As transnational partnership we initiated the European Democracy Network (EDN)
to support, empower and connect activists who stand against the erosion of democracy
and fundamental rights,
and advocate for legal, political, social and climate justice.
We believe that we can only encounter the shrinking of civic space in transnational solidarity and across issues.
Democracy and its underlying fundamental rights are in decline in Europe. More and more right-wing populist parties and leaders are taking over governments and dismantling the democratic constitutional state – even in the so-called consolidated democracies. In this context, we believe it is necessary to support activists and initiatives who are under threat.
We are connecting and supporting a dozen of activists, from the partner countries of the project (Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary and Poland) and from outside the partnership (Slovakia, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine). We all stand in solidarity for social justice, human rights and environmental protection, against the rise of nationalism and white supremacy.
The core activities of the project are workshops and trainings responding to the needs of the EDN activists where they learn from each other, develop their skills and abilities in areas such as Community Management, Public Speaking, Critical Whiteness, Digital Security, Online Communication, Stress Management and Resilience.
The EDN activists meet regularly in each of the six partner countries of the project. During 2,5 days meetings and training sessions, they learn various competences in skills empowering their activism. Every time they meet and exchange with other local or international activists, European public and the media to build connections and share experiences.
From March 2019 to December 2020, the activists of the European Democracy Network, met every few months in a different place in Europe where they took part in various trainings, Activists Networking events, civic sightseeing activities. This video is a documentation of our empowerment program for activists working towards more democratic, ecological and inclusive societies.
During our Online Learning Exchange “Democracies in the Making”, Lucas De Man from Company New Heroes gave a Lecture Performance “In Search of Democracy 3.0” and interviewed 5 Democratic Innovators: Dilara Bilgic (The European Gen Z Manifesto), Katrín Oddsdóttir (Icelandic Constitutional Reform), Marcin Gerwin (Citizens Assemblies – Democracy that works), Moritz Ritter (Liquid Democracy), Eva Rovers (Citizens Climate Assemblies).
During our Online Learning Exchange “Democracies in the Making”, five activists told us stories about the free Belarus initiative, the “LGBT-free zones” opposition movements in Poland, the Civil society response to the authoritarian takeover in Hungary, about the Massive protests and Women Revolution in Poland as well as Inclusion and Diversity in Extinction Rebellion movement.
How can civil society and activist movements resist and handle attacks by authoritarian governments on democratic values and basic rights, also in times of the COVID-19 pandemic? How can new forms of interventions inspire these movements and revive democracy? On Saturday 28.11., our Online Learning Exchange will connect activists defending democratic values and changemakers designing and implementing new models of participation and deliberation.
This video is part of a wider campaign which was launched by L.A. Coalition (coalition for the associations’ freedoms) with the goal of alerting on the several attacks that are directed at civil society organisations in France, on the part of the State. Introduction by Laure Paradis, project officer at VoxPublic.
How is the current pandemic influencing the activism and the life of civil society actors? The interviews were filmed mid-September 2020 in Brno (CZ) during our international networking event “Brno Aktivistické / Activist Brno” co-organised by NESEHNUTI, Hnuti Duha and Citizens For Europe Berlin (DE).
Since December 2017, the right-wing women’s alliance has been marching up to Kandel every month, a protest with Nazis, Identitarian movement and members of Alternative for Germany (AfD), a right-wing populist political party. The far-right demos in the otherwise quiet Kandel, startled the town. The alliance Kandel gegen Rechts was created to organise counter-protests.
Viktor Orbán seized the Coronavirus to seize more power. In the last months, civil society organised to protest against the implementation of anti-democratic measures, and support vulnerable people in times of the pandemic. János Pálinkás, one the activist of our network, documented the last months in Hungary, since the beginning of the pandemic.
Júlia Konkoly-Thege, on of the activist of the network, revived the Green Youth Association in her city Pécs (HU) in 2018. One of their main awareness-raising campaign is the “Green Biker” whose main aim is to develop and promote cycling throughout the city with the aim to reduce air pollution from traffic.
The number of hate crimes in Poland has been growing in the last years. As Ukrainian living in Poland, Igor Isayev – one of the activists of our #EuropeanDemocracyNetwork – has himself been victim of hate speech on the Internet. He has produced this video to support and explain to victims how they can start legal procedures in Poland to encounter hate speech and seek for justice.
Baltic Pipe is a proposed gas-pipeline to be build on Danish territory from 2020 to 2022. Activists are organizing to stop the 2 billion euro project that is one of many European investments in the continued use of fossil energy, right when a phaseout is needed the most.
After a long break, EDN activists met in Brno/Tisnov. Notwithstanding the difficult circumstances of the pandemic situation, EDN activists continue to exchange their experiences and to support each other in their struggles for more democratic, inclusive and ecological societies.
EDN supports the campaign #SyriaNotSafe by Adopt a Revolution. Germany’s interior ministers discuss every six months whether deportations to Syria should be carried out again. For many Syrian refugees the discussion alone is horrifying. Anyone who knows even some of the stories of the tens of thousands of people who have ended up in Assad’s prisons understands why.
“Where authoritarian regimes turn the university off, we turn it online again”. Our network supports Off-University, a free online university created by a group of about 50 persecuted and/or exiled academics from all over the world who prioritize online academic knowledge under threat such as Gender studies and critical peace studies. Their vision: a less hierarchical, more democratic and free academia.
This video highlights the current social movements and struggles for democracy, human rights, for a diverse and inclusive society in Brazil, Haiti, Hungary and France. The interviews were recorded in the context of our Activist Networking event that took place on January 24th, 2020 at the Maltais Rouge in Paris.
Florence Al Talabani – from the Community La guide de Voyage – guides us through the history of revolutionary women and feminist struggles in Paris: from the times of Enlightment, through their roles in French Revolution, to contemporary times.
Networking with representatives of social movements and civil society organizations from France, learning about philanthropy for democracy-related projects in Europe, civic-sightseeing in the footsteps of revolutionary women and looking for responses to the problem of shrinking civic spaces – the weekend between 24th-27th January in Paris was full of valuable encounters and discussions for the EDN activists.
Overview of the social movements and new forms of struggling and mobilisation in France since 2016: Nuit Debout, Gilets Jaunes, Protest aginst Pension reform. by Benjamin Sourice, Responsible for supporting citizens initiatives at VoxPublic. This audio was recorded during the fourth meeting of our European Democracy Network in Paris end of January 2020.
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in France are under various forms of attacks. Jean-Marie Fardeau, Director of Vox Public, tells the stories of shrinking of space for civil society in the country. With the support of Civitates, Vox Public created a coalition composed of civil society actors that experience the shrinking of space for civil society in different fields, including that of migration, anti-discrimination, freedom on the internet, etc.
What are the trends in philanthropy? Why is the field of Democracy a motivation to invest? How can support look like? How is the support managed? During our fourth EDN meeting in Paris, Inga Wachsmann kindly gave the EDN activists an insight into the world of philantropy for democracy-related projects in Europe.
During our Citizens Dialogue event that took place on January 24th, 2020 at the Maltais Rouge in Paris, Bernard Dréano, president of the Centre of International Solidarity Studies and Initiatives (Cedetim) addresses the issue of mobilizations for democracy, peace and fundamental rights in a broad historical perspective.
Hungarian Mari and East-German refugee Marie, two young journalists, are time travelling from 1989 to 2019 to host an interactive conversation with performative elements around shrinking civic spaces and civic actors’ legitimacy and freedom. This performance by Pneuma Szöv was organised by the network in the context of the 17th International MitOst Festival.
One week before the elections in Budapest, the EDN activists went to visit the campaign center of the opposition coalition in the 8th district of Budapest. János Pálinkás, one of the EDN activists and active member of this opposition campaign told us who are the coalition parties and stories of intimidation from the Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz local government to silence local opposition.
Aurora is a center for the independent civil and cultural scene in Budapest, a safe space where human and social rights initiatives and activists from marginalized communities meet and organise. The Fidesz government has been trying to shut them down. Meet up with Ádám Schöneberger.
The use of combination of ideologies and manipulating techniques led to the illiberal outbreak in Hungary which the governing politicians and the dependent/state-owned media use to conduct severe personal and organizational attacks on Hungarian NGOs, being labeled as “Soros Army”. Keynote with Péter Krekó, Political Capital.
As the largest minority group in Hungary, Roma people face pervasive discrimination in Hungarian society. Keynote with Angyalka Kulcsar, Management Assistant and Litigant Care Specialist at European Roma Rights Centre.
Community organising; mobile video; Roma Community, media propaganda and shrinking of civic spaces in Hungary – the third meeting of EDN activists was full of intensive training sessions, inspiring keynotes, city civic sightseeing, artistic vibes and networking opportunities.
Over 50 international guests, representing over 30 different organizations and activists movements, came together to exchange best practices and ideas to create social and political change.
In a session on right-wing populism in Germany, Paulina Fröhlich from Progressive Zentrum and Kleiner Fünf presented Radical Politeness, a strategy of conscious handling with right-wing populism, to counteract hate and exclusion actively.
White Privileges, Digital Security, Positive Psychology, Right-wing Populism and Shrinking Civic Space in Germany – the activists of the European Democracy Network project took part in various training sessions during our Networking Meeting in Berlin end of June.
Stories of street actions, violence, intimidation and threats… How is the populist right-wing and national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party ruling Poland and how does it affect street opposition? Polish activists tell how the PiS politics is eroding the democratic standards and values in Poland.
First spontaneous action of the group of activists: A flashmob at an event gathering polish candidates at the election of the European Parliament, starting a public hearing campaign of many civil society actors as our Polish partner Obywatele RP.
Citizens For Europe, Obywatele RP and European Alternatives co-organised an open space gathering different activist groups both from Poland and across Europe. The participants of the event shared about their activism and the situation in their country and exchanged on how they can work together with other European activists to fight the shrinking of civic space in Europe.
Aktham took part in the uprising in Syria on March 2011, and came to Berlin in 2015 where he now works as a volunteer for Start with a Friend e.V., a non-profit organization that promotes active participation of newcomers in life of their new communities.
Alper is a member of the Kandel gegen Rechts (KgR) group. Together with other activists, he coordinates protests and rallies to oppose the right-wing populism in their town of Kandel.
Asuman is a member of the community Academics for Peace that works with persecuted academics from Turkey. In 2017 Asuman and other members of the community founded Off-University, an online university promoting emancipatory forms of learning through classes taught by persecuted scholars.
Charlotte is the coordinator of the International Centre of Popular Culture (CICP), a centre based in Paris, France, housing 80 associations of international solidarity and supporting civil society movements with resources.
Igor is a Ukrainian journalist in Warsaw. After the right-wing government took over the public media, he lost his job at The Polish Public Radio. He is now the editor-in-chief of the portal PROstir.pl founded by Ukrainians living in Poland and he is active in the civic movement Obywatele RP.
Iwona is a member of Obywatele RP and The Polish Women’s Strike. Both organisations are non-violent movements and have an ambition not only to be against, to protest, and to provide evidence for the violence of the nondemocratic system in Poland, but also to change it by proposing alternative, pro-democratic and pro-choice solutions.
János is active in C8 – a democratic community that supports the collaboration of active citizens in the 8th district of the Hungarian capital. Together with other activists, János also founded another civic initiative called Beteg voltam, és meglátogattatok (I was sick, and you visited me).
Jonathan is a chair of the board at the solidarity organisation Global Aktion and he is currently involved in struggles related to Climate Justice, natural resources and political ecology. He is particularly interested in the political economy of food systems and the mobilization of small-scale food producers.
Júlia founded the local group The City is for All – Pécs whose members are homeless and formerly homeless people, and people living in housing poverty along with their allies who all work together for a more egalitarian and fair society. She is also organizing a progressive green-activist group called Green Youth Association in Pécs.
Kristýna is a coordinator of volunteers and of the School of Sustainability at Hnutí DUHA – Friends of the Earth Czech Republic. The organisation focuses on environmental issues and civic engagement. Kristýna coordinates over 800 of volunteers and help them participate in various activivities of their organisation.
Miroslav is a community organizer at the Center for Community Organizing (CCO) in Banska Bystrica in Slovakia. The NGO is supporting citizens initiatives, providing trainings and organizing consultations with citizens, elected officials and local municipalities representatives in the field of active citizenship.
Samia is a speaker, organizer, former director of the youth led organisation Coexister in France. She is currently working for the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding and the German Marshall Fund on a Transatlantic Tour to meet, interview and promote the initiatives of activists, community and religious leaders working for pluralistic societies.
The European Democracy Network (EDN) is coordinated by Citizens For Europe gUG. Its activities are co-designed and implemented by the activists themselves and the project partners from Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary and Poland.
2024 © by Citizens For Europe | Created by K-Majick @ Cyberleaf Studio
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