Change starts locally

The Idea Challenge call 2021 will start March 15

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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.

Idea Challenge

The Idea Challenge funds and mentors up to 20 ideas per year. Eligible countries are Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. The next open call for the Idea Challenge will take place from March 15 until April 26.

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.

What is new in Civic Europe?

Capacity Building

The power of cooperation and co-creation

In this article we reflect on our experiences working with partners in Civic Europe Capacity Building and identify essential steps to use the power of cooperation and co-creation.
on Feb. 25, 2021
Capacity Building

WANTED: Agents of change in Central and Eastern Europe outside the big cities

Mapping four regions in Central and Eastern Europe to give visibility to local actors.
on Feb. 24, 2021
Capacity Building

Kick off: Capacity Building program in Hungary, Poland & Romania

The first partner meeting of the Capacity Building program took place with our new local partners in Hungary, Poland & Romania.
on Aug. 19, 2020
More

Winners Idea Challenge 2020

winner
Social inclusion

PEACEBUILDERS of LESVOS

PEACEBUILDERS is a hands-on peacebuilding program, where multicultural, cross-generational and gender-inclusive local and refugee children, unaccompanied minors and youth, co-create actions, policies…
2020 21 17
winner
Environment and sustainability

Islands of Hope

Small islands are renowned sources of natural richness and cultural diversity. Yet their fate is often decided in urban political centres, while community voices, untrained in structured dialogue, ar…
2020 15 13
winner
Community development

Sicilian Democracy Funds: let’s spend the unspent!

From 2016, according to a regional law, every year Sicilian municipalities must implement participatory democracy projects. Available resources are about 5 millions euro per year. About half is unspe…
2020 11 12
winner

Pre-election Civic Lobbying Accelerator

Peripheral regions exhibit the lowest voter turn-out (40 % in Karlovarský and Ústecký in 2017 general election). Citizens there often distrust parliamentary democracy and feel overlooked by politicia…
2020 11 10
winner

Quarteira Decides

3 neighbourhoods characterized by ethnic diversity, stigmatization, social conflicts, political polarization and distance from centres of power, will decide and implement the projects they consider m…
2020 13 11
winner
Environment and sustainability | Community development

Local Food 4 Local Economy

Tired of watching the global food supply chains dictate what to eat and aware of the huge impact that food and transportation have on Portugal's ecological footprint, a non governmental organization …
2020 16 13
winner
Social inclusion

Roma Voice 2021

We aim to make sure Roma voices are heard in the upcoming parliamentary election in 2021. The initiative will strive to ensure political committment towards the Roma community on behalf of people fro…
2020 7 11
winner
Social inclusion | Community development

A different Bag

Tension, discrimination, intolerance. These words describe the relationship between a Roma settlement and the non-Roma neighborhood in an average Hungarian village. But Bag is different: Bag wants t…
2020 16 22
winner
Social inclusion

Regional Center for Deinstitutionalization

In Museum of Madness we share the story about Slovenia being one of the most institutionalised countries in the world. We aim to raise awareness on the right of people with disabilities to live indep…
2020 10 12
winner
Social inclusion | Community development

Everybody Needs SomeBuddy

Our goal is to empower migrants to become an engaged part of the civil society and to create a safe space where migrants and locals can meet each other, gain better mutual understanding, improve inte…
2020 13 14
winner
Social inclusion | Community development

Miskolc shall be a place for everyone!

Miskolc city has a large Roma population, about 30 000 Roma (definite data is not available). About 70% live in segregated, peripheral districts; around one-third of them are not registered residents…
2020 9 9
winner
Community development

Banská Bystrica - women friendly city

Even in the 21st century, women experience discrimination in Slovakia, as the results of the survey done in 2019 showed. We will support women from various social groups to develop and strengthen th…
2020 17 19
winner
Community development

Trailblazers: Local LGBT+ Activists and Allies

Our vision is Poland where LGBT+ people can feel fully at home in every community. At last. Meanwhile, in the last months, 80 Polish local governments declared to be “LGBT free zones.” We are bringin…
2020 9 13
winner
Social inclusion

Organizing for power

If activism rose lately, this only happens for the middle-class citizens in the big cities, whose basic needs are already met, while people experiencing poverty or lack of access to basic services, a…
2020 10 12
winner
Community development

The Social Herbal Garden

We want to create a community-based garden which supports excluded youngsters & elderly gardeners from rural areas. Our idea creates safe space for work, growth and learning and possibility for inter…
2020 26 24
winner
Community development

Generation Bridge

The seniors and youths separated by modern world developments get together to bridge their competences one to another. The youths teach how the seniors to use digital devices and seniors teach the yo…
2020 16 15
winner
Social inclusion

From eartH to Heart

A new paradigm of inclusion of young migrants through agri-culture! Migrants create their own educational project based on agriculture, sharing agricultural skills with the community and spreading th…
2020 24 28
winner
Community development

HumanBodyText

In the HBT project we are creating a well-equipped community studio for young vloggers, podcasters, bloggers with 24/7 access. We help participants become familiar with the responsibility and techniq…
2020 11 12
winner
Community development

Take the Money, and Do Something for the Youth

Involving the youth in the decision-making process in which youth-related projects would be implemented by the town is called participatory budgeting with youth. The goal of the project is to encoura…
2020 11 8

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

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