Strengthening Transition Sharing in the Wider Black Sea Region

Call for Project Proposals Funded by the European Commission

Program Description

In response to the democratic challenges in the wider Black Sea region, the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation (BST) is launching a new call for proposals which aims to increase the efficiency of civil society to promote an open, transparent, and inclusive system of governance through bilateral exchanges among organizations from the Black Sea region and new EU member states.

This call is part of the Strengthening Regional Links and Transition Sharing in the Wider Black Sea Region action run by the Transatlantic Foundation and funded by the European Union. The project aims to support civil society groups, independent media outlets, and journalists from the countries in the wider Black Sea region and the new EU member states.

Eligibility

Under the current call, BST will support proposals with a total budget of €15,000 to €20,000 that are initiated by civil society organizations (CSOs) and independent media organizations with a proven track record, legally registered in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, or Ukraine with at least one counterpart from new EU member states (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia).

Priority will be given to projects that:

  1. Address democratic challenges and governance processes in the respective countries and regions (such as disinformation, nationalist tendencies, corruption, weakness of media), as well as sectoral issues (for example, energy and transportation)
  2. Advocate for short-term action against immediate threats;
  3. Educate citizenry on current and potential democratic evolutions and educate international community on developments in the respective countries, regions, or on specific issues;
  4. Propose exchanges, sharing of expertise, and success stories.

Due to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, applicants are encouraged to take into consideration international and national travel restrictions and make use of modern information and communications technology tools.

Application Process

Proposals will be received on an ongoing basis; the first deadline is March 15, 2022.

To submit a project proposal, organizations must complete the forms below, in English only:

Project proposals must be sent to [email protected]. Only proposals submitted using these forms will be taken into consideration.

Please note that BST receives project applications on an ongoing basis. Specific calls such as the current one represent additional efforts to address specific issues CSOs are facing. To learn more about BST’s ongoing grantmaking program, please visit gmfus.org/bst-grantmaking or email us at [email protected].