News and updates from BCSDN and the region
We are excited to introduce the new BCSDN website — a refreshed, accessible and easy-to-navigate space designed to better reflect who we are today. Explore BCSDN’s work on civic space, EU policies and enlargement, and donor strategies and practices, with research, analyses, projects and resources now easier to find. The website also tells more of
Read more →BCSDN and members are launching a regional campaign against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), drawing attention to how abusive legal action can be used to intimidate, exhaust and silence those speaking in the public interest. Across the Western Balkans, journalists, activists, CSOs, environmental and human rights defenders, and citizens can face legal pressure whose
Read more →The 2026 OECD Global Forum on Building Trust and Reinforcing Democracy, taking place on 12–13 October in Paris, will focus on how democratic governments can become more responsive and resilient in a period of rapid change and disruption. Under the theme “Government Unstuck: Resilient Democracies in a Fast-Changing World,” the Forum will address declining public
Read more →International IDEA is inviting organisations to submit panel proposals for the Global Conference on Electoral Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) and Democracy, taking place on 3–4 March 2027 in Chișinău, Moldova. The conference will bring together CSOs, researchers, public institutions, regulators and policy actors to exchange evidence, methods and strategies for strengthening democratic resilience
Read more →The Possible Now Summit, taking place in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 2–4 December 2026, will bring together people exploring new approaches to social change, solidarity and collective action. Emerging from the 2023 #ShiftThePower Global Summit in Bogotá, Possible Now seeks to connect innovative but often isolated practices and experiments into a broader ecosystem capable of challenging
Read more →The EU System for an Enabling Environment (EU SEE) analysis of 1,218 recommendations from 54 Country Focus Reports identifies recurring challenges affecting civil society across regions. Access to sustainable resources emerges as the leading concern, driven by declining traditional donor funding, dependence on short-term project support and administrative barriers that particularly affect smaller and local
Read more →BCSDN is launching the Regional Civic Space Early Warning System & Response Mechanism, a 12-month pilot aimed at identifying emerging civic space threats earlier and translating existing evidence into timely engagement and response. Across the Western Balkans and Türkiye, restrictive legislation, administrative and financial pressures, intimidation, attacks and limitations on participation can accumulate, while responses
Read more →BCSDN’s analysis of the 2026 European Commission Rule of Law Reports, compared with findings from its Monitoring Matrix, highlights continued pressure on civic space across Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. While the EC captures many important concerns, BCSDN’s monitoring provides a broader picture of implementation gaps and accumulating legal, administrative, financial and digital pressures
Read more →Throughout June and July, BCSDN member Partners Albania organised three regional consultation meetings under Thematic Working Group on Civic Space and Democratization, bringing together around 50 civil society, media, think tank representatives and experts from across the Western Balkans. The consultations provided a space to identify shared challenges affecting civic space and democratic development, exchange
Read more →The European Democracy Shield marks an important recognition of democratic resilience as a European security imperative, but its success will depend on concrete action rather than new structures, according to EU CRTA. This is particularly relevant for the Western Balkans, one of Europe’s most exposed democratic frontlines, where civil society, independent media, researchers and human
Read more →KoneKtor 2026 will bring together foundations, donors and civil society in Chișinău to examine how philanthropy can respond to rising authoritarianism, shrinking civic space and growing pressure on communities. The event will explore what authoritarianism looks like today, who is most at risk, and how philanthropic actors can help protect vulnerable groups, support independent media
Read more →A new civil society report following the first UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance calls for a more inclusive, equitable and human rights-based approach to governing artificial intelligence. Developed by five civil society coalitions, the report welcomes the Dialogue as a step towards international cooperation but identifies gaps in civil society participation, representation of marginalised
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