Civil society organisations address a wide range of issues and fulfill critical social, cultural, civic, recreational, and economic functions. They support underrepresented and marginalized groups, offer critical services, and contribute to social cohesion and the preservation of democratic life through their different missions. Around one in every five Europeans is involved in associative life in some form.

Despite this, the social and civic significance of this sector is frequently overlooked and criticized. A major source of concern is that governments in numerous countries, sometimes under the guise of the COVID-19 crisis, are curtailing CSOs’ public and financial freedoms.

Through this conference, the Diversity Europe Group, in partnership with Civil Society Europe, wishes to add emphasis to these developments and provide a forum for reviewing the state of civil society organisations in Europe. The event will feature contributions by high-level speakers, as well as representatives of CSOs active in various Member States.

The Conference is also organised with the support of the EESC’s Civil Society Liaison Group and the Associational Life Category. 

More information on the event can be found here.
The event will take place on 5 November 2021 in Brussels in a hybrid form. 

**Registrations for external participants are open on this page until 2nd November 2021,12:00pm (CET).