Supported by: The Office of the Government of the Slovak Republic

Project Span: September 2011 – November 2011

Co-operating institutions: Consortium of Institute for Public Affairs (IVO), Partners for Democratic Change Slovakia (PDCS) and Center for Philanthropy (CpF)

IVO project team: Martin Bútora (project leader), Zora Bútorová, Grigorij Mesežnikov. Assistance: Ján Bartoš and Jana Kuzmová

Objective:  To provide a comprehensive information on the current state and trends in the development of civil society and non-governmental sector in Slovakia. To include into the analysis a wide range of experts, in particular from the NGOs – as participants of the expert group discussions; as respondents of in-depth interviews; as authors of case studies. The project was initiated by the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for the Development of Civil Society. Research findings will be used for the preparation and implementation of a strategy of a more efficient cooperation between the state and the non-profit sector.

Outputs:

1. “The Study on the State of Civil Society in Slovakia” – will analyze the general state policy towards NGOs, as well as sectoral policies; preparedness of NGOs to cooperate with the state; social innovations created by the NGOs; conditions necessary for the partnership between the state and NGOs; economic parameters of the cooperation between the state and NGOs, etc.

2. “The Study on the Trends in the Development of Civil Society in Slovakia” will focus on trends in the development of active citizenship and participation; expected development of state policies towards NGOs from legislative, financial and political perspectives. It will summarize economic arguments in favor of the partnership between the state and NGOs, as well as the economic problems of such co-operation. A panel of experts who will participate in the Delphi discussion will be involved in the prediction of future trends.