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

TRIALOG bids Farewell

Two weeks before closing fifteen years of the project, the TRIALOG team, lead agency HORIZONT3000 and CONCORD brought together partners and friends to celebrate their joint success.
On Monday 14th September 2015, TRIALOG partners from the national platforms of the EU13 countries and other consortium members came together a final time within the framework of TRIALOG, to discuss the end of the project. The group exchanged information on current and future priorities as well as the measures that have been taken with CONCORD to ensure a smooth transition into the new strategic framework. In the 2016-22 CONCORD strategy, a new focus is on member engagement and part of the operationalisation discussions happening now are focusing on inclusion and ensuring smaller members are as engaged in CONCORD work as possible.

Partners were then joined by members of Austrian civil society for an exchange on the Sustainable Development Goals and how different organisations intend to work within the new framework in coming years. The discussion kicked off with an input of Jakob Mussil of the Austrian platform Global Responsibility and member of the European Taskforce of the Beyond2015 campaign. Most platforms have started to think about how to engage with the goals’ implementation and many are focusing on advocacy towards their government and capacity building among their members on the goals and how to work with them.

The evening reception paid tribute to TRIALOG’s achievements, history and staff, past and present with speeches of one of the founders, Robert Zeiner via video message, CONCORD president Johannes Trimmel, longterm advisory group member Grzegorz Gruca of Polish Humanitarian Action and HORIZONT3000 director Erwin Eder. In a TRIALOG quiz Rebecca Steel-Jasińska and Ulrike Bey of the TRIALOG team checked how much people in fact knew about TRIALOG. The mood was a little sad that an era comes to an end but at the same time very proud of what we accomplished.

We thank all those who came to celebrate with us, and we look forward to seeing you again in the post-TRIALOG world.


Information provided by Rebecca Steel-Jasińska and Ulrike Bey, TRIALOG

New Policy Digest: Climate Change and Development

European media is full of titles such as “Record summer temperatures”, “Hottest July days on record”, “Weather records across Europe” – and then there are daily reports on intensifying floods, fires and droughts. These events are disturbing the everyday life of people and influencing how food is produced, for example, all around the globe.

In December 2015, Paris is hosting a climate summit where 196 countries – literally, the whole world – will meet with one single goal: to sign a new global agreement on climate change. Climate change and the intergovernmental negotiations around it are multifaceted and complex. This Policy Digest will aim to address the following key themes in a clear and simple manner: how climate change and development cooperation are interlinked; what risks the world’s poorest countries are facing; the process, key issues negotiated and the expected outcomes of the Paris conference; what the EU is bringing to the negotiating table; and how civil society organisations are engaging on the topic before and after the Paris conference.

Read the new TRIALOG Policy Digest here.



Information provided by TRIALOG

TRIALOG at the European Development Days in Brussels

This year’s European Development Days (EDDs) took place in Brussels on 3-4 June and focused on the themes of the European Year for Development. Thousands of participants engaged in discussions around the following topics during the panel and working group events:
• Our world – Creating sustainable growth within the limits of our planet. 
• Our dignity – Developing a shared vision of universal and fundamental rights.
• Our future – Each of our policies can make a difference & we are all actors in development.

Civils Society representatives from around the world were engaged as active speakers and contributors in many of the events. CONCORD together with the European Year for Development Civil Society Alliance and Action 2015 had a Lounge space at the event where numerous discussions and interactive activities took place. For example, the Latvian development CSO platform LAPAS introduced their research on the role of new donors in development and the glocalization board game there. TRIALOG organized an interactive quiz “How well do you know Central and Eastern European development CSOs?” and shared the experiences form TRIALOG Systematization process.

In case you are curious how well you know civil society organisation from the EU13 countries, take this fun quiz with 10 questions!

In case you missed this year’s EDDs, take the opportunity to watch some of the videos from the discussions or listen to the podcasts.


In the photo: Participants during the TRIALOG session with Rebecca Steel-Jasinska and Mirjam Sutrop at the EDDs.

Information provided by Mirjam Sutrop, TRIALOG

TRIALOG Academic Breakfast Discussion – Trends Across the EU13 Region

If you are coming to Brussels for the CONCORD General Assembly, make sure you are there in time for the TRIALOG event immediately before - 9.15-10.45 on Wednesday 10th June 2015.

As a final event of the TRIALOG project, we are gathering academics (Dr Simon Lightfoot from the University of Leeds and Fabienne Bossuyt from the University of Ghent) specialised in EU13 development policy and practice and representatives of the national platforms from both EU13 (Inese Vaivare from LAPAS) and EU15 (Hans Zomer from DOCHAS) countries to look at the contribution EU13 civil society organisations have made to European development approaches over the past decade.
 The speakers will be guided though the discussion by Éva Bördős from Hungary, who will be standing in the CONCORD board election later in the day.

An event agenda will be available shortly on the TRIALOG and CONCORD websites. We look forward to seeing you there!

For more information please contact Rebecca Steel-Jasińska at Rebecca.TRIALOG@concordeurope.org


Information provided by TRIALOG

New Policy Digest: European Neighbourhood Policy Review

What is the current European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) about? Why is the ENP review taking place? What are the main elements of the ENP under review? How are CSOs engaged in the ENP review?

The changing political and societal environment in Europe’s neighbourhood has prompted the European Union to reassess its policy towards its neighbouring countries to the East and South of its borders. European Commission president Jean-Claude Junker has tasked the new Commission to come up with a proposal for a reviewed European Neighbourhood Policy by November 2015. Governments, public authorities, civil society, think tanks, social partners, business, academic communities and other relevant stakeholders from both the neighbourhood and the EU are now invited to take part in the consultation process until the end of June 2015 in order to draw up a revised ENP.

This Policy Digest will address different aspects of the ENP review. Firstly, it will look at the background of the ENP as well as why and how its review is taking place. Secondly, some elements of the ENP that are under review will be discussed. Thirdly, special attention will be paid to CSOs’ opportunities to participate in this review process.

Download the Policy Digest here.


Information provided by TRIALOG

TRIALOG Partnership Fair 2015

TRIALOG hosted the fifth and last edition of the Partnership Fair between 4th and 6th of May 2015, in Vienna, Austria. The event brought together over 100 participants, experts and facilitators from all over Europe, including Western Balkans.

This year’s Fair took place in a special context. While previous editions were organised in order to generate project ideas and partnerships in the view of upcoming Development Education and Awareness Raising (DEAR) calls for proposals of the European Commission, this year the Fair had a broader focus, as no DEAR call is foreseen until the start of 2016. This greatly influenced the format of the Fair, as well as the backgrounds of the participants, leading to a more diverse group of participants, and therefore a more diverse outcome in terms of project ideas.

The first day of the event was dedicated to an exchange of experiences in working with donors (input from Lucina di Meco), a discussion with two donors attending the Fair: Barbara Konzet from the Austrian Development Agency and Jiří Sýkora from the Visegrad Fund, followed by an input on the funding landscape for development cooperation projects, delivered by María-José Pérez (consultant from Haynes-Perez Associates). The day ended with the Marketplace, a space for participants to present their work, their experiences and to interact with one another.

The following two days were dedicated to the generation and consolidation of project ideas and partnerships, a process guided by Friedbert Ottacher, with the support of three other facilitators. In the end 15 project ideas were defined, to be further elaborated by the participants after the event as commitments were made with pre-partnership agreements. Project ideas range from development of employment possibilities for migrants, entrepreneurship for women in Ukraine, best-practice in volunteering, as well as teachers to teachers learning for Global Education, an educational project for Kenyan High Schools, projects on ethical and sustainable consumption, or slow fashion. Funding possibilities mainly explored for these projects are Erasmus+, DEAR and other EuropeAid funding lines.

The report of the event, a list of funding options and presentations held at the Fair are available here.


Information provided by Iulia Jolley-Socea and Ulrike Bey, TRIALOG

TRIALOG Partnership Fair 2015: Application open

TRIALOG is now accepting applications for the 5th edition of the TRIALOG Partnership Fair on Development Cooperation. Deadline for submitting applications: 17th of April 2015.

TRIALOG will host the 5th edition of the Partnership Fair between the 4th and 6th of May 2015 in Vienna, Austria. This year’s Fair will represent a meeting space between donors and CSOs, an opportunity to exchange information about donors’ plans and priorities and civil society’s views on needs in the local context, as well as a partnership development event.

The Fair will facilitate partnerships, cooperation, learning and exchange at an international level for joint projects. Key actors engaged in the global efforts aimed at achieving
justice and equality and contributing to poverty eradication (donors, representatives of the European Commission and CSOs) will contribute either as speakers, facilitators or participants.

Over 100 CSO representatives are expected to attend the event. To facilitate the preparation prior to the Fair, TRIALOG has prepared for the applicants a list of funding options around which projects can be planned during the Fair. Representatives of all the listed foundations and funding institutions have been contacted and invited to take part in the Fair. However, their participation has yet to be confirmed; therefore TRIALOG cannot guarantee their presence at the event.

More information about the format, the focus and the aims of the Fair is available in the full description here.

Partnership Fair Agenda will be made available closer to the time of the event. Look out for updates on the TRIALOG website.

Who is expected to apply? All European CSOs looking to find new and strengthen existing partnerships with other CSOs and plan joint projects. Also, CSOs wishing to exchange with donors and learn about funding opportunities.
Download application form here. 


Information provided by Iulia Socea, TRIALOG

Development Education in the Focus: TRIALOG Study Visit to Brussels

The annual TRIALOG Study Visit took place on March 2-5 in Brussels. This year’s focus topic was Development Education and Awareness Raising. The group gathered 18 participants from EU13 member states civil society organisations. Out of the participants three were members of national development CSO platform secretariats (SKOP, SLOGA and CROSOL) and 15 members of CSOs active in national platforms.

The main goals of the Study Visit were to increase familiarity with EU institutions and their role in development cooperation, reflect on EU processes related to development education and awareness raising and understand important current processes in EU development cooperation policies, such as the discussions around the sustainable development goals. Over the course of the preparatory meetings, guest visits and the external meetings the participants had a chance to gain an insight into the development cooperation institutions, CSOs and advocacy campaigns taking place in Brussels.

During the 4-day Study Visit the participants met with the director and the head of advocacy from CONCORD, representatives from VSO International, ActionAid and Oxfam and were introduced to the European Year of Development. Furthermore, participants took part in meetings with representatives of the Cabinet of the Commissioner for Development, European Commission DG DEVCO- EuropeAid where the issue of access to EC DEAR funding was raised, the European Parliament Development Committee Secretariat and representatives from the European External Action Service and Economic and Social Committee. The group was also hosted in the Latvian Permanent Representation to the EU in order to understand the tasks involved in holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

As every year, half a day was devoted to leaving space for participants to hold meeting with their MEPs, MEP assistants and representatives in Brussels. These meetings allowed participants to enhance contacts and raise issues important for Platforms and their organisations. On the final day of the Study Visit the participants made their follow up plans on how to disseminate knowledge and information gained in this Study Visit upon return to their countries, and how to get further involved in local advocacy and policy making efforts.

TRIALOG is looking forward to new activiti
es of the participating organisations resulting from the Study Visit.

Have a look at the TRIALOG Study Visit Photo Album on Facebook and the documentation of meetings on our website.

Information provided by TRIALOG

EU13 initiate lobby on European Union DEAR funding criteria for small organisations

The platforms of the EU13 recently joined forces to draft a letter to development Commissioner Mimica about their concerns related to development education and awareness raising (DEAR) funding from the European Commission (EC). Concerns raised by the group relate to the trend for fewer larger projects being funded and the impact this has on smaller organisations that are unable to access funds for the vital work they are doing. The letter gathered great support from colleagues in the EU15 - 12 of them signed on to the letter, as well as the co-chairs of the two relevant CONCORD working groups: FDR (funding for development and relief) and the DARE Forum (Development Awareness Raising and Education Forum). As well as smaller organisations becoming less able to access the funding, larger organisations are also facing problems under the new funding structure - having to take on additional responsibility and workload for larger projects with a greater number of partners. Gordan Bosanac from Croatian platform CROSOL presented the letter to the Commissioner during a meeting on Friday 13 February 2015 and all who signed are committed to continuing their advocacy work to bring about change in the funding situation.

Read the letter here

Photo courtesy of CROSOL:Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica and president of CROSOL Gordan Bosanac.


Information provided by TRIALOG

Alternative fundraising for CSOs – TRIALOG V Training of Multipliers

Between 17 and 19 of February, 13 Liaison Officers from the EU13 TRIALOG project partners gathered together in Vienna for another Training of Multipliers – the last ToM organised as part of the TRIALOG project.

This year the training event was focused on two alternative funding sources available to CSOs: corporate fundraising and online fundraising. Additionally, complementary to the topic of online fundraising, social media and data visualization were addressed towards the end of the three days.

Day one of the ToM was dedicated to exploring best practices in corporate fundraising, applying the business model generation canvas to the work of the platforms, developing a fundraising pitch and simulating a fundraising meeting. The day was very interactive and the participants enjoyed walking in the corporate shoes. Stephan Kropf from the Fundraising Verband Austria was the resource person for the day.

Day two was led by Florian Engel from More Onion, an organisation specialised in consulting and working with nonprofits on online fundraising campaigns and ecampaigning in general. Florian walked the participants through the Donor Journey and presented a number of online fundraising tools and models, concluding the day with some tips and tricks on data visualization.

The last day of the ToM provided the space for exchange among the Liaison Officers, one of the more pressing issues to discuss being the joint advocacy steps aimed at influencing the EC decisions with regards to the criteria for the next DEAR call in 2016. Before closing with the evaluation of the whole three days, a short session on Social Media provided the LOs with some advice on effective ways of using social media, social media goals for nonprofits, how to build an audience and engage with fans on Facebook.

The TRIALOG team would like to thank all the participants for their positive energy and active engagement in the ToM!

In the photo: Liaison Officers and TRIALOG team members


Information provided by Iulia Jolley – Socea, TRIALOG Capacity Building Officer

New Policy Digest: Latvian Presidency Priorities for Development Cooperation

In the first half of 2015, Latvia will for the first time hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union (from now on referred to as the ‘presidency’). Holding the presidency means being at the very centre of EU policy making by setting the Council’s agenda for six months.

The priorities of the Latvian Presidency in development cooperation will reflect the Trio Presidency – Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg – joint programme and especially focus on a common and strong position of the EU on the Post-2015 development framework, financing for development issues, gender equality and good governance. The Latvian Presidency also plans to work on closer cooperation of the EU with Eastern Partnership and Central Asian countries.

This policy digest will look at the wider context of the Latvian Presidency, the main topics concerning development cooperation what will be addressed, explain ideas behind LAPAS’ - the Latvian development CSO platform - priority areas during the presidency and identify opportunities for engagement with the Latvian Presidency for CSOs outside Latvia.

Download the Policy Digest here.






Information provided by TRIALOG

TRIALOG Exchange with the Global South: Uganda meets EU13

In November 2014, two Ugandan project partners of Brother and Sister in Need (BSIN)  (Dioceses Innsbruck) – a member organisation of HORIZONT3000 – came to give school workshops on the topic of global development in Austria. TRIALOG approached BSIN to see if the Ugandan partners were interested in introducing their organisations’ work and building up new contacts with organisations in the enlarged EU. They were, and so it came to be that within the TRIALOG Global Exchange activity the two Ugandan colleagues visited development CSOs in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia and Poland.

Mr. Tonny Kyambadde, an agriculture expert working for the Ugandan CARITAS Maddo, and specialised on promotion of sustainable agriculture among small scale rural farmers, was invited to events of the Czech development CSO platform FoRS and its member organisation Glopolis. At a public lecture “Towards Food Sovereignty– Can Africa Feed itself?” Mr. Kyambadde shared his experience in working with local small scale food producers; during a roundtable discussion he engaged with NGO and Ministry of Foreign Affairs representatives on the topic of food security. His journey continued to Latvia, where he was involved in global education activities of the hosting organisation Humana People to People, as well as the development CSO platform LAPAS.

Ms Cissy Nakabugo from the dioceses Kiyinda-Mityana shared her experiences in child rights and social protection with development CSOs and students in Hungary and Poland. She met with Polish teachers who innovatively implement Global Education in kindergartens and preschools and visited six kindergartens herself. As an outcome of this exchange activity the Angelus Silesius House in Wroclaw is looking into opportunities of sending volunteers to work on Ms Nakabugo’s projects in Uganda and some of the kindergartens asked to establish partnerships with Ugandan kindergartens.

Both hosting NGOs from EU13 and the Ugandan guests appreciated the opportunity to meet and describe the exchange as a great learning opportunity.

Photo credits: Demnet, Cissy Nakabugo during a workshop with students in Hungary.

Information provided by Elisa Romero and Mirjam Sutrop, TRIALOG

NGO Networks: Opportunities and Challenges

An exchange of experience:
Together with its lead agency HORIZONT3000, TRIALOG organised an evening to discuss the opportunities and challenges of NGO networks with development practitioners and guests from universities on 27 November 2014.

During the event at the c3 centre for international development in Vienna, questions such as “what is the added value of networks, what indicates a successful NGO network and how can a platform work effectively?” were in focus. The speakers shared experiences from different angles.

Joachim Lindau, former Bread for the World programme director and co-founder of the German NGO platform VENRO, as well as the TRIALOG project, has been active in various networks. He underlined that forming networks is necessary for the political work of NGOs, particularly their joint lobby and advocacy work. “NGO networks are not social movements”, Joachim Lindau explained, “They are convenient alliances”. Small organisations especially benefit from membership of a network. On the other hand platform building and maintenance require financial and human resources from its members. To keep the network alive and relevant, it is indispensable to constantly prove the benefits for its members. It can help to recall why a network was initially formed, re-define objectives and check if the context has changed.

TRIALOG has been supporting the establishment of development NGO platforms in EU13 and their integration in the European NGO confederation CONCORD. It has organised many networking activities where it showed that personal and continuous contacts lead to partnerships of trust and an open culture of learning and knowledge exchange. Elisa Romero of TRIALOG reported that regarding the integration of weaker or smaller members in a network or larger platform, it is important to show solidarity! The newcomers might need some guidance and support to find their roles and spaces to contribute. Also if in financial terms, the weaker members might contribute less to the network, nevertheless their voices must being heard equally loud.

Jakob Mussil is EU Policy Officer at the Austrian development platform and active in various CONCORD working groups. Apart from the external representation, he sees the internal capacity development and experience sharing as an asset of networks. In CONCORD, ideally the wider network benefits from the work of its members (for example lobby towards national governments), while the members benefit from CONCORD’s lobby towards the EU institutions. As a challenge Jakob Mussil identified the active participation of members and the representation of a very diverse group of members. Defining topics that are relevant to a big group of members and setting up effective ways of working together has to be constan
tly reviewed using participatory methods.

In the discussion that followed, it was said that pluralism of membership is both an opportunity and a challenge for networks and if a classic platform is the best way to work or if a loose network would better serve certain objectives. Finally it was found that an enabling environment for CSOs is the necessary basis for a strong and effective contribution to development cooperation. NGOs in countries with financial instability often lack personal resources and consequently have lower impact both on lobby and advocacy, as well as in their role as development actors.

During the event, the booklet “TRIALOG in the enlarged EU: 15 years supporting civil society to engage in development” and a short film were launched. The booklet is a journey through the TRIALOG experience from its beginning to the fifth project phase, starting in 2012. It provides insights into the context in which the project was embedded. Project activities are described and analysed according to the three main areas of TRIALOG’s work: “European Integration of Development CSOs from the Enlarged EU”, “Platform Building Support” and “Capacity Building for Development CSOs”. A special focus looks at the contribution of TRIALOG to “Networking”, “Learning and Empowerment” and “Advocacy” in EU13. At the end of this journey you will find the lessons learnt and case studies from EU13 development NGO platforms.

The booklet and the film are available on the TRIALOG website.

Photo credits: TRIALOG, participants of the event NGO Networks: Chances and Challenges.

Information provided by Elisa Romero, TRIALOG

The TRIALOG Experience in a Booklet

After almost 15 years of TRIALOG, partners and team members have undertaken a process of reviewing and analysing the experiences of the project. During the so called “systematisation” they tried to see the underlying processes that have accompanied the project’s evolution, relived pivotal moments in the history of TRIALOG, and evaluated the collaborations that have resulted from TRIALOG’s efforts. All these elements give a sense of what has been achieved and the way in which TRIALOG has contributed to newer EU members’ integration into European development policy and practice.

Download the outcomes of the process, which are summarised in the booklet “TRIALOG in the enlarged EU: 15 years supporting civil society to engage in development” (PDF).

The booklet is a journey through the TRIALOG experience from its beginning to the fifth project phase, starting in 2012. It provides insights into the context in which the project was embedded. Project activities are described and analysed according to the three main areas of TRIALOG’s work:

• “European Integration of Development CSOs from the Enlarged EU”, 
• “Platform Building Support” and 
• “Capacity Building for Development CSOs”. 

A special focus looks at the contribution of TRIALOG to “Networking”, “Learning and Empowerment” and “Advocacy” in EU13. At the end of this journey you will find the lessons learnt. Finally, case studies of selected development CSO platform in EU13 countries illustrate more practically how TRIALOG contributed to their establishment and the CSO sector in the region.

Representatives of EU13 development CSOs and platforms, as well as the CONCORD president and TRIALOG project manager speak in our new video about their TRIALOG experience. Watch the video online.

Information provided by Elisa Romero, TRIALOG

Policy Digest: European Year for Development 2015

Every year since 1983 the European Union (EU) has chosen a theme that gains high publicity and focus. The aim of the European years is to raise awareness about the issue, organise cross-border events and actions, and to bring the specific topic closer to European citizens. The year 2015 will be the European Year for Development. This policy digest will look at various aspects of the EYD.

Firstly, the main issues to be discussed during the EYD will be outlined. Secondly, the messages civil society actors and EU hope to get across the union will be explored. Thirdly, civil society action plans for the year on European level will be addressed. Fourthly, practical info about EYD plans in some of the Central, Eastern and Southern European EU member states – the so called EU13 counties – will be presented.

Download the Policy Digest EYD2015 here (PDF).

This and more Policy Digests are available on the TRIALOG website.


 Information provided by Mirjam Sutrop, TRIALOG

Last Partner & Strategy Meeting during TRIALOG V

Between the 3rd and 4th of December 2014, TRIALOG partners met in Sliema, Malta, for the last Partner and Strategy meeting of the current TRIALOG phase.

The Partner Meeting on the 3rd of December was an excellent opportunity for TRIALOG partners to review together the successes and challenges encountered since their last meeting in December 2013. As TRIALOG in its current formula is coming to an end, partners and consortium members jointly looked at ways forward and how to make the best out of the last project year in TRIALOG V, particularly in the context of the European Year for Development – the perfect time to remind national governments and citizens why development work is important and the significant role the CSOs play in this context.
After looking back at the most recent experience in platform building – the Croatian NDGOs platform – CROSOL, partners, together with guests from Serbia and Macedonia, explored ways of using the rich TRIALOG experience and expertise in building and supporting national NDGO platforms, in support of CSOs from accession and candidate countries in the Western Balkans.

On the 4th of December, participants had the chance to get some insights from the experience of two national platforms: LAPAS (Latvia) and SKOP (Malta).
Inese Vaivare from LAPAS shared with the TRIALOG partners some of the lessons learned while preparing for the implementation of the Presidency project (as Latvia will hold the presidency of the EU Council in 2015), but also general insight gathered over the years by LAPAS, as a national platform. From her perspective, the presidency project is a great opportunity for a national platform to raise awareness on issues of priority, as well as to invest in the future, but with this opportunity comes the challenge of maintaining the relations and links as well as new staff brought in for the project beyond the project duration.
SKOP, on the other hand, proposed a question to the partners: how to keep members engaged? The conclusion of the discussion emphasised the need to justify the relevance of the platform for its members – if member organisations can identify a clear benefit from being part of a platform, they will remain engaged. The practical ways and mechanisms of showing the relevance of a platform for its members remain still an open question.

The second half of the Strategy meeting was dedicated to discussions on the European Year for Development. A panel discussion was organised with representatives of the Maltese MFA and MEUSAC (Malta-EU Steering & Action Committee), as well a TRIALOG platform representatives from Croatia and Czech Republic. The questions addressed to the panel were connected to the challenges in the implementation of the EYD2015, as well as what success would look like at the end of the year. In terms of challenges, Pavel Pribl from FoRS (CZ) highlighted the fragmentation of the different actors involved, as well as the different understanding of the issues connected to development cooperation. This was also seen as a challenge by Mr. Vanni Xuereb, representative of MEUSAC. For him, the challenge of all stakeholders working together during the EYD is the most exciting challenge concerning the year. A huge success at the end of the year would be, as expressed by Gordan Bosanac (CROSOL – HR), if the development cooperation policy would be as strong as the austerity measures and migration policies.

Photo: TRIALOG, Experience sharing Western Balkans group

Information provided by Iulia Jolley-Socea, TRIALOG

New HORIZONT3000 Director: Welcome Erwin Eder

On 1 December 2014, Erwin Eder took over the management of HORIZONT3000, the lead agency of TRIALOG and one of the largest development NGOs in the Austria. The economist looks back at 20 years of experience in development cooperation and disaster relief. He worked with Caritas Austria for many years, where he managed projects in South East Europe, West Africa and South Asia. For the past eight years he has been the director of DKA, the Catholic Children's Movement of Austria which carries out around 500 projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The TRIALOG team sends a very warm welcome to Erwin Eder and is looking forward to a fruitful cooperation.






Photo: HORIZONT3000/ Erwin Eder
Information provided by HORIZONT3000 and TRIALOG

TRIALOG Call for External Evaluator

The external evaluation during this final year of TRIALOG V is foreseen to address the achievements of the project and find recommendations related to options for the future sustainability of TRIALOG partners.

The evaluation is planned for February and March 2015.
Deadline for submission of offers is 14 January 2015.
Please find more information on the Terms of Reference here.

For submission of offers and additional questions, please contact Rebecca Steel-Jasińska. 

Information provided by TRIALOG

Serbia: Preparing for a new role in development?

Our new “Country Paper Serbia” looks at the current state of Serbian civil society and its involvement in development issues.
We at TRIALOG, decided to look at the situation of Serbian civil society in the context of the future enlargement of the European Union. Serbia applied to become an EU member in 2009 and started the actual negotiations in January of this year. As part of the accession process, the development cooperation and humanitarian aid provided by Serbia will have to be negotiated between Serbia and the EU. Serbia will have to adopt the EU acquis and set up national structures and legislation.

In the past, accession negotiations have sometimes underestimated the task of preparing a new EU member state to make the transition from being a recipient of aid to becoming a donor as Serbia will have to in the coming years. Development cooperation and humanitarian aid cannot be treated simply as a box ticking exercises at the end of the accession negotiations. All kinds of stakeholders, from state officials and politicians to civil society and the general public have to be engaged in this process in order to achieve legitimacy and support for the country's new role.

We find it encouraging that the Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Mr. Johannes Hahn stressed during his hearing before the European Parliament that he realises "the necessity to prepare new members of the EU thoroughly for their future responsibilities" and the importance of "ensuring that all criteria is met". As recent declarations indicate that the EU will not admit any new members in the coming five years, TRIALOG considers this commitment to the quality of the reforms process more important than ever. Civil society organisations in Serbia, as well as in other EU candidate countries, must become fully engaged in the formation of the countries' donor systems and strategies and capacity building opportunities have to accompany this process.

The Country Paper shows that Serbia's involvement in development and humanitarian aid to date has been limited and that it is more focused on its own development, as an ODA recipient. This experience as an aid recipient could be useful though in terms of the institutions, frameworks and practices it has developed.

We also see that the most recent 15 years or so have contributed to a vibrant civil society sector that has an established working relationship with the authorities, despite some challenges in legal and financial terms. The expertise developed in Serbia's post-conflict years related to reconstruction and transition to democracy has provided CSOs with valuable experiences that could provide important contributions to development cooperation. The Paper ends with a number of recommendations for Serbian government and CSOs as well as European partners. These include making sure CSOs are properly involved in the accession process, encouraging both the governmental and non-governmental sides to engage with one another. The importance of capacity building is also highlighted here, as is the promotion of development education and awareness raising in Serbia.

Download the country paper and a one-page summary here.

Information provided by Rebecca Steel-Jasińska, TRIALOG