Tallinn, Estonia, 2019

This sprint supported the European Hub for Civic Engagement, a non-profit seeking tech-driven solutions to strengthen European civil society.

TALLINN BY THE NUMBERS

Alumni
applications

41

Nationalities represented

10

Value of pro bono
work donated

$34k

OVERVIEW

In many European countries, civil society is being eroded and civic space in Europe is shrinking. This poses an existential threat to democracy and is a roadblock to the current European integration process.

Cross-border cooperation among civil society in Europe has proven difficult, because there is no central institution facilitating a sense of community or providing vital information and support.

The European Hub for Civic Engagement is a project spearheaded by three European non-profits: Das Progressive Zentrum, Alliance4Europe and Citizens for Europe. They asked Data4Change to help them conceptualise and create prototypes for a Hub that could bring European civil society together, and that is what we did together in Tallinn for 2.5 days in September 2019.

The creatives who attended were Data4Change alumni based in Europe. Together with representatives from five European civil society organisations, they went through our 2.5 day sprint format. Meet the CSOs, and then check out the results below!

MEET THE CSOs

The European Hub for Civic Engagement uses tech-driven solutions to network and strengthen European civil society.

Domino is a Croatian non-profit with the mission of questioning traditional and oppressive norms within transitional societies. It realises its mission through culture, media, public policies, education and collaboration with local and international organisations.

Initiative Offene Gesellschaft is a German non-profit emphasising citizens as central driving force for innovation, treating them as experts of everyday challenges.

Civil Society Observatory of Central Macedonia is a platform of non-governmental organisations working on social development, economy, environment, migration, child protection, culture and youth.

ProjectTogether is a social acceleration platform that supports young people to develop ideas and solutions to effectively bring about change in the area of tension between society, business and politics.

RESULTS

“The community, ideas, funding and resources are already out there. What is needed is a network that can match these actors, which can then empower European civil society.”

European Hub for Civic Engagement

Community

The core function of the community prototype is the ‘digital bonfire’. This engaging tool allows users to gather around interactive ‘bonfires’ that represent an issue or topic in order to collectively brainstorm, discuss, provide support to one another, in addition to networking. The community prototype can ensure that the platform users are able to interact and collaborate on pivotal issues that civil society faces, no matter where they are in Europe.

Ideas

The ideas prototype set out to address the problem: how can ideas at different stages grow into an impactful project? Certain ideas are simply a spark, while others have already developed into a glowing ember. The idea prototype has the main goal of providing feedback from other users, to successfully develop ideas into a sustainable project.

Funding

The funding prototype aims to make funding more accessible to a wider range of civic actors. This is done by matching donors with funding applicants, in a way that also empowers the individuals and organisations who are applying for funding. Through this process, the prototype also ensures that the funding landscape is more transparent.

Resources

Many tools that can support civil society already do exist. The resources prototype is structured to ensure that more organisations can benefit from open-source solutions or relevant know-how. This prototype makes sure that actors do not have to reinvent the wheel and fosters a spirit of collaboration. Additionally, the quality of the resources are verified through interactive feedback functions.