Grow Civic is an in-kind support program run by Civic Space. It is a powerful and effective tool for boosting the capacity of civil society. It caters to the needs of grassroots or local CSOs as well as activists who do not have access to macro-level EU or other donor grants.

The Grow Civic Program aims to:

• Create new rights-based initiatives/organizations or strengthen the rights-based capacities of current initiatives/organizations.
• Form new thematic mono-communal, multi-communal, or cross-thematic coalitions, or strengthening existing coalitions’ rights-based capacities.
• Protect and promote democracy, basic human rights, and EU ideals and principles.
• Increase the outreach, visibility, and multiplier effects of rights-based initiatives/organizations/actions.
• Promote intercommunal and/or multi-regional dialogue and collaboration.
• Promote and expand dialogue and partnership with civil society organizations (CSOs) in EU Member States and/or the IPA region.
• Build organizational capacity for more effective and long-term rights-based action.

Grow Civic provides flexible, transparent, and accessible direct in-kind support to rights-based, public-benefit actionsvity carried out by activists, citizen initiatives, platforms, networks, and CSOs who are legally residing in Cyprus. Help Desk Civic Space offers CSOs and activists on-demand, tailor-made help desk support in developing their action plans, identifying potential partners, integrating a rights-based approach and measures for mainstreaming various rights issues, and developing their budgets or activities, among other things.

Request owners can submit their requests using the Grow Civic System (MIS). English and Turkish request forms can be accessed from the MIS button below.

Grow Civic (MIS) 

For any other questions, you can check the Frequently Asked Questions section.

Target groups

Grow Civic can benefit activists, civil society platforms, networks, initiatives, groups, associations, foundations, non-profit companies, trade unions, local cooperatives, professional organizations, and more. Whether registered or unregistered, local or cross-communal, the program is designed to support various sectors and communities positively.

What have we done so far?

So far, Civic Space has provided support to the implementation of 116 actions upon 279 requests, covering a large spectrum of actions including but not limited to:

Organizing and/or participating in meetings, conferences, seminars, study visits, networks, multi-communal and partnership activities, advocacy work, lobbying activities, conducting research, campaigns, etc. Thematic fields supported include peace and reconciliation, nature and environment, health, culture and arts, human rights, gender, youth, etc.

 Results

The successful implementation of 116 actions has resulted in the following results:

• 11 new CSOs have been found; an additional 3 newly found CSOs implemented their first actions
• 102 films/videos and 24 podcasts and blogs produced
• 25 websites and 1 MIS developed
• 56 reports on numerous thematic issues published
• 9 representative public opinion research conducted
• 16 surveys conducted with more than 7130 respondents on various thematic issues
• 47 press releases published with hundreds of press/TV coverage
• 137 trainings held with more than 3200 participants
• 430 social media visuals created with millions of outreach
• 74 posters and leaflets printed and distribute
• More than 5000 promotional materials printed and distributed
• 142 seminars/public events held with more than 7985 participants
• 18 study visits organised with 73 people to 10 countries
• More than 18.000 copies of books/reports printed and distributed
• 35 artworks created and exhibited
• 31 policy papers and/or legal texts developed and advocated
• 24 actions cooperated with more than 12 “municipalities”
• 21 actions cooperated with more than 10 local bodies
• 7 actions cooperated with more than 8 professional organisations/institutions
• 9 actions cooperated with 23 schools and 8 actions with 6 universities
• 30 actions built new relations with or further improved existing collaboration amongst CSOs/activists from the northern part of Cyprus and Republic of Cyprus
• Cypriot CSOs built networks and increased their collaboration with CSOs from more than 17 countries.
• 21 actions drafted legal texts and/or policy proposals on various thematic issues; 9 of them, whose advocacy activities were successfully completed, achieved the necessary change.