European Democracy Network (EDN)
European Democracy Network (EDN)
The European Democracy Network (EDN) is a transnational partnership 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, with the belief we can only encounter the shrinking of civic space in transnational solidarity and across issues.
The network activites consists of joint workshops and ‘citizens dialogues’ in the consortium’s geography, namely: Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, France, Slovakia, Denmark and Germany.
Through joint workshops, peer to peer exchanges and sessions take place - in areas such as secure digital communication, campaign management, etc. As we all a comparative knowledge exchange happens on how the process of eroding democracies in Europe develops legally, politically, medially and socially in order to enable the development of strategies to combat these developments.
Whereas the international citizens' dialogues underlines Europe's pressing questions should also be discussed jointly by citizens and common solutions should be found. These activities bring together a European public, media and politics in the dialogues of the citizens in order to educate, understand and have a broad impact on society.
7 events have been carried out within this project:
Event 1:Kick Off Meeting in Berlin, Germany
Participation: The event involved over 25 citizens (including 15 participants) from Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, France, Hungary, Poland and Turkey.
Location/ Dates: The event took place in Berlin, Germany from 28/01/2019 to 30/01/2019
Short description: The aim of the event was to co-design the project objectives, activities and timeline.
Event 2:Workshops and Citizens Dialogue in Warsaw, Poland
Participation: The event involved over 60 citizens (including 26 participants) from Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, GB, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Turkey, Slovakia, Sweden and Ukraine.
Location/ Dates: The event took place in Warsaw, Poland, from 22/03/2019 to 25/03/2019
Short description: The aim of the event was to get to know each other, exchange on experiences as activists in Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, France, Turkey, Slovakia, Denmark, Ukraine and Germany. The participants co-designed the future of the network, its activities and how do they want it to empower them. They also had the opportunity to meet Klementyna Suchanow, Polish author and political activist, who presented the neo-conservative movements in Europe and the backlash on human rights it brings. The activists also did their first spontaneous action, a flash mob at an event gathering polish candidates at the election of the European Parliament and took part in an open space gathering with different civil society actors groups both from Poland and across Europe. The aim of the Citizens Dialogue was to give the opportunity for local people to meet and exchange with a group of international activists, to get to know their countries' specific context, to experience the European dimension of their own engagement as well as to exchange perspectives, opinions and visions on European topics.
Event 3: Workshops and Citizens Dialogue in Berlin, Germany
Participation: The event involved over 60 citizens (including 21 participants) from Austria,Bulgaria,Czech Republic, Denmark, France, GB, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Slovakia, Syria and Ukraine.
Location/ Dates: The event took place in Berlin, Germany, from 28/06/2019 to 01/07/2019
Short description: The aim of the event was to take part in a series of trainings and workshops on the subjects of Critical Whiteness, Digital Security, Positive Psychology, Right-wing Populism and Shrinking Civic Space in Germany. The Citizens Dialogue under the name “Transnational Inspirations dinner” gave also the participants the opportunity to meet local and diaspora civil society actors living in Berlin as well as to share inspiring activists stories and best practices to create change.
Event 4: Workshops and Citizens Dialogue in Budapest, Hungary
Participation: The event involved ca. 53 citizens (including 20 participants) from Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Turkey, Slovakia and Ukraine.
Location/ Dates: The event took place in Budapest, Hungary from 04/10/2019 to 07/10/2019
Short description: The aim of the event was to take part in a series of trainings and workshops on Community organising and campaigning; mobile video activism; the situation and discrimination of Roma Community, media propaganda and shrinking of civic spaces in Hungary; psychological support to prevent burn out and strengthen resilience. The aim of the Citizens Dialogue was also to exchange with local and international guests of the 17th the International MitOst Festival.
Event 5: Workshops and Citizens Dialogue in Paris, France
Participation: The event involved over 50 citizens (including 24 participants) from Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, France, Hungary, Poland, Turkey, Spain, Slovakia and Ukraine.
Location/ Dates: The event took place in Paris, France, from 24/01/2020 to 27/01/2020
Short description: The aim of the event was to network with representatives of social movements and civil society organizations from France, Latin American and Caribbean countries (during the Citizens Dialogue), share activist success stories, learn about fundraising opportunities and philanthropy for democracy-related projects in Europe, experience civic-sightseeing in the footsteps of revolutionary women and look for constructive responses to the problem of shrinking civic spaces.
Event 6: Workshops and Citizens Dialogue in Brno, Czech Republic
Participation: The event involved over 50 citizens (including 15 participants) from Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Turkey, Slovakia and Ukraine.
Location/ Dates: The event took place in Brno, Czech Republic, from 11/09/2020 to 14/09/2020
Short description: The aim of the event was to take part in a series of trainings and workshops, including: forest therapy, training on non-hierarchical organisation and non-violent communication.The aim of the meeting was also to visit places connected to local activist groups and movements in Brno, while the aim of the Citizens Dialogue was to exchange on the growing challenges for civil society organisations related to the governmental restrictions, shortages of funding for civil society projects and laws limiting basic freedoms in times of Covid-19 pandemic.
Event 7: Final Evaluation, Workshop meeting on online resistance and Online Conference "Democracies in the Making!" - Online Learning Exchange
Participation: The event involved over 140 citizens (including 25 participants) from Belgium, Canada,Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Palestine, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Spain and UK
Location/ Dates: The events took place online, on 28/11/2020, 04/12/2020, 08/12/2020 and 12/12/2020.
Short description: The aim of the online meetings with the EDN partners and EDN participants was to make the final evaluation of the project. We have also organized an online workshop on online resilience in order to empower EDN participants in times of Covid-19 pandemic. The aim of the final conference was to discuss and exchange experience on the following issues: 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? And how can new forms of interventions inspire these movements and revive democracy? The practice-oriented Online Learning Exchange connected activists defending democratic values and change makers designing and implementing new models of participation and deliberation, beyond periodic elections. During the event, guests got involved in dialogue, shared their ideas and explored concrete examples and best-practices of citizen-centered and future-oriented democratic innovations
You can download the summary of the events here.
For more information on the activities, participants and the project archive, visit https://europeandemocracynetwork.org/
The content of this webpage does not reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Responsibility for the information and views expressed lies entirely with the author(s).
The project European Democracy Network was funded with the support of the European Union under the Programme Europe for Citizens.