Anticipating futures for civil society operating space

A three-year initiative (2022 – 2025) focuses on strengthening anticipatory capacities and future readiness of civil society professionals who are working to defend and expand civic and civil society operating space. It creates synergies between the Solidarity Action Network’s (SANE) community of civic space-focused sector professionals and the Scanning the Horizon’s community of civil society futures thinkers and strategists, both hosted by the Centre.

The initiative aims to increase the signal-scanning and future-facing capacities of (international) civil society organisations – (I)CSOs – in line with the following three main objectives:

• Increase the awareness and readiness of (I)CSOs to address current and future
  challenges at the intersection of civic space and crises
• Offer a convening and collaborative space for civil society professionals to develop
  future scenarios in the context of civic space and crises
• Translate developed scenarios into concrete strategies and strengthen capacities
  at the individual, organisational and sector level

Watch this video introducing the initiative:

Phases of the initiative:

1. Preparing the ground and kicking off the initiative: June – December 2022
2. Developing and engaging on future scenarios: January – December 2023
3. Moving from scenarios to building concrete readiness: January 2024 – June 2025
4. Evaluation and follow-up needs assessment: July 2025 – December 2025

Learn more about the initiative