Civil Society Exchange is more than an exchange. It’s a whole environment which inspires collaboration and sharing between NGOs and institutions which come from many backgrounds, countries, and fields of work. We were impressed, inspired, and motivated by the stories of other NGOs in the program and those we met when we visited our partner organization ALDA.
For us, Prathiba and Maria, it was clear after a short time that we wanted to apply for Civil Society Exchange.
We wanted to learn from other actors in civil society, to share our own experiences, and be part of an international exchange of ideas and inspiration. We were curious about how people in other NGOs worked, about the projects that they were imagining and creating, and about the concrete methods they had found to implement those ideas and improve their societies. Because our work is usually implimented on a regional level, we were eager to expand our borders and broaden our network. With Civil Society Exchange we had the amazing opportunity to do this, and to become part of an international community of civil society actors.
For some time now the focus of our work has been youth participation. Through a unique partnership with an NGO in Turkey, we were able to exchange fresh ideas on best practices, methods, and actions for boosting youth participation, as well as to develop a joint project together. In addition to supporting our work, the partnership also allowed us to see the as of late tense relationship between Germany/EU and Turkey from a personal and human perspective.
Last, but not least, we applied for Civil Society Exchange to have fun and build relationships with other people engaged in civil society, and this we definitely achieved.
Are you interested in connecting civil societies between Turkey and Europe? Is your organization or initiative looking for an international partnership and needs organizational capacity building? Do you want to host and/or visit a partner organization?
Then don’t miss the opportunity to become part of an inspiring, diverse, and international community of civil society organizations and civil society actors. Apply here for Civil Society Exchange by December 4.
The Civil Society Exchange provides civil society organizations and initiatives a platform and framework for forming and fostering partnerships between Turkey and Europe. During the program, partners work together to create a model for tackling a mutual organizational issue and improving and building their internal capacity.
We invite actors to come together, work on organizational development, exchange ideas and good practices, inspire and be inspired, and take the next steps towards stronger organizations and initiatives. Read more about it here.
Civil Society Exchange is a cooperation between MitOst and the Center for Civil Society Studies of Istanbul Bilgi University, and supported by Stiftung Mercator.
We are happy to announce the opening of the Call for Participants for Civil Society Exchange! Imagine how exciting and fruitful it could be to work in a partnership with an organization or initiative from Europe/Turkey. You would travel from one country to the other and develop a model together. Do you want to be part of this journey? Then get ready, look for a partner organization and apply until 5 June. We’d love to have a mailbox full with your motivations!
The Civil Society Exchange team from Berlin and Istanbul is excited to start a new journey with this program! Civil Society Exchange is for motivated persons who are part of civil initiatives or organizations and who want to travel, get together with other civil society actors, and work in an international partnership on capacity building models. Find out more about this journey about.
