Central Europe Civic Forum - for promoting citizen involvement

On May 23-25 in Budapest, the Central Europe Civic Forum was held, organized by DemNet from Hungary, National Democratic Institute from the United States and our Institute, as part of the Central Europe Civic Engagement Project.

This 2-day civic forum was an opportunity for representatives of NGOs from Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania, Lithuania and Slovenia to share their experiences, successes and challenges faced by their organizations in their daily activities. During multiple sessions we discussed, among others, the ways to engage youth into civic participation, promoted successful advocacy initiatives and took a deeper consideration on NGOs burnout issues. Our Institute was represented by Filip Pazderski and Sonia Horonziak from the Democracy and Civil Society Programme.

Central Europe Civic Engagement Project (CECEP) is a five-year initiative promoting citizen involvement in the political processes through community action in Central Europe. Our Institute is one of the coordinators of the project and supports selected civic coalitions from Poland in the development of their potential and opportunities. During the Year One we are cooperating with:

- Akcja ratunkowa dla Krakowa / Rescue Action for Krakow
- Koalicja Ratujmy Rzeki / Save the Rivers Coalition 
- Łódź Różnorodności / Łódź of Diversity
- Nasz Rzecznik / Our Ombudsman
- SOS dla Edukacji / SOS for Education

We are so glad that we have got this opportunity to meet and celebrate the civic engagement around the Europe with all of the participants and hope that the outcomes of this Forum will be visible through more civic action!