Institute for Public Affairs (IVO), Center for Philanthropy (CpF) and Partners for Democratic Change Slovakia (PDCS) are collaborating on a research project analyzing current state and trends in the development of civil society and a non-governmental sector in Slovakia. The output of their work will be two studies, which will provide a comprehensive overview of this thematic area. The project was initiated by the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for the Development of Civil Society, which intends to use the findings as a source of information for the creation of a more efficient cooperation between the state and nongovernmental organizations.

The first output – “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.

The second output – “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, as well as against the partnership between the state and NGOs. A panel of experts who will participate in the Delphi discussion will be involved in the prediction of future trends.

For many years, all three institutions have been involved in the study of active citizenship and civic participation, of the models of cooperation between the state and the NGOs, in monitoring philanthropy, giving and community activities, as well as in the evaluation of economic, social, political and cultural conditions in which the NGOs operate. Their knowledge was embodied in dozens of publications, including regular chapters on NGOs, active citizenship and volunteering in the yearly Global Reports on Slovakia issued by the IVO.

IVO, CpF and PDCS have created consortium, which won a public competition announced by the Office of the Government of the Slovak Republic. The project will start in September and end in November 2011.