Study Visit

MADRID
8-11 October 2012

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 perspectives VII Follow up

I - Why a field trip for Citizens for Europe?

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

happening

EXPAND - Meet new organizations, (smaller and less visible) who could benefit from the tool CFE LEARN - Gain better knowledge of the daily work of these CSOs, of their needs, expectations and resources. Get their feedback on CFE platform. COMMUNICATE - Give greater visibility to Citizens for Europe

II - Why Madrid ?

CFE DEVELOPMENT Increase the number of registered Spanish organisations POLITICAL INTEREST - Crisis & multiplication of citizen movements, new demands and expectations towards Europe, need to feel linked to global initiatives KNOWLDEGE Language and country

III Who 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, peace building STRUCTURES small/big, young/old, national/international RESOURCES and FUNDING - public/private/crowdfunding/international/ volunteering TARGET AUDIENCE politicians, EU citizens, Spanish citizens, medias... COOPERATION EXPERIENCE past or no experience, difficulty to find partners, lack of resources, language barrier

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/

FUNDACIN ALTERNATIVAS
Structure: Established and well-known foundation working with politicians and experts Large staff and research team Activities: Pro-European foundation promoting reflection on political, economic, social EU and Spanish issues sort of think tank Publication of analysis and reports El Pas-hosted blog Observatory of foreign policy, Alternatives Laboratory

http://www.falternativas.org/

ACCESS INFO EUROPE

Structure: Created in 2006 Young, dynamic and international team Many partners: used to international cooperation Activities Promoting and protecting the right of access to information in Europe and globally Lobbying for government accountability and transparency and easier public participation in decision-making Creator and member of Pro Acceso Coalicin Campaigns Publication of guides and toolkits http://www.access-info.org

FUNDACIN LUIS VIVES

Structure: Merging with Accin contra el hambreEspaa Activities Work on employability of young graduates, adequacy of education and trainings to market needs, social inclusion and development Experienced with European Social Fund Awaraness-raising campaigns http://www.fundacionluisvives.org

RED CIUDADANAS DE EUROPA

Structure: Individual membership of high profile women (writers, journalists, teachers) Volunteerbased (only one part time secretary) No office Activities Monthly informational Newsletter on gender equality issues (+ 20,000 subscribers) In 2009: publication of a manifesto http://www.redciudadanas.org/

DECIDE
Structure Created in 2009 No office No permanent staff Activities: Promote a better and more transparent cooperation for development and international aid for less developed countries Publication of proposals, articles and a book Focus on Latin America and Spanish speaking countries http://www.decide-ongd.org

FUNDACIN CULTURA DE PAZ

Structure: Established organisation First generation of NGOs in Spain

Activities: Information and analysis on peace and conflict resolution issues Campaigns and publications Not much international cooperation and partnerships because blocked by lack of funding and language barriers

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

FUNDACIN CIVIO
Structure: Created in February 2012 Two permanent staff and one trainee No office Activities: Investigative journalism Campaigns and projects on open data, government transparency and accountability Very innovative strategies for actions Funded exclusively by private donations and crowd funding New technologies www.civio.es

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 and the creation of networks. Publication of books, reports, conference and debates proceedings as well as educational materials in the field of civic education and ethics. Campaigns and creation of tools to exchange good practices http://www.fundacioncives.org

IV Spanish CSOs and cooperation in Europe

Why is Spanish civil society weakly organised? Historical and cultural reasons:

Long dictatorship No sense of government accountability and transparency Borders closed for decades: CSOs not used to think international No philantropic tradition (= no private funding for NGOs) Language and resources barriers

Impact of the economic crisis :

Lack of public funds NGOs depending on government grants fear to lose them and thus never criticize the government A conservative backward step in Spain not only in laws but also in mentalities Big disillusion with regards the EU and its democratic system: huge GAP between the North and the South of Europe is often denounced

No organised civil society No accountability No funds and answers

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

NGOs and citizens are forced to find new funding strategies and new ways of organising themselves: Oiga me (online platform for citizens mobilisation), goteo.org (online crowd funding service to finance projects), N-1 (new social network) and other local trading services.

V Expectations towards Citizens for Europe

PARTNERS

cfe.eu as tool to meet European counterparts to implement common projects and apply for EU Call for proposals experiences and good practices

EXCHANGE

INFORMATION

ex. databases of EU or national journalists, MEPs, funding opportunities, how to respond to EU call for proposals

VI Lessons learnt and perspectives

For CFEs strategy to respond to NGOs expectations:

Create tools allowing NGOs to get to know each other and 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 completed by field missions that allow us to better know our partners : meeting people is fundamental to promote the project and meet new motivated partners and points of view

For the website and the Internet platforms and tools:

Many

NGOs told us that they had difficulties in using the website properly Need of a section dedicated to the sharing of toolkits and guides Need of a really working and user friendly forum for NGOs to exchange about their needs and ideas Exchange of visibility: we need to create a label citizens for Europe

VII Concrete follow-up

Enlargement of the Network Newsletter Focus on the Spanish mission Article for open citizenship Proposal of enlargement of the Core Team Access Info Europe Fundacin Civio ? Creation of an online banner for more visibility Mission to Cordoba