Civil Society Under Attack: Europe’s Backbone Fights Back
Friday, 24 April
17:45 – 19:15
Room: Salle de Guichets
Across Europe, civil society organisations are the target of coordinated and sustained attacks. These pressures ultimately aim to push Green and progressive CSOs away from advocacy goals into depoliticised, technocratic, and sanitised roles. Yet whether it serves as an arena for real representation and participation, or fills the gaps left by retreating public institutions, a strong civil society is the very prerequisite of a thriving public space. Undermining its role means hollowing out democracy itself at a time when it’s already under threat.
This plenary brings together civil society leaders, Green politicians, activists and thinkers to ask: how is political pressure affecting the power, agency, and influence of civil society today? What battles lie ahead for Green and progressive CSOs as democratic space shrinks? And how can civil society reclaim its role as a political actor, strengthening collective voice and capacity to act?
Speakers
Video message by Laurence Tubiana, CEO, European Climate Foundation
Laurence Tubiana is CEO of the European Climate Foundation (ECF) and a professor at Sciences Po, Paris. She previously chaired the Board of Governors at the French Development Agency (AFD), as well as the Board at Expertise France (the French public agency for international technical assistance). Before joining the ECF, Laurence was France’s Climate Change Ambassador and Special Representative for COP21, and as such a key architect of the landmark Paris Agreement. Following COP21 and through COP22, she was appointed UN High-Level Champion for climate action.
Rosa Martínez, Secretary of State for Social Rights, Spain
Rosa Martinez Rodríguez is Secretary of State for Social Rights in the Spanish Government. She is currently member of the Green European Journal editorial committee, being involved with the Green Movement since 2011. As member of the Spanish Parliament (2015-2019) she worked on energy, industry and climate policies. After that, she worked for the European Climate Foundation.
Stefanos Loukopoulos, Co-Founder & Director, Vouliwatch
Stefanos Loukopoulos is co-founder and director of Vouliwatch, Greece’s leading democracy watchdog – an organisation built to defend civic space and democratic accountability in one of the European countries where both have been most aggressively contested. Over the past decade, he has led campaigns and advocacy efforts that directly shaped landmark Greek legislation on lobbying regulation, asset declaration disclosure, and access to information, demonstrating that civil society can move the needle even under sustained institutional pressure. A founding member of the international Parliamentwatch Network and the Greek Civil Society Alliance, Stefanos is currently an active member the Working Group which drafted and is now implementing Athens’ first Open Government Partnership Local Action Plan. Before Vouliwatch, he worked with NGOs in London and Brussels and in the European Parliament. He holds postgraduate degrees in International Relations and International Conflict Analysis.
Nika Kovač, My Voice My Choice
Nika Kovač is the founding director of the Institute 8th of March, a movement-building organization that uses storytelling and advocacy to confront gender and economic inequalities across Slovenia. Commemorating International Women’s Day, which is celebrated annually on March 8th, the organisation works to break the silence around sexual violence by gathering testimonials and data on issues of rape, abortion, and sexual assault across the country, as well us brings juistice nationwide with numerous campaigns. She has led three national referendum campaigns and changed 15 laws in Slovenia. Right now she’s leading a pan-European campaign My Voice, My Choice advocating for safe and accessible abortion in Europe using the mechanism of European Citizens’ Initiative. The campaign successfully collected more than 1 million signatures for the cause and mobilised thousands of people accross Europe. The initiative was received a positive response from the European Commission granting abortion access to millions of women in Europe. Nika is also the executive director of the Democracy Hub, an international organisation collecting innovative campaign practices and educating hundreds of activists worldwide. She won numerous awards, among them Slovenian woman of the year and Personality of the year, she was an Obama scholar and Obama leader leader, as well as the Vital Voices Global Leadership honoree.
Aarti Narsee, Senior Policy Officer & Lead for Rule of Law Advocacy, European Civic Forum
Aarti Narsee is a decolonial feminist from South Africa based in Brussels. She works as a senior policy officer and leads rule of law advocacy at the European Civic Forum. Through her feminist approach, she provides insights on an intersectional approach to civic space. The ECF is a pan-European network of nearly 100 associations and NGOs across 29 European countries, which works to protect civic space, enable civic participation and build civil dialogue for more equality, solidarity and democracy in Europe.
Moderator: Agata Meysner, GEF Board member; Co-Founder, Generation Climate Europe
Agata Meysner is a climate activist and a non-profit entrepreneur from Poland. She co-founded and lead Generation Climate Europe, the largest coalition of youth-led networks on climate and environmental justice issues in Europe. Under her leadership, GCE has grown its membership to 380+ member organisations across 46 countries. She has collaborated with Europe’s largest environmental NGOs, and advised leading international organisations, such as the OECD and the European Commission. Agata is also a Fellow at the University of Oxford. Her expertise focuses on intergenerational justice, circular and wellbeing economy. She specialises in building impactful coalitions and strategies that drive systemic change. Agata regularly speaks at leading conferences on EU policy and social impact across Europe.
