Consortium Projects

Within the Active Citizens Fund programme, we implemented two projects of our own which contributed significantly to the programme’s objectives and strengthened its overall impact.

Strengthening the capacities, skills and capabilities of civil society organisations in advocacy work

The project was implemented by OSF Prague.

The aim of the project was to strengthen the capacity of civil society organisations to defend public interests. The project’s activities focused on strategically supporting the advocacy work and watchdog competences of civil society organisations at the national, regional and municipal levels so that these organisations can effectively monitor the public sphere and contribute to bringing about systemic change, but also so that they can increase their transparency towards the public and confront the hostile attacks from populists.

Activities of the project:

• Cooperation with 41 civil society organisations on their advocacy campaigns over 4 years
• Organisations received 1,243 hours of individual consultations
• 119 people attended workshops to create advocacy strategies, as well as workshops dedicated to improving their media work within advocacy campaigns
• 7 consultants participated in regular networking and sharing meetings
• The creation of a number of publications for sharing good practice:
  • Handbook for the Seemingly Powerless (How to Plan Advocacy Campaigns – in Czech)
  • How to Break Through a Wall with Your Head (about 4 local advocacy campaigns – in Czech)
  • How the Ents Saved the Forests (advocacy campaign story by Friends of the Earth – in Czech)

Benefits of the project:

• Supported organizations have adopted the methodology for doing advocacy work and are able to transfer it to their other activities outside the specific campaign consulted on
• Implemented campaigns, especially in the field of health care and social services, have improved the position of disadvantaged groups
• The campaign of the organization Assistance helped to increase funding for personal assistance (enforcement of the introduction of a fifth, individualized level of care allowance, which will ensure people with disabilities get as much help as they need)
• The organisation Care Without Barriers contributed to the creation of a relief service for families of children with disabilities in Prague thanks to their advocacy campaign
• The organization Amalthea pushed through a lunch program in schools and kindergartens for children from socially disadvantaged families in Chrudim, while also thanks to the campaigns by Care Without Barriers and other NGOs the initially insufficient budget for social services was increased.

Get together, Generate new ideas: Strengthening youth participation in civic activities

The project was implemented by the Scout Institute

The aim of the project was to increase the interest of young adults in public affairs and to actively involve them. Hundreds of educational and experiential activities were organised to strengthen young people’s relationship to active citizenship, to improve the necessary soft skills to do so and to develop civic competences. Participation in workshops, seminars and the implementation of their own projects helped participants in finding their role in today’s society and developing their own potential – learning how to learn, make decisions and experience real things.

Activities of the Project:

• Within the project, a total of 21 Forums for Youth were organised. These informal meetups were designed so that groups of active people who were determined and ready to deal with interesting topics could organize events not only for themselves, but also for others. In the end, dozens of debates, workshops and other activities were organised.
• There were 41 projects supported through the so-called Incubator. Various ideas from socially conscious young people were transformed into distinctive civic projects with assistance from experienced mentors and trainers.

Benefits of the project:

• Increasing the interest of young adults in public affairs ad events
• The development of civic, organisational and communication competencies
• Promoting active participation in local communities
• The long-term impact on strengthening civic engagement of the young generation

Some examples of the projects:

• the creation of a short documentary “Kubelíkova 66” (a problematic concrete panel tower block of flats in the centre of Prague)
• the creation of Studio Muse in the Scout Institute in the Old Town Square – a classical music rehearsal room (especially useful during the pandemic)
• the concept of a film club for visually handicapped children
• the poor state and lack of public drinking fountains in Prague gave rise to the civic initiative “Water for Prague” (which included the popularization of the theme, mapping of drinking fountains and establishing cooperation with the Prague Institute of Planning and Development)
• the creation of the festival “Reflection” in Příbram (a student festival offering concerts, lectures, exhibitions and screenings with participation of local artists and performers)

For more information can be found at www.troufni.si and www.zaloz.si.