Getting insights & deeper knowledge

CIVIL SOCIETY in the European Union

Christiana Weidel

The World of NGOs, Austria

Governments, administration,

parliament, justice, political parties

Profit oriented private economy, companies,from SMEs to multi-national enterprises

Associations, NGOs, NPOs, interest groups, self help

groups, co-operatives, mutuals, foundations,

churches

1st Sector: State

2nd Sector: Market

3rd Sector: Civil Society

How is society organised?

Understanding CIVIL SOCIETY

Civil = non-military population

= concerned with affairs of public interest

= civilised (so what about Greenpeace?)

Civil Society: The private sphere of interest between state & market

Organised Civil Society: Organisations with a legal basis, representing citizen groups

Civil Dialogue: Structured communication with CS, following practice of Social Dialogue

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Policy fields for Civil Society in the EU

Environ-ment

Human rights

Culture

Health and consumer policies

Education & Science

Humani-tarian relief

Develop-ment aid

Others

Economy & Finance

Social policy

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Characteristics of CSOs

1. Organisation with not-for-profit orientation

2. Self governing system, statutes & tools

3. Focusing on common good

4. Independence from State and Market

5. Some elements of volunteering

6. International component

7. Ambitions beyond individual benefit

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Develop your organisationMastery of managementManagement by agreed objectives (P. Drucker)Follow defined strategiesKeep financial records

Mastery of independenceHave a mixed financing for activitiesEstablish resources for own-fundingDevelop further (in) networks

Mastery of communication

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Develop your network

Networking theory Social ScienceProf. Renate Mayntz, Germany

•Networks are made of personal relations = not an anonymous market•Independent knots with informal relation = not formally constituted by rules•Voluntarily tied, autonomous knots, acting as social unities, capable of acting on their own•Laterally tied = without structural hierarchy

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“Issue networks rule the world today!“Issue networksInterest driven, not by organisational structures

Not all knots are connected directlyOnly in solidarity based groups all knots are connected Don‘t automatically expect solidarity in a network

Not all knots have equal powerThe strength lies in the difference of resources!

Practice to discuss and agree Network leaders have to mediate and co-ordinate

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Success factors for collaboration

9 19. April 2023

Partnership = collaboration at all stages Planning, implementation, evaluation, celebration

Equality Respect differences in aims, tasks, roles

Benefit See the strengths of “the others” Look at the whole picture

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Evaluation technique

Enhance your performance by rating it:

1.What have we done?

2.How did we perform?

Chaos Perfection

3.What will we do better next time?

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Practical exercises

Manifest your identity!

What is your core strength?

Master your network!

What resources do you have and whom do you know?

Master your communication!

Listen to our next speaker…

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Final discussionWorking on problems…

…finding solutions

Develop your organisation, be part of networks, build on your dreams!

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