Joining forces for change
The best, most relevant ideas for Europe do not always emerge on their own. For some time now, we – the partners, jury and team behind Advocate Europe – have been asking ourselves what possibilities we could unleash if we brought together a big group of changemakers and social innovators with inspiring ideas for Europe. What kind of collaborations might develop that could strengthen connection and cohesion in Europe? Could this be a way to support some of the many worthy projects which were not chosen as the winners of our ideas challenge?
We see enormous potential in the idea of gathering together a diverse group of purpose-driven actors who share similar visions, but have never met one another. Late last year we took the plunge and piloted a new format – the Collaboration Camp – designed to allow just that to happen.
The Collaboration Camp is a re-invention and adaptation of the selection process for the Advocate Europe ideas challenge. Thirty project and idea makers who had been shortlisted during last year’s ideas challenge were invited to a three-day workshop in Athens in November 2016. There, they had the opportunity to team up with one or more other organisations and to further develop their ideas, to merge and connect them, or to develop a new one together.
As part of the pilot, two emergent ‘partnership projects’, selected through a jury process in December 2016, each received up to 30.000 Euro from Advocate Europe.
The Agora Project – a collaboration between hostwriter.org, the global network of journalists and a committed team of young changemakers based in Armenia – focuses on cross-border reporting about upcoming elections in several European countries. The project deRadika - Think Fast, Eat Slow, a collaboration between Deradika, a young journalistic initiative from Germany, and Slow Food Germany, brings people in three European cities together around a dinner table to strengthen awareness of the dangers and possibilities of radicalism in Europe.
The Collaboration Camp will be a core part of the next call for ideas, which we plan to publish in autumn 2017. Stay tuned!