Change starts locally

Read more about our impact story 2020-2022

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Civic Europe

One program, one narrative

Civic Europe is a multi-level enabling framework aiming to strengthen civic cohesion and active citizenship in local communities in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. We support locally rooted organizations and projects in two ways: through the Idea Challenge on the one hand and the Capacity Building on the other. The program will end in April 2023.

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Idea Challenge

The Idea Challenge funded and mentored up to 20 ideas per year. Eligible countries are Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

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Capacity Building

The Capacity Building program fosters the capacities and the ecosystems of locally rooted organizations and individuals who want to make change in their communities. It supports individuals and organizations working in the fields of civic education and civic engagement in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Romania.

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What is new in Civic Europe?

Idea Challenge | Winners 2021

Winners in the spotlight 2021: Taking the fear out of local politics

Our next ‘Winners in the spotlight’ interview is about ‘Taking the fear out of local politics’. As the name proclaims, the project tackles the question: How can we support engaged people to run for office in local politics?

on Dec. 20, 2022

Idea Challenge | Winners 2021

Winners in the spotlight 2021: Danube Design Lab

As part of our interview series Idea Challenge Winners in the spotlight, the next winning project that we’re introducing is the Danube Design Lab from The Collective in Bulgaria.

on Sept. 30, 2022

Idea Challenge | Winners 2020

Idea Challenge Winners in the spotlight: Organizing for Power

Let us introduce you to the Romanian project Organizing for Power by the Resource Center for Public Participation (CeRe). How to reach out and empower local communities? Read more below in our interview.

on Aug. 26, 2022

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Winners Idea Challenge 2021

Community development | Youth participation and empowerment

Hear me!

Hear me! is all about listening. Youth’s voice will be heard and recognized for the first time and their lives will change from that time on as equal members of the community. Our goal is to break th…

Community development | Environment and sustainability

Dialogue & Action for the Future

The small village is facing the challenge of growth and development in a changing world and is continuously decreasing in terms of demographics, local economic and social structures. But, even the sm…

Human rights | Social inclusion

Women for Women - W4W

W4W is about giving voice and empowering women who have experienced homelessness and are in the process of recovery. They want to support other women who are now in a homeless situation, by creating …

Environment and sustainability | Social inclusion

Burning issues

Energy poverty is a considerable challenge in North-East Hungary. It is a topic at the intersection of various social, housing and climate policies, therefore the process of finding the right tools t…

Community development | Youth participation and empowerment

Rise and shine

Our challenge is to engage youth in the local decision making processes and the development of the community. We want to give them a chance to actively take part in solving community challenges. We w…

Environment and sustainability | Youth participation and empowerment

Trails of Participation-Sentieri di Partecipazione

Depopulation, lack of opportunities for youth, isolation and neglected commons are all challenges faced by the 7 villages involved in our project. We want to revive our communities, reconnect them an…

Environment and sustainability | Youth participation and empowerment

Exploring Pathways to an Ecological Renaissance

Vukovar in Croatian means sacrifice, war memories, divided community tied up to the past. Past engulfs the present tightly as 2021 marks 30 years since the city fell. Mindful of unhealed wounds our…

Environment and sustainability | Youth participation and empowerment

Make It Green Lesvos

The world is racing towards carbon neutrality by 2050 to reverse climate change. We want the Youth to be the forefront in this race. Local and refugee youth in Lesvos have few opportunities to learn …

Community development | Youth participation and empowerment

Challenging Youth

Our plan is to engage youth in the local decision-making processes and the development of the community, as well as give voice to marginalized groups in our communities. We will start by creating a y…

Human rights | Social inclusion

Olhão + Equal

The project will support the creation of a Municipal Plan for Non-Discrimination, as a public policy for the promotion of human rights and social inclusion, providing a response to tackle growing rad…

Education and research | Social inclusion

All Equal Under the Sun

Roma people in the village of Napkor can only break the cycle of poverty through getting a quality education for their kids. It is crucial for them to learn to get their voice heard. Our objectives a…

Community development

Taking the fear out of local politics

Engaged citizens who want to serve their communities as local representatives often know little about how local government works. They want to use their vision and goodwill in local office but they a…

Community development | Education and research

Academy of dialogue

Our aim is to create the Academy of dialogue as a platform to teach youth workers and teachers to use their authority wisely and to support young people in entering the dialogues and expressing their…

Community development | Youth participation and empowerment

Gutenberg Network - Incubator for Youth Initiative

The goal is to equip high-schools students with the necessary actionable skills and tools to become active agents of positive change in the local community in their respective 14 small- and medium-si…

Arts and cultural activities | Youth participation and empowerment

Danube Design Lab

In Ruse, deindustrialization has left the river detached from the city, while career and social opportunities for youth have diminished. The Danube Design Lab empowers socially excluded youth to chan…

Community development | Environment and sustainability

Connecting Roots

Rural areas of Castelló province are lacking innovative initiatives that make use and take care of their heritage and help to stop depopulation. We aim to get together the rural communities in a part…

Arts and cultural activities | Community development

EVERYONE’S OASIS. From being apart to being a part

Desert oases are a peaceful meeting place and a crossroads of cultures. The project aims to promote inclusiveness by fostering mutual exchange between different ethnic groups, with culture as a main …

Community development | Youth participation and empowerment

YOUNG diverCITY

YOUNG diverCITY is a structured dialogue experience: an horizontal and inclusive space within which 300 young people, aged between 12 and 29,coming from diverse backgrounds, are able to engage with p…

Civic Europe is an incubator for locally rooted civic initiatives, organizations and individuals in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe realized by commit by MitOst and Sofia Platform Foundation, funded by Stiftung Mercator.