Deadline: 15-Jul-23
The Transatlantic Foundation (TF), in cooperation with the Engaging Central Europe (ECE) program of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, is launching a dedicated Call for Proposals to support civil society organizations (CSOs) with the objective to enhance online and offline citizen participation in public deliberation and decision-making processes in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
Public trust in government is dropping across Central Europe, while citizens disengage and lose interest in democratic processes. Insufficient transparency, lack of open governance, and too little accountability of public officials result in low levels of civic engagement.
In contrast, civil society and the enabling infrastructures it creates are crucial to counter the negative trends of low public participation and political apathy, to foster civic engagement, and to ensure the equal enjoyment of fundamental rights and EU values in society as a whole.
Funding Information and Duration
- Under this call, TF will support short-to-medium-term projects with a duration of 6 to 24 months, with a budget ranging from EUR 10,000 to 25,000 for single-country projects and from EUR 10,000 to 40,000 for cross-border projects.
- The available overall call budget is EUR 300,000. TF reserves the right not to award all available funds depending on the proposals received and the results of the evaluations.
Eligible Activities
- Types of Eligible Activities:
- organization of inclusive online and offline participatory processes, frameworks, event series and other participatory formats
- organization of inclusive online and offline issue-driven or community-based dialogue formats or other deliberative platforms
- organization of civic platforms and civic dialogues, awareness raising, outreach, communication and public information campaigns through social media
- building coalitions and partnerships among CSOs, coordination and strategic cooperation between CSOs and other stakeholders, including public or private sector entities
- other online/offline forms of supporting civic engagement at the local, regional, or national level in public deliberation, political decision-making, and implementation or monitoring of policy processes
- The project activities must take place in one or more of the targeted countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Cross-border activities with other EU member states may be considered as well.
- Special emphasis must be given to the promotion and protection of rights and values under the EU Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights as well as to a gender-inclusive approach at all levels of the proposed project implementation.
- Organizations that engage individuals or groups in peripheral areas are especially encouraged to apply.
Eligibility Criteria
- The call is open to non-profit-making CSOs established in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
- The CSO must demonstrate compliance with the fundamental rights and values that the EU is founded upon, and a proven track record in fostering civic participation in the respective EU member states.
- Natural persons are not eligible.
For more information, visit German Marshall Fund(GMF).
