Between November 25 and 27, 2025, Mercédesz Németh and Beáta Csomós took part in a professional meeting organized by the Association of Towns and Municipalities of Slovakia (ZMOS) in the Stará Ľubovňa region as part of the "Central Mountains" project. We saw good examples of professional cooperation between local self governments and civil society organizations, tested a tourist map and digital communication application currently under development, and discussed the difficulties and successes of the project, as well as opportunities for further cooperation.

How can we create stable sources of funding for the operation of a civil society organization? What new tools, community and online solutions are worth trying? And how can we do all this while strengthening the community and the cause?

We sought answers to these questions at our workshop held on November 13, 2025, in Eger, where we worked together with representatives of civil society organizations, led by fundraising expert Dalma Kökény, through practical examples, joint brainstorming, and inspiring discussions.

During the program, we discussed

The Carpathian Foundation is pleased to announce that the evaluation process for the “Mini -Grants 2025” call for proposals has been completed. The aim of the program is to support rural civil society organizations operating in disadvantaged border regions of the Carpathian Euroregion in capacity building, organizational development, and cross-border cooperation.

The Board of Directors of the foundations involved in the implementation of the program have awarded the following grants per country:

ROMANIA

Melinda Vartik and Sándor Köles represented our foundation on a three-day study trip to Feldkirch and the surrounding area. The event was organized by CIPRA International Lab for the Alps to Carpathians - Central Mountains project partnership.

Following the successful completion of the Summer Camp, part of the international project entitled,"From the Alps to the Carpathians - strengthening governence models for sustainable development of mountain areas in Central Europe"-(Central Mountains), a concept for renewing the platform's operations was finalized and adopted at the event.

We're proud to announce the winners of this year’s Social Innovation Award, each receiving €500 and the opportunity to present their projects at our Summer Camp on July 30!

Here are the inspiring organizations and their winning projects:

Fundacja CONTEO (Poland)

Rzeszow Mobile Trails: Inclusion in the Logistics Industry

Creating pathways for inclusion and diversity in the logistics sector.

 Ženský algoritmus (Slovakia)

Inspiring Girls and Inspiring Jobs

Active youth involvement Conference – July 29–31, 2025

📅 July 29–31, 2025

📍 Hotel Szent István, Eger

We welcome representatives of the civil sphere with exciting lectures and interactive workshops, where they can share their opinions on the most pressing issues facing civil society organizations and gain new partners and knowledge for their cross-border cooperation.

👥 Participants: Civil society organizations from Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine

🎓 Our main topics:

🔹 Challenges and future of civil society organizations in the Carpathian Region