Lianes Coopération joins the network

The Lianes Coopération a French regional multi-stakeholder network dedicated to international cooperation and solidarity in the Hauts-de-France region joined the network during the coordination group meeting on the 12th of June 2025. Lianes Coopération brings together local authorities, associations, educational institutions, and businesses engaged in international projects. It’s mission is to support and strengthen actors […]

Civil society under attack

In the European Parliament the Civic Space Report 2025 was presented on the fourth of June. A comprehensie report on how civic space is developing in Europe, or actually how the right of citizens in Europe to free assembly is increasingly attacked. That civic space is shrinking in ODA countries is something many of us […]

Strengthening local fundraising and mobilising support

The Funding Working Group came together on the 15th of May 2025 to share insights, challenges, and updates related to funding practices, local fundraising, and mobilising support. With growing pressure from shrinking international aid, the meeting served as a valuable platform for members to exchange knowledge on how to better support local partners in securing […]

Coordination Group Meeting – March 2025

On March 20, 2025, members of the European Network for Citizen Initiatives in Global Solidarity (CIGS) gathered online for their latest coordination meeting. Participants included representatives from CISU, 11.11.11, Wilde Ganzen, Fingo, Partnership Foundation, EUcanAid, Collective Leadership Institute, and Radboud University. Key highlights: Preparations are underway for a third European CIGS conference, most likely in […]

CIGS a way of expressing global citizenship

On the conference Shaping Tomorrow through Global Education on 28-29 November 2024 in Budapest, the secretary of the network expressed the urge to give global citizenship education to adults. He stressed the need as well to to enable them to participate actively in activities that express global solidarity. For an audience of about hunderd European […]

3rd Coordination Group Meeting Highlights

On September 6, 2024, members of the Network came together for a lively coordination group meeting. The third conference on citizen initiatives was set for late 2025. We discussed possible locations for the event: Amsterdam, Brussels and Bratislava were considered. The event would aim to reflect on the evolving role of CIGS in a changing […]

After the European Elections

The capacity building working group of the network held its second meeting this year to discuss the impact of the political changes in Europe on CIGS. The recent European elections have brought notable changes, with a rise in right-wing representation across multiple countries. This shift has significant implications for CIGS in the different countries. Across all countries, […]

Next round of applications for the Transformative Partnership Award

The Collective Leadership Institute (CLI, German member of the European Network for CIGS) opens the next application round for its Transformative Partnership Award. This award is for civil society organisations who partner with other sectors. CLI would like to fill the gap that most awards purely focus on results, instead of the development of quality processes […]

Secretary reflects on developments

Our secretary ErnstJan Stroes recently had the opportunity to reflect on the development of the European Network for Citizen Initiatives in Global Solidarity at the Collective Leadership Institute’s 2024 “Transformation Literacy Conference!” Here you can find his reflections, alongside other inspiring discussions.  The annual online conference of the Collective Leadership Institute is to share reflections […]

Focus or not to focus?

The funding working group met on the 6th of June 2024 to discuss the impact of focus countries or themes on funding practices for CIGS, with a rather small representation of two member organisations. Up-front the province of West-Flanders provided us with a overview of how they relate to this theme. Actually the province of […]