Representatives from CEE countries in the „Res Publica Civilis” Conference

The “Res Publica Civilis” Conference lasted two days and came to an end on September 20, 2008. The conference was organized within the 5th Polish Forum For Non-Governmental Initiatives and took place mainly on the University of Warsaw campus. Association 61 (http://www.art61.pl/) had the pleasure to invite the CEE Trust’s beneficiaries to participate in the event. The role of Association 61 was to adjust the Polish conference for the group of foreign participants. This consisted mainly of translation of materials, ensuring translation during the sessions and organization of logistics. The participants included 14 representatives of non-governmental organizations from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovenia.

The Polish Forum For Non-Governmental Initiatives, which was held from the 13^th to the 20^th of September, has been organized for the fifth time by the Forum for Non-Governmental Initiatives in Warsaw (http://www.ofip.org.pl/x/356138). This year the format of the Forum differed from that of previous years. Aside from the conference and the Picnic of Non-Governmental Organizations, many additional elements and accompanying events were planned as part of Citizens’ Week. The main goal of the Forum was to enable non-governmental organizations and people involved in civic initiatives to meet and discuss. The Forum was an opportunity for dialogue, skill-sharing and a discussion about the form and further development of civil society.

The “Res Publica Civilis” Conference was held under the patronage of Her Magnificence, Vice-Chancellor of Warsaw University, Vice-Chancellor of Warsaw University, Prof. Katrzyna Chałasińska-Macukow. The first day of the conference was devoted to the principles of the strategy of civil society development, and issues connected with this subject: active and conscious citizens and civic education, active local communities, strong non-governmental organizations, good governance, civil state. The sessions were conducted in Polish but there was simultaneous translation ensured for the foreign group.

On the second day of the conference sessions took place devoted to issues such as: civic dialogue, third Sector action standards, models of cooperation between NGOs and local governments, EU Funds available to NGOs, engaging young people in public life, the role of corporate foundations, legal environment of the Third Sector. A Supporting Organizations Fair also took place during the conference. This was a presentation of organizations and institutions that support NGOs through different types of training courses, consultancy and advice, of grant donating organizations, but also of private companies, that target their offer at non-governmental organizations.

There was also an opportunity to take part in the Picnic of Non-Governmental Organizations which took place on 20^th September. The event was a summary of Citizens’ Week.

As the parallel sessions and accompanying events during the second day were greatly varied, the guests of Association 61 were accompanied by six translators who were either graduates or students of the Faculty of English Philology and whose role was to assist the participants in the chosen activity.

We hope the Conference was a great opportunity for our guests to gain a thorough insight into the practice of Polish Non-Governmental Organizations and establish new contacts for further cooperation between CEE countries in the future.

The list of participants:

Aurelia Grigore, Civil Society Development Foundation (CSDF)

Laura-Maria Balut, Centrul de Resurse Juridice

Ioana Popa, Resource Center for Public Participation - CeRe

Andra Elena Dusu, Romanian Academic Society (SAR)

Zoltán Szövérdfi-Szép, Pentru voi Foundation

Marketa Visinkova, Ekologicky Pravni Servis

Eliska Decka, Open Society Fund Prague

Linka Stoykova Toneva, Transparency International – Bulgaria

Gergana Jouleva, Access to Information Program

Goran Forbici, CNVOS – Centre for Information Service

Kinga Dabrowska, Pontis Foundation