At a time when the liberal-democratic pillars of society are being questioned not only in Slovakia, an adaptable and vibrant civil society is crucial for balancing the negative side effects, including the weakening of confidence in democratic values ​​or growing intolerance towards minorities. Civil society needs to respond adequately to changing conditions in society, and non-profit organizations and their leaders need adequate skills to orientate themselves and react to the deteriorating situation.

The generation of leaders of non-profit organizations, several of whom have founded organizations since the beginning of the development of civil society in Slovakia, has done a significant job in rooting, professionalizing and seeking sustainability of the sector. These leaders and their organizations are facing an important change in the ability to adapt their mission and structure to the requirements of a changing environment.

The project has educational and transformational character focused on building the leadership capacity and resilience of organizations. It focuses on supporting two types of leaders. The first group represents the incoming directors of NGOs, who have recently taken up a management position. The second group is composed of senior leaders, who are often overworked or burned out after years in a management position. The project aims to strengthen organizations, mainly, to build their resilience (resistance to unpredictable changes).

The partner organization will be responsible for the preparation and implementation of the study tour in Norway. The study tour aims to visit inspiring Norwegian organizations, the selection of which will be covered by the Norwegian partner organization, based on their many years of experience, but especially on the needs of study participants, which will be continuously mapped by Slovak experts and consulted with Norwegian partners.

The project will be beneficial for civil society organizations

Summary of bilateral results

The main task of the partner organization was cooperation in the preparation and organization of the study trip for the participants of the Resilience Building Program, during which they were primarily responsible for the selection of inspiring Norwegian organizations, mediation of meetings and their facilitation, taking into account the needs, expectations and thematic orientation of the representatives of the Slovak organizations involved. Together with the project implementers, they focused on organizations with a long operating tradition, a functional and sustainable operating model and demonstrable organizational resilience. The meetings with the selected Norwegian organizations were extremely inspiring, the participants of the program returned to them in their feedback during the final evaluation of the resilience building program at the end of the project, more than half a year after completing the study trip, several articulated that these meetings strongly influenced their thinking about sustainability own organizations and brought many solutions, ideas and inspiration for the future. The collaboration is currently underway on a follow-up project called Civil society in the post-covid era: development scenarios and preparation for the new normal.

Project details

Project info
Period
2014-2021
Approval date
Grant financing
104926.00€
Final project cost
114021.61€