The Stefan Batory Foundation

East East Program

Partnership Beyond Borders

Polski | English

contact: wschod@batory.org.pl

Sylwia Sobiepan,
phone: (48 22) 536 02 70, fax 536 02 20,
Justyna Blinowska
phone: (48 22) 536 02 43, fax 536 02 20

Program in 2000-2004 (summary)
[PDF 102 KB]

Program coordinated and financed by the Open Society Institute.

The East East Program: Partnership Beyond Borders seeks to support initiatives which inform and empower the development and expansion of open society, specifically through collaborative work among civic society organizations in more than one country. The Program supports initiatives designed to share ideas, expertise, experiences and knowledge and to promote practical actions that result from information and knowledge networking beyond borders. It is implemented by the foundations of Open Society Institute (OSI) network in Central and Eastern Europe, Turkey, Central Asia, and Mongolia and with institutional partners in Slovenia and Russia.

The East East: Partnership Beyond Borders Program awards financial support to civil society actors and organizations which seek to engage beyond borders to:

build and/or strengthen resources and expertise
share best practices/lessons learned in social transformation
collaborate on innovative solutions to common challenges
create and/or strengthen international advocacy coalitions

The Program prioritizes long-term, in-depth initiatives with clear objectives to

promote diversity and alternative perspectives and experiences;
make information accessible and available to the public;
empower marginalized and/or vulnerable sectors of society; and,
encourage public engagement and empowerment

More information on the Program’s priorities and focus areas: www.soros.org/initiatives/east.

Grants for projects implemented in Poland

Polish nongovernmental organizations and other institutions may apply for grants for projects implemented in cooperation with partner organization from at least one country of the region (Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, and Central Asia).

Projects may address different spheres of life, however, they must have clearly defined goals and set concrete results. The involvement of partners from the region should not be incidental but should initiate or develop sustained cross-border cooperation of people and institutions; a cooperation which may contribute to developing good models of social activity and to solving problems at a local and regional level.

In 2007 the priority is given to the proposals that concern:

counteracting marginalization and exclusion of certain social groups
counteracting unemployment, developing entrepreneurship
transparency of public life and fighting corruption
improving quality of teaching
enhancing efficiency of justice, legal education

Grants may cover accommodation of participants from countries of the Region in Poland (Polish participants excluded), translation of materials and partial organizational costs (the costs of foreign participants are covered by foundations from OSI network in these countries).

East East Program does not make grants for congresses, conferences, research and scientific projects, cultural and artistic events, translations and publications, administrative costs.

Applications are recommended by the Batory Foundation. The final evaluation is made by the Regional Office of the Program.

The deadlines for applications pass on

February 19, 2007 (for projects that start after May 19, 2007)
August 20, 2007 (for projects that start after November 20, 2007)

Decision concerning projects, which will be realized in 2008, will be taken in January 2008.

Grants for the participation of Poles in projects carried out in other countries of the region

Grants are made for people invited to participate in projects carried out in other countries of the region if the project is supported by the foundation from the Open Society Institute network operating in this country. Grants may cover only cost of travel (accommodation costs are covered by other foundations from the OSI network).

Participants invited to the projects should submit application with CV and short justification of their usefulness for the project. The knowledge and expertise of an applicant should correspond with the subject matter of the project (a received invitation does not guarantee immediate financial support).

Applications should be sent no later than 2 weeks before departure to the following address:

Stefan Batory Foundation
East East Program
Sapieżyńska 10a
00-215 Warsaw

European Integration Subprogram

The Subprogram for European Integration was launched in 2005 as a collaborative initiative of the East East: Partnership Beyond Borders Program and OSI-Brussels. It is open to Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine. It is also open to applications from throughout the European Union providing such applications address candidate and potential candidate countries and Eastern neighbors.

The Subprogram for European Integration prioritizes exchanges among EU member states, candidate and potential candidate countries and the EU neighborhood. Specifically, the Subprogram prioritizes knowledge transfer and experience exchanges addressed to:

EU accession experiences in Central Europe, including:
- preparations for European integration
- civil society consortia to facilitate access to EU funding related to the goals of European integration
- civil society monitoring of European integration processes
Public awareness of the opportunities and challenges of European integration, including:
- mobilization of civil society and the public to participate in policy dialogues related to European integration
- stimulation of public interest in EU member states to develop closer relations with candidate countries and neighbors

Subprogram activities will be overseen by Andre Wilkens, Executive Director, OSI-Brussels, and Mary Frances Lindstrom, Program Director, East East: Partnership Beyond Borders Program and an advisory committee.

The Subprogram will be facilitated through the East East: Partnership Beyond Borders Program network according to a two-step application process as outlined below.

Phase I: Concept Paper
The first stage of an application is a narrative concept paper (maximum 1A4 page) which will describe the long-term vision and the goals of an initiative for which grant support is requested. Concept papers will be evaluated first by the foundations according to the East East Program: Partnership Beyond Borders program review guidelines. Concept papers accepted by the foundations will then be forwarded to Program Management, who will review them in consultation with OSI-Brussels. Concept papers may be accepted on an on-going basis.

Phase II: Implementation/Action Plan
The concept paper is the basis on which a full proposal will be requested. Upon positive evaluation of a concept paper by the East East: Partnership Beyond Borders Program, Program coordinator in the foundation will request from the applicant a detailed implementation/action plan. The implementation/action plan is the basis on which grant support will be evaluated. The implementation/action plan must be received six weeks from notification of acceptance of the concept paper. The detailed implementation/action plan will be reviewed by the foundation, again according to East East: Partnership Beyond Borders Program review guidelines and if accepted, will be forwarded to Program Management for final evaluation.