The Kick-off Camp in Crete serves as an introduction to the organisers, to, RARE as a programme and to the joint advocacy project. Particpants will meet each other ofr the first time. We will have time to evaluate specific course needs and to map potential actors and networks. Activities will focus on forging bonds between participants, identifying common values and highlighting many of the topics that will form the core of the subsequent nine camps. Camp 1 includes activities on how civic space and the rule of law in Europe could be strengthened and introduces participants in RARE 2 to the joint advocacy project.
This camp will bring together RARE cohorts 1 and 2 with the aim of forging connections between them and relaying the work that has so far been done about RARE’s call for an EU Civil Society Strategy. Both groups will benefit from a skills training on how to become confident and competent public speakers, using methods of persuasion. Participants will understand how to structure a speech, avoid complexity, detail, wordiness, and clichés in political rhetoric. They will learn how to apply this guidance to actual speech drafting and delivery. Furthermore, participants will receive practical knowledge on how to pitch their organisations (and ideas) to senior policy-makers as well as to the public at large in the context of public appearances. The groups will also meet Estonian civil society colleagues.
The work of human rights defenders is about imagining, advocating for and making change happen. This has become increasingly challenging in complex or even restrictive political and social contexts. In this camp, participants will look at how to frame and deliver their messages on civic space and the rule of law in new and creative ways. They will start by examining their political contexts, and the drivers of populism and move on to examining and experimenting with effective new ways to describe their values and visions of the future to various audiences. As an add-on, we intend to organise a public event on EU civic space together with the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, hosted at the Hertie School.
In Vienna, participants will continue to meet potential allies: the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), OSCE officials and diplomats as well as Austrian civil society actors with EU advocacy experience. Finding out about the mandate and activities of these organisations, RARE participants will inquire how their work can be fed into theirs. The camp will also focus on carrying forward a policy paper on civic space in the EU, which is part and parcel of a rounded communications strategy. If we want our arguments about the desirability of an EU civic society strategy to stick and if we want our arguments to influence policy (or to help give birth to a policy idea), we must learn how to communicate key messages as clearly as possible, also by writing longer briefs. As advocacy targets – primarily European Commission officials and MEPs – are busy and receive too much information. The group will train how to write concisely and devoid of jargon. In VIenna, we will discuss how to structure a policy paper, write an executive summary, tailor recommendations and present policy choices vis-à-vis policymakers. RARE will cooperate with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung FES Regional Office for International Cooperation and its Democracy of the Future program.
RARE and OSCE/ODIHR will co-host this OSI camp that will enable rule of law defenders to independently carry out high-quality monitoring activities using open-source investigation techniques. Camp 5 will provide RARE participants with tools and skills related to gathering, verifying and analysing videos and images, conducting comprehensive social media research and performing open-source data collection and verification. The training will include sessions on advanced web-searching techniques and verification principles, advanced social media research, geolocation and maps, as well as satellite resources.
This Networking Camp will forge stronger links and relations between RARE participants and the Council of Europe as well as relevant political actors in the Netherlands. The RARE group will engage in exchanges with CoE units and Dutch stakeholders active in developing and implementing tools to protect the rule of law and human rights. Participants will take away practical insights on standards, policy and programme development in the Council of Europe and its units. Moreover, participants will meet Dutch parliamentarians, senior government officials, leading Dutch civic actors, academics and think tanks who share an interest in furthering the rule of law within the European Union and ties with human rights defenders.
Faced with often tough environments and performance imperatives from nearly all sides, leaders of human rights defender organisations need tools to help them define and deliver organisational strategies. This camp will help participants understand how strategic management (focusing on the long-term, success-oriented development of an organisation by analysing and adopting processes and decisions that will shape future performance) and performance management (that deals with targets and the definition, measurement and control of performance on various levels of an organisation) can help them achieve their human rights mission.
Thr Brussels Camp will focus on equipping participants with the deep networking skills they need to develop long-lasting connections at EU level that they can use to protect and empower their organisations - including by developing sustainable relationships with funders. Participants will see how to maximise the value of their network and will discuss how to balance various moral, ethical and strategic dilemmas in their activism. This will be complemented by a variety of meetings with NGO network members and NGO stakeholders located in Brussels. Envisioned meetings include organisations such as the EU Office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the Open Society European Policy Institute, the European Policy Centre - Connecting Europe Programme, philanthropic organisations, as well as various EU member state representations and EU institutions, including meetings with European Parliament committees and MEPs. The Brussels camp will be organised in partnership with the EU Office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
In Budapest, participants will learn more about security-related issues, including both the harder aspects of security (digital security) as well as its softer aspects (self-care, burnout prevention). RARE 2 will look for opportunities to cooperate with organisations focusing on these topics to offer a jointly organised camp.
Strengthening the leadership capacities of RARE participants and their organisations is essential for their resilience and success. This camp will focus on how RARE participants can use personal leadership to protect and strengthen their organisations from within during times of change and crisis. We will discuss how they can inspire others to take similar action. The camp will look at ways in which participants can guide their organisations through periods of change.
The closing camp will also review our achievements and continued challenges related to civic space and the rule of law in the EU, and look at continuing our collaboration in RARE.
Archive: RARE 1 activities (2020-2022)
This camp will serve to set the stage for the two-year-long programme and the joint advocacy strategy. It will allow all key programme stakeholders to meet, evaluate specific course needs and map potential actors and networks. Most importantly, the planning camp will be used to outline the joint strategic plan of action. Already in this first camp, participating organisations will begin to identify potential areas for collaborative advocacy. This will include mapping two-to-three years of potential activities and identifying key European capitals where they should be focused.
Strategy and thought processes accompanying its formation are often neglected in the day-to-day operations of many HRD organisations. This camp provides participating HRDs with the time and practical guidance needed to effectively hone their strategic thinking skills and their organisations' action strategies. Participants will work together to co-design collaborative strategies for strengthening their inter-organisational solidarity and overall impact. Practical perspectives will be conveyed through high-level meetings with, for example, the German Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid and the German Chancellery.
The camp will also pay attention to the links between human rights, rule of law and democracy, the foundation on which the EU has been built. As part of this camp, the programme envisions a panel discussion with leading external experts hosted by the Hertie School’s Centre for Fundamental Rights.
The work of HRDs is about imagining, advocating for and making change happen, but this has become increasingly challenging in complex or even restrictive political and social contexts. In this camp, participants will look at how to frame and deliver their messages on civic space and the rule of law in new and creative ways. They will start by examining their political contexts, the drivers of populism and move on to examining and experimenting with effective new ways to describe their values and visions of the future to various audiences.
This camp will forge stronger links and relations between RARE participants and the Council of Europe as well as the Netherlands, through exchanges with CoE units and Dutch stakeholders active in developing and implementing tools to protect the rule of law and human rights. Participants will take away practical insights on standards, policy and programme development in the Council of Europe and its units. Moreover, participants will meet Dutch parliamentarians, senior government officials, leading Dutch civic actors, academics and think tanks who share an interest in furthering the rule of law within the European Union and ties with human rights defenders. The camp will also offer an opportunity to launch discussions about the joint project in RARE and solicit views and support for it from CoE and Dutch counterparts.
Members of the RARE network join re:constitution fellows for an interactive exchange session about current challenges of working towards the protection of fundamental rights and civic spaces in both academia and practice.
In Vienna, the group will continue to meet potential allies: the EU Fundamental Rights Agency, OSCE/ODIHR as well as Austrian civil society actors with EU advocacy experience. Finding out about the mandate and activities of these organisation, RARE participants will inquire how their work can be fed into their work streams. The camp will also focus on producing a policy paper on civic space in the EU, which is part and parcel of a rounded communications strategy. If we want our arguments about the desirability of an EU civic space strategy to stick and if we want our arguments to influence policy (or to help give birth to a policy idea), we must learn how to communicate key messages as clearly as possible, also by writing longer briefs. As advocacy targets – primarily European Commission officials and MEPs – are busy and they receive too much information, the group will train how to write concisely and in a way devoid of jargon. The camp will discuss how to structure a policy paper, write an executive summary, tailor recommendations and present policy choices vis-à-vis policymakers.
The Prague camp will enable rule of law defenders to independently carry out high quality monitoring activities using open source monitoring techniques. It will provide RARE participants with skills related to gathering, verifying and analysing videos and images, conducting comprehensive social media research and performing open source data collection and verification.
The three-day training will include sessions on advanced web-searching techniques and verification principles, advanced social media research, geolocation and maps, and satellite resources.
Strengthening the internal leadership of the participants' organisations is essential for their long-term survival and success. Camp VIII will focus on how RARE participants can use personal leadership to protect and strengthen their organisations from within during times of change and crisis, but also how to inspire others to take similar action.
The camp will also look at ways in which participants can use relevant advanced management tools and guide their organisations through periods of change. Taking place in Budapest (TBC), the programme will include discussions with think tanks such as the with CEU Democracy Institute and Political Capital.
The closing camp will review progress on the joint strategic action plan and further develop plans for joint advocacy activities in respect to the collaborative project on expanding civic space within the European Union. It will also allow RARE participants to reflect on the broader achievements of their two year-long programme and recommend adjustments to the programme for the next RARE cohort.
