The Festival runs on 20th-21st October 2022 in Brussels (Belgium), Ispra (Italy) and online and brings together people of diverse backgrounds that are interested in, and work on, engagement of citizens in science, policymaking and deliberative democracy in Europe (and globally).

4th Public Participation and Deliberative Democracy Festival

The Democracy Festival each year features a variety of events including open conversations, interactive sessions, artwork, and an exhibition of participatory and/or deliberative democracy projects. To coincide with the European Year of Youth, this year the theme of the Festival is ‘Youth Participation’. 

Download the agenda of the event.

The Festival is also the principal annual networking event for the Community of Practice of the Competence Centre on Participatory and Deliberative Democracy.

How To Participate

The registration is open. You will need to register before 30th September 2022 if you are attending the Festival in person in Brussels or Ispra, or online via Zoom. You will not need to register, however to access the livestreams of the in presence events.

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L'articolo 4th Public Participation and Deliberative Democracy Festival proviene da Youth Networks.

The projects cover the following action:

• Key Action 3: Support for policy reform
• Erasmus+ – Key Action 3 – Civil Society Cooperation Youth

Have a look at the list of the beneficiaries here.

L'articolo Selection results – Support for Policy reform, Civil Society Cooperation in the Field of Youth (EACEA/41/2018) proviene da Youth Networks.

What type of activities the strands supports

The strand – Democratic engagement and civic participation offer grants to:
– Activities covering civic participation, focusing in particular on European Union policies
– Initiatives developing opportunities for mutual understanding, intercultural learning, solidarity, societal engagement and volunteering at EU level

For that reason, it includes three specific measures:
Town twinning – supporting projects bringing together citizens from twinned towns. By mobilising citizens at local and EU levels to debate on concrete issues from the European political agenda, this measure will seek to promote civic participation in the EU policy making process and develop opportunities for societal engagement and volunteering.
Networks of towns – providing funding to municipalities and associations working together on a common theme in a long term perspective, and wishing to develop networks of towns to make their cooperation more sustainable
Civil society projects – supporting projects gathering citizens in activities directly linked to EU policies, providing an opportunity for direct participation in the policy making process. Funded activities may include: promotion of societal engagement and solidarity, gathering of opinions, volunteering.

Type of grants available under the umbrella of Europe for Citizens

For actions with a limited lifetime during which proposed specific activities are implemented
Town twinning (town/municipalities and non-profit organisations representing local authorities):
* The maximum eligible grant for a project is 25 000 EUR
* The maximum project duration is 21 days
Networks of towns (Town/municipalities or their twinning committees or networks, other levels of local/regional authorities, federations/associations of local authorities, non-profit organisations representing local authorities:
* The maximum eligible grant for a project is 150 000 EUR
* The maximum project duration is 24 months
Civil society projects (Non-profit organisations, including civil society organisations, educational, cultural or research institutions):
* The maximum eligible grant for a project is 150 000 EUR
* The maximum project duration is 18 months

In order to apply, you must create an EULogin (European Commission Authentication Service) account. Furthermore, each organisation involved in your project (applicant and partners) must register in the Participant portal and receive a Participant Identification Code (PIC). The PIC will be requested in the application form. To access the Participants’ portal, you will need your EULogin username and password.
Finally, create your official electronic application form, also called the eForm. To create your eForm, your will be asked to go through the follow steps, without interruption:
* Select the funding opportunity
* Even more select a language option
* Select the organisation(s) participating in your proposed activity (applicant and partners)
* Even more create the application eForm
* Above all save the application eForm to your local computer or network drive
* Finally fill in the e-form and save regularly

Your project has better chances to be approved it it has consistency with the objectives of the Programme and Programme strand, quality of the activity plan of the project, a good dissemination plan and a real impact and citizen involvement.

Read more here.

L'articolo Europe for citizens – how to access the Programme proviene da Youth Networks.

People most affected by a problem are in the best position to determine the solutions. Therefore, leadership development is an essential component of social change work.
True change occurs only when underlying, systemic forces are understood and addressed.
Grassroots, constituent-led organizing is among the most effective means to create social change. They define organizing as collective action from the bottom up that challenges the status quo, demands changes in policy and practice, educates communities about root causes, and advocates and agitates for systemic and just solutions.
Finally, lasting change occurs when Social Justice Movements are built from the ground up and grassroots groups come together across sectors and constituencies to work for the common principles of Human Rights and Justice for All.
Furthermore, the Grassroots Organizing for Social Change program supports organizations that share and embody this theory of change.

Application process for Grassroots nonprofit

Step 1 – Above all, carefully read guidelines – Familiarize yourself with what we fund, our priorities & restrictions, to ensure a good fit
Step 2 – Complete Pre-application by reviewing grant cycles. Register or Log in to their platform to complete pre-application
Step 3 – Even more, complete the full proposal – If invited, submit full proposal by relevant deadline

Guidelines and priorities
The Grassroots Organizing for Social Change Program offers general or project support to non-profit organizations throughout the United States. The one-year grants for up to $25,000 is for organizations with budgets under $500,000. Only organizations with 501(c)3 status, or who have a fiscal agent with this status are eligible to apply.
The foundations goals are to further social and environmental justice and support sustainable and just food systems. Therefore, they focus on the types of activities and strategies an organization uses for creating social change rather than on the specific issues the organization is addressing.

So, they will only consider proposals from grassroots, constituent-led organizations that are using community-organizing and base-building strategies to accomplish their goals.

Priority Strategies Areas

* Community & ally outreach
* Leadership development
* Constituent empowerment &
decision-making
* Popular education
* Root cause analysis
* Power analysis
* Campaign development
* Mobilizing constituents & allies
* Coalition building
* Direct action
Applications are to be submitted through their online grant management system This tutorial can be useful.

Deadlines
Once you have determined that your organization fits their funding guidelines and funding priorities, you will need to submit the application by October 15, 2018.

Read more here. Also, discover more grants here.

L'articolo Grassroots NGOs – Call for projects proviene da Youth Networks.

What are Lifeline Advocacy Grants?
Lifeline rapid response advocacy grants give local nonprofits the resources to push back against closures of civic space as they arise. Lifeline advocacy grants are highly flexible, and can support a wide variety of activities: community mobilization, policy and legal analysis, civil society coalition building, strategic litigation, awareness raising campaigns, and advocacy capacity building.

Applications can be made directly to CIVICUS.

The CIVICUS Crisis Response Fund, established in 2007, serves as a mechanism for mobilizing quick, principled and effective advocacy responses to events that threaten civil society’s fundamental right to associate and assemble freely.

Advocacy supported through the Crisis Response Fund
The Crisis Response Fund will provide small grants of 10,000 USD maximum to primarily national civil society organisations in order to conduct advocacy activities over a course of a maximum of 6 months. These activities, designed by the applying organization, should be relevant and have the largest chance of bringing about positive change. These activities could be, but are not limited to:

– National workshops with civil society actors to discuss and plan advocacy strategies, such as to repeal restrictive legislation;
– Advocacy meetings with decision makers at to give recommendations on how to ensure freedom of association and assembly within the given context;
– Public engagement campaigns conducted via social media, traditional media or alternative advocacy tools;
– Fact-finding and report publication with the aim of conducting evidence-based advocacy;
– Regional networking with other civil societies under siege to exchange best practices and share legal expertise;
– Solidarity visits or missions by international high level bodies and/or celebrities.

How to apply
1. Please read the Crisis Response Fund Guidelines and Protocols document to know the criteria for applying
2. Complete the Crisis Response Fund Application Form
3. Complete the Crisis Response Fund Budget.
4. Email the completed Crisis Response Fund Application Form and the Crisis Response Fund Budget to crisis.response@civicus.org

Download the documents here or  discover other advocacy grants here.

L'articolo Civil society organisations, supported by Lifeline proviene da Youth Networks.