In both workshops a good mixture and attendance of participants coming from all RPP countries (Slovenia, Hungary, Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, Austria) with high interest and motivation was reached. The events themselves therefore became good opportunities for networking and sharing of experience.
The ‘networking’ workshop (March 11) started with a common ‘drawing lesson’ to visualise the different networks people are working in. This exercise was followed by presentations of three different networks: WIDE Europe, the In
ternational Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC) and Greenpeace Central Europe. In these presentations, networking practitioners shared their experiences on the challenges and potentials of networks.The workshop was facilitated by Richard Bennett, a British consultant and former Executive Secretary of the British platform BOND. Richard summarized his longterm experience in networking in an extremely useful presentation. In working groups, the participants had the opportunity to reflect and share their experiences and develop ideas to be more effective in their networking efforts. The good atmosphere and the active and highly motivated participants contributed to the great success of the day.
The ‘advocacy and lobbying’ workshop (March 26-27) was facilitated by Ian Chandler, a British consultant who has longterm experience in advocacy and campaigning (eg. with Oxfam GB, Amnesty International) and concentrates now on passing on his knowledge to non- profit organisations. At first, the participants became acquainted with a wide range of definitions and approaches in advocacy and with the whole ‘advocacy cycle’. Participants received a lot of 'food for thought' how to improve their advocacy work in their daily life. After the 1st day, everyone recognized the importance of putting advocacy work into a conceptual and strategic framework in order to achieve the goals. The second day of the workshop focussed on how to prepare and conduct lobbying meetings. Participants had the possibilty to immediately try out the gained knowledge in role plays. At the end of the workshop, all particpants - including already experienced advocacy officers and newcomers - underlined the great benefit they had gained.
The presentations of the workshops are available on the website of the Austrian platform: http://www.eu-platform.at/deutsch/start.asp?b=790 They will soon also become available on: http://www.regionalpartnership.at/
Information provided by Josefa Molitor-Ruckenbauer, RPP
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