News

Europeanising civic space: Civitates commits grants to enhance collaboration and connections

For a thriving civic space across Europe, there is a need for civil society to collaborate and to have the opportunity to better connect national efforts to those at the EU level. Our coalition partners share that collaboration takes different forms such as participating in cross-border projects or peer exchanges with other civil society actors or coalitions; having an active membership in European networks; and alerting the European community on negative developments in their respective countries.

12/01/2023

International Day of Democracy: Celebrating the defenders of Democracy

On Democracy Day (an initiative created by the UN as part of their efforts to build democracy), Civitates would like to acknowledge and celebrate the strength, motivation, and resilience of civil society actors without whom democracy would be the shadow of what it is today.
Having acknowledged that democracy is a constant joint effort, European foundations decided to pool funds together within the umbrella of a fund for democracy and solidarity in Europe – Civitates.

15/09/2022

Small, flexible, and accessible grants can go a long way

Grantees’ needs evolve, new challenges and opportunities constantly emerge, at the same time it is important to provide space and time for civil society and journalistic organisations to reinvent their strategies and approaches and build wider constituencies. There are plenty of important aspects of organisational strengthening that fall out of the scope of a typical grant application such as emerging collaborations, exchanges, specific thematic training opportunities, attending conferences and initiating cross-organisational visits.

26/04/2022

How can journalism thrive in a time of crisis?

Independent, public interest journalism in Europe finds itself increasingly under pressure with journalists being silenced, refused access to political debates, and the plurality of media being at risk. At the same time, independent media organisations are financially strained as the Internet has changed how people consume news. As a result, fewer and fewer people are willing to pay for news and advertisers are redirecting money to online platforms where unverified information is provided for free.

17/02/2022

Press releases

December 2019, Announcing a new fund to support independent, public interest journalism in Europe.

February 2019, Press release about the formation of Civitates by sixteen foundations.

November 2018, “A time to stand together“ – A declaration condemning the violence directed towards civil society. Full statement and list of signatories

Civitates in the media

September 2020, “Independent journalism is essential to democracy” – Alliance Magazine, Vol 25, Number 3

July 2018, “Can foundations contribute to social cohesion in Europe?”- Rien van Gendt, Vice President , European Cultural Foundation

June 2018, “A new fund for democracy and solidarity in Europe” – Alliance Magazine, Vol 23, Number 2

May 2018, “Strengthening the bonds of civil society: A new initiative hopes to encourage solidarity and democracy in Europe”- Interview of Stefan Schaefers in Visegrad Insight