NETWORK FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Situation and context: 

The history of Civil Society Organisations and NGOs in Cyprus is very recent. It is mainly the last decade that CSOs/NGOs have been really activated and started working in several fields, like environment, society, gender issues etc. The cooperation and partnership among Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot organizations needs definitely fostering and support and a more sustainable attitude concerning cooperation among NGOs/CSOs and creation of common visions and missions. Networking with the international community is at very low levels. Cypriot organizations suffer from introversion: they mainly work on their own, within their island. Extroversion, "internationalization" of the organizations, especially through networking, is the challenge and a "must" in the new era of EU and globalization. In order to get into this new era, the Cypriot organizations need to improve their skills and their capacities and create strong partnerships and networks among them and with organizations from broad.

Project summary:

The aim of this proposal is to promote effective partnership and networking among CSOs/NGOs in Cyprus and organizations from Mediterranean, EU and other countries, on issues related to environment, sustainable development and stakeholder participation processes.

The proposal is structured in a 2-year period. The aim is to foster partnership and networking among the participating organizations, to provide the Cypriot partners with opportunities for education and training on the issue of sustainable development, to improve their skills on organizing campaigns, on advocacy and participation and to expand the partnership of this proposal into a Network for Sustainable Development. These tasks are achieved through on-the-job work: the planning and implementation of joint activities and interactive learning activities and study visit. The proposal is structured around a common thematic activity: Sustainable Coastal Development. The participating organizations will work together on joint actions, plan and implement a common awareness raising campaign, participate in inter-organizational meetings and thematic workshops and trainings.

The partners

 The proposal involves 6 partners:

o       AKTI Project and Research Centre. The coordinator, Greek Cypriot NGO

o       CYMEPA, Greek Cypriot NGO, www.cymepa.org.cy ),

o       KAYAD Community Centre. Turkish Cypriot NGO, www.kayadcommunitycentre.com

o       The Mediterranean Youth Centre (AGEM).Turkish Cypriot NGO

o       Mediterranean SOS Network. NGO from Greece. www.medsos.gr

o       Environmental and Cultural Heritage Conservation Association. NGO from Turkey

o       The proposal is supported by the MARE NETWORK.

Project’s Activities

The proposal includes the following interrelated actions:

1. Planning, developing and implementing joint activities.

2. Learning activities for strengthening Inter-organizational collaboration

3. Creation of joint publications and joint services 

4. Sustainability of the Network/ partnership

THE PROJECT IS FUNDED WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE PARTNERSHIP GRANT OF UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM –ACTION FOR COOPERATION AND TRUST (UNDP-ACT, www.undp-act.org)