Why is TRIALOG ending?

TRIALOG is a project that was developed in the year 2000 to address the upcoming situation of 10 new European Union member states with new responsibilities in many areas, including development cooperation. The project aimed to support civil society organisations to work together more effectively, form national platforms where there were none, and integrate into the European system of development policy and practice.

Fifteen years on, all 13 of the countries that have joined the EU since 2004 have national platforms that are members of CONCORD, the European confederation. There are murmurs of discontent from organisations in countries that no longer consider themselves ‘new’ and even the term ‘EU13’ prompts backlash from those who consider themselves more properly identified as one of the EU28. TRIALOG is a project that has served its purpose – achieved many of its objectives and established a community of partners who will continue to work together long after the project ends.

This is not to say that the kind of support that TRIALOG has provided over the years would not be welcomed if it could be continued in some of the partner countries, and indeed others around the EU. That is why we have worked with CONCORD, through the members, to ensure the new strategy safeguards as many areas as possible where TRIALOG work will be missed. Space for member exchange and peer learning is a large part of the new strategy, and will take forward many lessons learned through TRIALOG’s fifteen year experience (collected together in our systematisation process). Our tools have been written down and can be consulted through CONCORDnet.

We also hope to share this experience with partners in the Western Balkans in the future.

Thanks from the TRIALOG team must go to all those who have supported and actively participated in TRIALOG’s work over the past fifteen years. We look forward to our paths crossing again in the future.


Information provided by Rebecca Steel-Jasińska, TRIALOG