements are those that have the strongest ties with their constituencies. Commonly, they are able to mobilise citizens, particularly when it comes to issues that are of high interest to citizens and when it comes to small communities. However, new social developments such as political instability and violation of basic freedoms in some of the countries, emergency situation with COVID-19 pandemics etc., change citizens’ priorities and put new challenges in front of CSOs. CSOs, therefore, require new approaches to persist in activism in these turbulent circumstances, including also attention to communication trends that digitalization and new technologies bring.
The Forum will be organised on a regional level, to facilitate learning, exchange and discussion among CSOs so they can think together of resilient modes of activism (particularly in challenging circumstances). Moreover, the event will serve to bring back the enthusiasm and strategic orientation in rebuilding trust and strengthening relations with key constituencies. It considers bringing lecturers and models of good practice from EU (particularly Central and East Europe), from the WBT region, but also internationally.
The specific objectives of the event are:
- To introduce CSOs from WBT with new approaches and good practice models to activism and community mobilisation;
- To support exchange of CSOs practices and skills in citizens’ activism, participation in decision making and community mobilisation;
- To raise the issue of constituency building and discuss strategies to promote and support activism and community mobilisation in the WBT;
- To increase ability of CSOs to respond to basic freedom violation.
The Community Resilience Forum will be a space for reflection, exchange of ideas, inspiration for future actions and vision for our communities and CSOs.
This regional Forum will be implemented in the form of a two-day event involving around 60 participants representing CSOs and CSO networks from WBT region. The Forum will primarily target grassroots, but also other CSOs such as community foundations, CSOs providing grants and capacity building to grassroots, and other interested CSOs including networks, women’s CSOs and EU-funded CSOs.
The event will consist of different types of main and parallel sessions, each focusing on a specific issue. By applying this approach, the high level of participation of the large group of participants will be ensured. Official language of the event is English.
Parallel sessions are envisaged as the smaller events for groups of up to 20 participants. The experienced practitioners will share their thoughts, lessons learned and expertise at those events ensuring exchange of experiences among participants, peer to peer support and transfer of knowledge and skills through short workshops and tasks.
Please, review the draft Agenda document for more information on the key topics of main and parallel sessions here.
Detail information for the CSOs and CSO networks interested to apply as contributors of the Forum is available here.
EU TACSO 3 project will cover direct costs of the participation in the Forum including:
- Travel costs;
- Full board and accommodation at the venue/hotel of the Forum;
- Daily substance allowances
- PCR testing costs when required. For more information on the requirements for entering into Republic of Serbia please visit the following link.
All CSOs and CSO networks from Western Balkans and Turkey interested to participate and contribute to Forum implementation are invited to apply by using one of the below forms.
The final agenda of the event and related logistical details will be provided prior the Forum.
Deadlines and Submission
All applications should be submitted until Wednesday, 6 October 2021, 17:00 hrs CET.