CARPATHIAN CIVIL SOCIETY PLATFORM AND INTER-REGIONAL HUB FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION

On 14 June Eger, Hungary the participants of the international conference established the Carpathian Civil Society Platform and Inter-regional HUB for social innovation by accepting, signing the following long term cooperation protocol.

Please join the network by signing the protocol on the following link: https://forms.gle/AVGxR84NYsTmiNzt9

PROTOCOL ON COOPERATION

BETWEEN MEMBERS OF CARPATHIAN CIVIL SOCIETY PLATFORM AND INTER-REGIONAL HUB FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION

Carpathian Civil Society Platform and Inter-regional Hub for Social Innovation (hereinafter: Carpathian Platform and Hub) is an inter-regional area-based organization attached to the geographically, historically, culturally and sociologically contiguous territory of the Carpathians, which is the common ground for cooperation.

Based on a common vision to strengthen a vibrant, pluralistic, and rights-based civil society in the territory of the Carpathian Euroregion,

Sharing common values, such as respecting human rights, social and regional solidarity, equal opportunity, social justice, inclusive development, and respect of rich natural, cultural and ethnic diversity of the Carpathians are the solid ground for joint actions, which can contribute to the strengthening of the public good,

Aiming at coordination and synergizing the efforts of CSOs at local, (sub)regional and inter-regional levels as well as generating, disseminating and mainstreaming innovative solutions for resolving socio-economic problems in order to serve better their constituencies and articulate the needs of silent communities,

Aware of social challenges the Platform and the Hub intends to free up the innovative potential and energies of CSOs to reconfigure social practices, seeks to enhance outcomes on the quality of life of people and necessarily includes the engagement of the broadly speaking civil society actors, such as local governments, businesses, independent media and academia,

Establishing a framework for cooperation between civil society organizations (CSOs) working primarily with grassroots and vulnerable groups,

Connecting the Carpathians with similar European and global initiatives, and assisting CSOs to learn  and creatively adapt these experiences and practices, furthermore the Carpathian Platform and Hub enables them to join other European networks and Hubs while promoting the Carpathians at European level,

Contributing to the dissolvent of existing and traditional Central European national and ethnic prejudices and strengthening regional solidarity and cohesion through cooperation,

Hereby adopt the following Cooperation Protocol:

Article 1 Objectives

The objective of this Protocol on Cooperation is to enforce freedom and development of the civil society in the territory of the Carpathian Euroregion, and to ensure long-term cooperation between CSOs of the Carpathian Euroregion within the frame of the Carpathian Civil Society Platform with a view to:

• facilitating knowledge exchange and collaboration by bringing multiple civil society actors together,
• connecting individual CSOs or activists that have specific needs with actors who have the expertise, resources, and capacity to support them,
• seeking and stimulating new approaches and techniques, and providing a venue, either physical or digital, to receive peer review on and testing new approaches to challenges and opportunities,
• providing some amount of information and expertise directly to CSOs in the region, in addition to connecting them with other resources.

Article 2 Institutional provisions

1. The Carpathian Civil Platform is an umbrella over the Inter-regional Hub and local hublets. The Platform will hold its meetings at least once a year and discuss topical issues and suggestions, adopt policy and disseminate policy papers and recommendations related to the state of civil societies in the Carpathians.
2. Experienced, well-established NGOs in their respective sub-regions and local CSOs working in marginalized rural mountain areas create the hublets in each involved sub-regions in Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine, and Romania. Hublets are a basic building block to build up the Platform and the inter-regional Hub. Hublets are open to other CSOs of the region who want to join the network. The hublets may decide whether they keep the informal character of the hublet or formalize it as a legal entity.  
3. In the frame of the Platform the members of the hublets’ network may initiate temporary or standing popup hubs along cross-cutting issues in case of emerging needs or urgency.
4. In order to create the network of networks, a member-based virtual hub will be created, which will be an online platform for communication between network members and would serve as a resource centre as well as a knowledge pool.

Article 3 Forms of cooperation

1. The members of the Carpathian Platform and Hub shall cooperate in their activities designed to encourage knowledge exchange between CSOs of the region.
2. The members of the Carpathian Platform and Hub shall cooperate on all issues that concern matching of resources with the needs of local CSOs. The members of the Carpathian Platform and Hub shall cooperate on the development and introduction of the new tools and approaches.
3. The members of the Carpathian Platform and Hub shall cooperate in order to provide information and expertise.

Article 4 Entry into force, amendment and conclusion

1. This Protocol shall enter into force on the day it is signed, and shall apply for an indefinite period.
2. The members of Carpathian Platform and Hub may terminate this Protocol providing that they inform each other in writing at least 30 days in advance. 

Done in Eger on 14 June 2019.

Carpathian Foundation-Hungary/Kárpátok Alapítvány-Magyarország

ETP Slovakia/ETP Slovensko  

Carpathian Foundation Ukraine/Карпатський фонд Україна  

Carpathian Gate Foundation (Poland)/Fundacja Brama Karpat 

Acknowledgements

The project is supported by the International Visegrad Fund (www.visegradfund.org), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (www.minbuza.nl), the Robert Bosch Stiftung, and by a grant from the Foundation Open Society Institute in cooperation with the OSIFE of the Open Society Foundations.