Study Visit to Madrid

7/31/2019 Study Visit to Madrid

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Study VisitMADRID

8-11 October 2012


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Report and analysis of CFE mission in Madrid

I - Why a field trip for CFE ?

II - Why Madrid?

III - Who did we meet with?

IV - Spanish point of view on CSOs cooperation in Spain and EU

V - Expectations towards Citizens for Europe

VI - Lessons to be learnt and future perspectivesVIIFollow up


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I - Why a field trip for Citizens for Europe?

DECENTRALIZE - explore what is happeningbeyond the axis Paris-Brussels-Berlin

EXPAND - Meet new organizations, (smaller andless visible) who could benefit from the tool CFE

LEARN - Gain better knowledge of the daily workof these CSOs, of their needs, expectations andresources. Get their feedback on CFE platform.

COMMUNICATE - Give greater visibility to Citizensfor Europe


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II - Why Madrid ?

CFE DEVELOPMENT Increase the number ofregistered Spanish organisations

POLITICAL INTEREST - Crisis & multiplication ofcitizen movements, new demands andexpectations towards Europe, need to feellinked to global initiatives

KNOWLDEGELanguage and country


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IIIWho did we meet with ?

NINE organisations working on national and/or EU issues

DIVERSITY in terms of :

TOPICS - EU policies and action, right to access information, open data,development cooperation, gender equality, education, peacebuilding

STRUCTURESsmall/big, young/old, national/international

RESOURCES and FUNDING -public/private/crowdfunding/international/volunteering

TARGET AUDIENCEpoliticians, EU citizens, Spanish citizens, medias...

COOPERATION EXPERIENCEpast or no experience, difficulty to findpartners, lack of resources, language barrier


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EUROPA EN SUMA

Structure: Individual members (journalists) No office

Activities: Promote the dissemination of information on the

EU in Spanish media Online publication of information Informal debates with high level figures

http://www.europaensuma.org/
http://www.europaensuma.org/http://www.europaensuma.org/


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FUNDACIN ALTERNATIVAS

Structure:

Established and well-known foundation workingwith politicians and experts

Large staff and research team

Activities: Pro-European foundation promoting reflection on

political, economic, social EU and Spanish issuessort of think tank

Publication of analysis and reports El Pas-hosted blog Observatory of foreign policy, Alternatives

Laboratory

http://www.falternativas.org/
http://www.falternativas.org/http://www.falternativas.org/


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ACCESS INFO EUROPEStructure: Created in 2006 Young, dynamic and international team Many partners: used to international cooperation

Activities

Promoting and protecting the right of access toinformation in Europe and globally

Lobbying for government accountability andtransparency and easier public participation indecision-making

Creator and member of Pro Acceso Coalicin Campaigns Publication of guides and toolkits

http://www.access-info.org
http://www.access-info.org/http://www.access-info.org/http://www.access-info.org/http://www.access-info.org/http://www.access-info.org/http://www.access-info.org/http://www.access-info.org/http://www.access-info.org/http://www.access-info.org/


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FUNDACIN LUIS VIVES

Structure:

Merging with Accin contra el hambre-Espaa

Activities Work on employability of young

graduates, adequacy of education andtrainings to market needs, social inclusionand development

Experienced with European Social Fund Awaraness-raising campaigns

http://www.fundacionluisvives.org
http://www.fundacionluisvives.org/http://www.fundacionluisvives.org/


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RED CIUDADANAS DE EUROPA

Structure:

Individual membership of high profilewomen (writers, journalists, teachers)

Volunteerbased (only one part timesecretary)

No office

Activities

Monthly informational Newsletter ongender equality issues (+ 20,000 subscribers)

In 2009: publication of a manifesto

http://www.redciudadanas.org/
http://www.redciudadanas.org/http://www.redciudadanas.org/


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DECIDEStructure Created in 2009 No office No permanent staff

Activities: Promote a better and more transparent

cooperation for development andinternational aid for less developedcountries

Publication of proposals, articles and a

book Focus on Latin America and Spanish

speaking countries

http://www.decide-ongd.org
http://www.decide-ongd.org/http://www.decide-ongd.org/http://www.decide-ongd.org/http://www.decide-ongd.org/


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FUNDACIN CULTURA DE PAZ

Structure:

Established organisation Firstgeneration of NGOs in Spain

Activities:

Information and analysis on peace andconflict resolution issues

Campaigns and publications

Not much international cooperationand partnerships because blocked bylack of funding and language barriers

http://www.fund-culturadepaz.org/
http://www.fund-culturadepaz.org/http://www.fund-culturadepaz.org/http://www.fund-culturadepaz.org/http://www.fund-culturadepaz.org/http://www.fund-culturadepaz.org/http://www.fund-culturadepaz.org/http://www.fund-culturadepaz.org/


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FUNDACIN CIVIOStructure:

Created in February 2012 Two permanent staff and one trainee No office

Activities:

Investigative journalism Campaigns and projects on open data,

government transparency andaccountability

Very innovative strategies for actions Funded exclusively by private donations and

crowd funding New technologies

www.civio.es
http://www.civio.es/http://www.civio.es/


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FUNDACIN CIVES

Structure: Directly linked to Liga espaola de educacin

Activities: Teacher trainings in matters relating to ethical and

civic education. Organisation of courses, conferences and seminars,

to deepen the understanding on these issues andthe creation of networks.

Publication of books, reports, conference anddebates proceedings as well as educational

materials in the field of civic education and ethics. Campaigns and creation of tools to exchangegood practices

http://www.fundacioncives.org
http://www.fundacioncives.org/http://www.fundacioncives.org/http://www.fundacioncives.org/http://www.fundacioncives.org/http://www.fundacioncives.org/


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IVSpanish CSOs and cooperation in Europe

Why is Spanish civil society weakly organised?

Historical and cultural reasons:

Long dictatorship No sense of governmentaccountability and transparency Borders closed for decades: CSOs not used to

think international

No philantropic tradition (= no private funding forNGOs) Language and resources barriers


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Impact of the economic crisis :

Lack of public funds NGOs depending ongovernment grants fear to lose them and thusnever criticize the government

A conservative backward step in Spain notonly in laws but also in mentalities

Big disillusion with regards the EU and itsdemocratic system: huge GAP between theNorth and the South of Europe is often

denounced


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No organised civil societyNo accountabilityNo funds andanswers

CITIZENS HAVE TO STEP IN CREATION OF MOVEMENTS andPROTESTS that are not yet organised and easily identifiable

NGOs and citizens are forced to find new fundingstrategies and new ways of organising themselves:Oiga me(online platform for citizens mobilisation),

goteo.org (online crowd funding service to financeprojects), N-1 (new social network) and other localtrading services.


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VExpectations towards Citizens for Europe

PARTNERS cfe.eu as tool to meet Europeancounterparts to implement common projectsand apply for EU Call for proposals

EXCHANGE experiences and good practices

INFORMATION ex. databases of EU or nationaljournalists, MEPs, funding opportunities, how torespond to EU call for proposals


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VILessons learnt and perspectives

For CFEs strategy to respond to NGOs expectations:

Create tools allowing NGOs to get to know each otherand exchange best practices and experiences

Go further than proposals : promote campaigns,activities and good practices that make Europe living

The online tools are important but must be completedby field missions that allow us to better know our

partners : meeting people is fundamental to promotethe project and meet new motivated partners andpoints of view


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For the website and the Internet platforms and

tools:

Many NGOs told us that they had difficulties inusing the website properly

Need of a section dedicated to the sharing oftoolkits and guides

Need of a really working and user friendly forumfor NGOs to exchange about their needs and

ideas Exchange of visibility: we need to create a

label citizens for Europe


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VIIConcrete follow-up

Enlargement of the Network

NewsletterFocus on the Spanish mission

Article for open citizenship

Proposal of enlargement of the Core Team AccessInfo EuropeFundacin Civio ?

Creation of an online banner for more visibility

Mission to Cordoba

Study Visit to Madrid

Documents

Transcript of Study Visit to Madrid