On 28 and 29 March civil society activists and academics from all over Europe, including from the Balkans and Black Sea Region gathered at the European Civic Academy in Słubice, at the Collegium Polonicum, an academic institution symbol of the German and Polish reconciliation and of European unity.

The meeting was organised in cooperation with OFOP, the Polish national civil society platform, the European Association for Social Sciences and Humanities and was co-funded as part of the CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness by the Swedish Cooperation. Participants discussed together challenges and threats around civic freedoms, smaer campaigns to civil society, attacks on human rights and the rule of law in the context of emerging illiberal democracies and authoritarian governments. They shared academic and practice reflections and studies on the roots and causes of populism and interactions with civil society, the role of “uncivil society”, as well challenging pre-conceptions on this topics. The phenomenon of state capture and corporate capture was also addressed. Participants also shared good practices on civil society organisations resilience and legitimacy.

Please click here to find the programme and the speakers.

Presentations by speakers:

Janus faced Populism_Palonen_ECALuuk Molthof_Voices on Values – European Civic Academy Assya Kravakova_Study on Societies outside Metropolises CSOs Populism The situation of civil society in Poland_Musiał-Karg Challenges for organised civil society in PL and solutions to respond-ECA-F_Pazderski Presentation_CSO Resilience_Black Sea NGO Forum_ECA

Conference Report here.