💫 Look back at 2025 w/ our newsletter, bringing you: 🟢practical resources and tools you can put into practice, like the new guide on how to do innovation right with #FRIAs; 🔵 research to inform your work on #democracy, #AI, #foresight ... & much more. Sign up for 2026: mailchi.mp/ecnl/2025-in...

Ireland has one of the world's highest concentrations of data centers. The expansion has reshaped the grid & deepened fossil fuel use. As the EU pushes to triple data center capacity, Ireland offers a warning. Read our investigation with AlgorithmWatch.

Great exchange with @ecnl.bsky.social colleagues on how civil society can hold international organisations accountable and advance human rights. Belarus reminds us that this is a long haul (I remember the Jan 2011 civil society meeting well) 🤍❤️🤍

🚀 New: Guide to Fundamental Rights Impact Assessments 🚀 How can #FRIAs be conducted meaningfully & in line with the #AIAct? 👉 Here's a clear roadmap from ECNL & DIHR for deployers of high-risk AI systems - and anyone seeking to deploy AI responsibly - to do so. 🔗 ecnl.org/publications...

📢 How can journalists and civil society work together? What are the best practices for effective collaboration? 🔵 Join this Civic Journalism Coalition Webinar TODAY with ECNL, @disclose.ngo, @lighthousereports.com and EDRI: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

🫶 Responsible #AI works best when people collaborate. In #Amsterdam, the municipality, technical team and citizens co-created an AI system using ECNL’s Framework for Meaningful Engagement: putting public interest and trust at the centre. Find out more here: ecnl.org/news/amsterd...

❗ Experienced editor/proofreader (5+ yrs reviewing analytical reports, civic freedoms terminology) wanted for the Monitoring Action for Civic Space (#MACS) project. 📖 You will review 7 country reports to ensure clarity, consistency & accuracy. Apply by 8 December: ecnl.org/job-openings #Hiring

🌍🇳🇱 How can people in the Netherlands eat, consume goods, and travel more sustainably? Today, the Dutch National #CitizensAssembly on #Climate presents its answers to this question. 💡 Read more on the power of involving people in the decisions that shape their lives: ecnl.org/news/citizen...

💡NEW blog: How do we move the commitments of the #EUCivilSocietyStrategy from paper to real action? 👉 Read our reflections: ecnl.org/news/promise... #EUCivicSpace #Democracy #Participation

🚨 ALERT: Tech is a DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD for Civil Society. ​ ​Read my new article on the role of tech in the decline of civic freedoms via @techpolicypress.bsky.social www.techpolicy.press/civil-societ...

⏰New GDRC–WSIS statement on the WSIS+20 Outcome Document. 👉 Key asks: • Safeguards against intrusive, rights-violating technologies • Protection of encryption, anonymity tools, and free expression • Attention to AI’s environmental and human rights impacts www.gp-digital.org/news/gdrc-ws...

Interesting new study on the CoE Framework Convention on #AI 👇

📢 See you in court? Join us for a new Civic Journalism Coalition Webinar on 27 Nov. 📢 🤔 Are you a journalist or work for a civil society org? Are you interested in how to use journalistic evidence in litigation? And how to defend yourself against #SLAPPs? ➡️ us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Our new step-by-step guide walks you through concrete process recommendations for public institutions and private providers designing or using AI tools for public participation. ⏩ Find out more here: ecnl.org/news/bluepri... Interested in piloting this tool? Get in touch: [email protected].

🚀 Out now: Framework for Meaningful Engagement 2.0 Civil society & affected communities must be part of #AI development to ensure that platforms & developers create rights-based products. The #FME 2.0 provides practical suggestions on how to do this: ecnl.org/publications... #ResponsibleAI

✨ Make your voice stronger in shaping #DigitalPolicy! ✍ Apply to a new #CADE training to help you build policy expertise and diplomatic skills! 📅 Ddl: 30 Nov 2025 ➡️ Apply now: cadeproject.org/in-focus/cap...

👋 Are you btw 13 and 17? Do you consider yourself an activist? @amnesty.org wants to hear from YOU! 💬 Amnesty collects stories from young people who’ve taken action - online or offline. Whether it’s for climate, equality or any other cause, your voice matters. 📲 survey.zohopublic.eu/zs/ZHEFrJ

🚀 Officially launching LEAD today at #COP30! #LEADwithUs 🌎💚 Join a growing community of defenders, civil society, philanthropy, LEAD champions, and over 100k citizens globally! Let's elevate the voices of environmental human rights defenders in #ClimateAction. 📽️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXSF...

⚠️ The EU must uphold hard-won protections for #digital #HumanRights! 🚨 120+ orgs, unions and defenders urge the EU to halt its planned #DigitalOmnibus proposals - the biggest rollback of digital fundamental rights in EU history. 🇪🇺 Read the open letter: ecnl.org/news/eu-must...

As #COP30 begins, a silent war unfolds in courtrooms. Corporations are weaponising the law to silence #ClimateDefenders through #SLAPPs. 🔗 Read on @ipsnews.net : www.ipsnews.net/2025/11/sile... #ClimateJustice #CivicSpace #SLAPPs #COP30

🌎💚 Co-design LEAD’s next phase of work! #LEADwithUs at #COP30 in Belém. Join today's strategy meeting of LEAD at 15:00 ✏️ Register here to attend: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... 👉 Find out more about the LEAD: lead-initiative.com

🌎💚Are you at #COP30? #LEADwithUs ❇️ Join us today at 16:30 for a reception celebrating LEAD, a global initiative that elevates the voices of environmental human rights defenders in #ClimateAction. 📍 Grassroots Movement for Climate Venue, no registration needed. 👉 lead-initiative.com

🆕 ICNL’s Civic Freedom Monitor has a new look and enhanced functionality! ⏭️ With a more interactive interface and coverage of 50+ countries, it’s easier than ever to explore global trends in civic space laws and policies. Explore more: icnl.org/cfm #CivicFreedom #CivicSpace

📹 Missed our webinar on #AI & #Democracy? ➡️ Don't worry, you can watch the full recording here: youtu.be/a9aJHBdrVOY

In our latest newsletter, we are looking ahead to the future. Read about: 👀 The foresight paper on the future of civil societies 🚀 ECNL's new strategy 🌍 Global safeguards for civil disobedience and freedom of association... ... and much more! ▶️ us3.campaign-archive.com?u=e4a5924ac3...

🇨🇿 This three-part Guide offers support to democratic exiles, #HumanRights defenders, and #CivilSociety workers who may relocate to the Czech Republic. 🔎 Get critical legal insights to help ensure compliance and facilitate effective integration: www.icnl.org/post/news/gu...

NOW OUT: Guidelines on the Right to Peaceful Environmental Protest and Civil Disobedience 📝 A set of Guiding & Operational Principles for the effective protection of peaceful #EnvironmentalProtesters 👉 Full Guidelines (English): unece.org/sites/defaul... #UNECE #AarhusConvention

Europe's civil society #HumanRightsDefenders are under threat: -Restrictive legislation -Crackdown on activists & harassment -Severe funding crisis @coe.int states & non-state funders should stand up for civil society, the lifeblood & pillar of democratic society. ⬇️ www.coe.int/en/web/commi...

🗞️ New #CADE Newsletter (Aug/Sept 2025) is here! 🌐 Explore how CSOs are shaping #DigitalRights & #InternetGovernance 🤝 Read partner updates from across the globe 💡 Discover tools for a more inclusive digital future 👉 Read it now: cadeproject.org/newsletters/... #LetsTalkDigital #civilsociety

❔Have you registered yet for our upcoming webinar on AI & Democracy? Explore with us both the risks and opportunities that AI presents for democratic systems and public participation. 📅 October 14, 2025 🕑 14:00 – 15:30 CET ✏️ Make sure to secure your spot today here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

"Young people are not disengaged – they are redefining #participation." 💡 A must-read from @europeandemocracyhub.epd.eu on the lessons structured systems of civic participation can learn from the way young people mobilise. 👇

💻 You’ve heard of human rights — but what about digital rights? From censorship to internet shutdowns, our online freedoms are under threat. 🎥 Watch the new #CADE video: Yhttps://youtu.be/bZzKmZFHA1w?si=bBX5DHyUXOLNhGiz #DigitalRights #LetsTalkDigital #OnlineFreedom

#AI impact assessments without #participation of affected groups are just empty, tick-box exercises that don’t address the real-life #HumanRights concerns. A new report from @cecuconsumo.bsky.social shows how #CivilSociety makes the process more transparent, inclusive and impactful. ‪⤵️

🔥 New resource by @maecenata.bsky.social exposes the harmful logic behind narratives that want to deligitimise civil society & its democratic work. For fact-based arguments & hard data on civil society in Germany, see the factsheet, now also available in English. ▶️ www.maecenata.eu/wp-content/u...

🌈 Together with @liberties.eu and the HCLU, we urge the European Commission to uphold the #AIAct in Hungary and protect the participants of the Pecs #Pride from #AI #surveillance. 👀 #FacialRecognition #FundamentalRights Read our letter here: ecnl.org/news/civil-s...

💡 How can we ensure that #AI strengthens rather than undermines our #democracies? Join ECNL & Make.org for a webinar on aligning AI with democratic values. 📅 Oct 14 | 14:00–15:30 CET ✏️ Secure your free spot today here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

‼️ Urgent action is needed to ensure the rights enshrined in the #AIAct are upheld, not left as hollow promises. ⏰ The DDL to appoint bodies that will enforce the AI Act has come and gone. We joined 30 orgs to call on gov'ts & the Commission to keep the AI Act national implementation on track. ⤵️

📢 Take action for open & inclusive democracy—endorse the Vitoria-Gasteiz Declaration! Ahead of #OGPSummit, join this global call to protect democracy, boost transparency & tackle shared challenges. 👉 Endorse by Oct 7: opengovpartnership.org/vitoria-gasteiz-declaration/

📢 Register now! Civil society must be central to digital governance! Join the @CADE_project consortium for the launch of our Mapping & Baseline Study (EN/FR/ES/PT). Discover barriers, solutions & next steps for inclusive participation. 🔗 us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi... #CADE

📣 Call to CSOs in Europe: Have your say in a new COE study on civil society restrictions! 📆 DDL: September 25 More info here: www.coe.int/en/web/civil...

🚨 Launching the European Anti-SLAPP Monitor! Developed by @ecpmf.bsky.social & @casecoalition.bsky.social, the tool shows how countries across Europe are rolling out anti-SLAPP protections – where progress is happening, where it’s stalled, and where more work is needed.‬ 👉 Go to: slapp-monitor.eu

Europe’s real security challenge is to reclaim democracy. Defending civic space, participation and human rights must be a core pillar of EU security policy, as @florianirminger.ch and @vanjasko.bsky.social wrote for @ecnl.bsky.social 🔗 ecnl.org/news/europes...

Tomorrow, von der Leyen will address the EU Parliament with her SOTEU speech. Today, civil society and trade unions delivered a very clear message in a statement signed by 470 organisations: we need rules to protect people and the environment! corporateeurope.org/en/2025/09/o...

🔴 #Belarus aims to punish anyone who spreads information about #LGBTIQ, gender transition, and childlessness! The new law attempts to demonise social groups, as well as drastically restrict people's privacy and #FreedomOfExpression. Read more in the #CSOMeter update:

🔥🔥🔥 Exciting new initiative that puts young people at the centre of digital change! 👇

Join us today for another Civic Journalism Coalition webinar with colleagues from AlgorithmWatch & the Weizenbaum Institut. 👀 We'll explore how journalists & civil society can work together under the EU #DigitalServicesAct to investigate Big Tech harms. 👉 Sign up: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

🚨 🇳🇱 In their new annual thematic report, the Dutch national human rights institute sounds the alarm bell about shrinking #CivicSpace in the Netherlands! ⬇️ www.mensenrechten.nl/actueel/nieu...

Today we hear Ethiopia is bidding to host #COP32 🌍📢🇪🇹 Another COP in a country where civic space is crushed, dissent silenced, human rights ignored. Can climate change be tackled without real civil society? This is a crack we should hear — a faultline ⚡️

💡 The Financial Action Task Force #FATF has created a new procedure to address situations where countries implement anti-money laundering rules in ways that unintentionally harm legitimate organisations. How does this new process work? 🆕 Find out: ecnl.org/publications... #HumanRights #AML #CFT