Awareness-Raising Workshops: «Engaging Communities, Empowering Change: Strengthening Civil Society Outreach»

These workshops will focus on ‘The Role of Civil Society in Building a Strong Rule of Law in the EU.’ Eight three-hour workshops will be offered, led by two European civil society networks: NENO (Network of Estonian Non-profit Organisations, Estonia) and CNVSOs (Slovenia). These workshops will share best practices from Estonia, Slovenia, and the EU, highlighting the role of CSOs in promoting the rule of law and encouraging candidate organisations to submit impactful proposals.

The Awareness-Raising Workshops will be held in English. For those who wish, there will be an option to enable English captions.

Workshop 3: «Engaging Communities, Empowering Change: Strengthening Civil Society Outreach»

Topics:

• Working for People vs. Working with People – Shifting from representation to participation
• Breaking Out of the Bubble – Finding allies beyond your usual circles
• What Truly Persuades People? – Understanding motivations and triggers
• Transparency and Legitimacy – Building trust for lasting engagement

Trainer: Goran Forbici

Goran Forbici has been the director of CNVOS, the umbrella body of Slovenia’s non-governmental sector, for the past 15 years. CNVOS unites over 1,800 NGOs and networks, ranging from the Slovenian Olympic Committee, the National Red Cross, and Caritas, to small local sports and cultural associations. He also serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Slovenia’s Public Broadcaster (RTV Slovenija). As an experienced lobbyist and campaigner, he has co-authored several laws and legislative solutions related to the NGO sector. He is a member of various governmental advisory and working bodies, including the Council for the Development of NGOs and Volunteering.

His areas of expertise include creating an enabling environment for civil society, evidence-based policymaking, inclusive policy development, and regulatory impact assessment. He regularly collaborates with the European Commission, the Council of Europe, and the OECD as an expert and trainer.

The project “Protecting democracy, human rights and the rule of law through an open civic space” (PLATO) aims to protect, promote and raise awareness of EU fundamental rights & values by supporting Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Greece & Cyprus with funding and capacity-building. PLATO is co-funded by the European Union through the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme, Bodossaki Foundation and NGO Support Centre, with a total grant amount of €3.1 million. PLATO is coordinated by Bodossaki Foundation (Greece) in partnership with the NGO Support Centre (Cyprus).

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.