National Civil Society Research Articles

Changes in the self-determination and cultural and social life of the Croatian, Slovenian and Serbian nationalities in Hungary until 2019 in the light of the legislative changes

The aim of the study is to show how the socio-economic conditions of the Slovenes, Croats and Serbs have evolved over the last thirty years. In the thirty-year period after the regime change, the system of relations of self-determination of nationalities has undergone continuous change and development. The study also deals in depth with the nationality policy of state-socialist Hungary. Without this background, it would not be possible to evaluate the first thirty years correctly. The self-organization and cultural life of the nationalities under study is significantly influenced by the fact that the majority of them live in rural areas in underdeveloped regions of the country. The cultural elite of each nationality was late in coming into being or had to completely reorganise itself after state socialism. In this study, I focus primarily on legislative changes and local elections. I also present the specificities of national cultural civil society organisations.

Russia in the politics of South Caucasus countries after 2022

The research question is how national governments and civil societies reflect Russian involvement in the decision-making process of South Caucasus countries in 2022–2024? The structure of the research includes two sections: 1) Strategic interests of the countries of the South Caucasus and Russia in 2022–2024; 2) Changing the role of Russia in the South Caucasus in 2022–2024. In result of the research it was revealed that opting for a policy of normalization Georgia cannot renounce its territory (Abkhazia and South Ossetia). Azerbaijan has been the most consistent among the Caucasian countries in challenging Russian hegemony in the region. This trend intensified after the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine: Azerbaijan increased humanitarian aid to Ukraine; pro-Ukrainian sympathies in Azerbaijani society were expressed through a number of leading media outlets that openly supported Kyiv. Baku unilaterally reviewed the ceasefire agreement - 2020, mediated by Russia. Amid the international isolation of the Kremlin, Azerbaijan began to play a much larger role for Russia. Baku is important link in the chain of diplomatic and economic ties of Putin's regime. Russia tries to maintain productive relations with Baku, even at the expense of its long-time ally Armenia. Yerevan revises its foreign policy, favouring a pro-Western vector. In Yerevan, the pro-Russian opposition organized rallies against the current government. Moscow and Baku both gained mutual benefits: Russia destabilized the situation in Armenia, and Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity. However, these actions of Moscow struck at its influence in the region, marginalizing Russia and its "guarantees." The Caucasus provides a clear example of Russia's inability to continue playing the role of a major power: it simply lacks the strength and means.

Designing a knowledge transfer model for accelerating urban climate adaptation in Malaysia

The urgency of adapting urban areas to the increasing impacts of climate change has prompted the scientific community to seek new approaches in partnership with public entities and civil society organizations. In Malaysia, Penang Island has developed a nature-based urban climate adaptation program (PNBCAP) seeking to increase urban resilience, reduce urban heat and flooding, strengthening social resilience, and build institutional capacity. The project includes a strong knowledge transfer component focused on encouraging other cities in the country to develop and implement adaptation policies, projects, and initiatives. This research develops a model adopting the most efficient processes to accelerate the transfer of knowledge to promote urban adaptation based on the PNBCAP. The methodology is developed based on a review of literature focused on innovation systems and change theories. The integration of success strategies in adaptation contributes to informing the creation of solutions around the alliance of local, state, and national government agencies, scientific institutions, and civil society organizations, in a new framework designated the Malaysian Adaptation Sharing Hub (MASH). MASH is structured in 3-steps and will function as an accelerator for the implementation of urban climate adaptation policies, with the target of creating 2 new adaptation-related policies to be adopted annually by each city member, based on knowledge gathered in the PNBCAP. It is concluded that, to speed up urban adaptation, it is necessary to reinforce and promote the sharing of knowledge resulting from or associated with pilot projects.

Mainstreaming gender in Korean development assistance: A review of Vietnam's “selective ownership” and the local gender network

Korea, once a recipient turned donor, faces deficit in addressing gender mainstreaming within its Official Development Assistance (ODA). This paper asserts that it is imperative to close gender gaps, as it seeks to consolidate its standing as a reliable donor. The article starts by examining efforts to establish a Korean development model rooted in the historical Saemaul Undong (SMU). Recognizing that SMU lacks a substantial legacy in terms of gender projects and acknowledging the dissenting points of debate regarding the model's contribution to the partner country's local ownership, this research dissects the meaning and practical application of local ownership. Shifting to the specific context of Vietnam, a major partner country of Korea where the preference for ODA loans has been increasing, the article draws from field research to expose the selective ownership of the government. The research emphasizes the crucial role of the local gender network in such selective ownership, where the government shows interest solely in the lending terms of loans, with no attention to gender mainstreaming. Alongside the active involvement of national women's machinery and civil society activists, the significance of national gender consultants in loan projects is stressed, who play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between global donors' gender mainstreaming policies and on-the-ground local implementation.

Art and Science of ‘Escape’

As authors we draw from our experience of hosting two virtual design and imagination labs, where we took a deep dive into the evolution of our economic system with a diverse group, and had a profound collective experience imagining possible alternatives that promote wellbeing and flourishing of people and planet. These labs were convened by the David Suzuki Foundation in Turtle Island/Canada during the pandemic. In each Lab, approximately 60 participants were invited from across government, First Nations communities, civil society, academia, and activism. Both the process of inviting, and the lab design and process, were carefully curated with an intention to bring different world views and perspectives to take a deep dive into re-imagining our economic system. As pracademics and systems change practitioners, we reflect on what is required to make visible the underlying conditions (including worldviews, myths, and metaphors) that keep our current systems in place, and what might be needed to free ourselves to imagine alternatives. We refer to this liberation as ‘escape’ and propose six elements of ‘escape’ for transformation. The process of unlearning and releasing ourselves from unhelpful limiting assumptions and worldviews applies to those ‘facilitating’ these processes of systemic change, as much as it applies to those participating in the labs. This form of collective practice requires constant vigilance, as no single methodology of framework is fit for purpose. We reflect on what this kind of methodological pluralism invites and offers, as we bring together different ways of knowing and different knowledge systems, and re-imagine alternatives that recognise the limitations and impact of our current economic system on people and planet.

Philosophical views on education by Panteleimon Kulish: on the question of the essence and direction of education as a constitutional and legal category

Within the scope of this article, we consider the philosophical views of the outstanding Ukrainian writer and public figure Panteleimon Kulish regarding the essence and direction of education. The article is devoted to the study of the concept of education in the context of constitutional and legal aspects that determine the role of education in the formation of national identity and civil society. The work examines the main ideas highlighted by Panteleimon Kulish in his works and publications regarding the importance of education as a component of personality development and the formation of national consciousness. In particular, the article examines the philosophical aspects of the educational process, emphasizing the role of the Ukrainian language and culture in the educational environment. It is analyzed how Kulish’s views can be applied in the context of constitutional and legal issues related to education. In particular, it was established that the views of Panteleimon Kulish can be applied in the context of constitutional and legal issues related to education due to the following key aspects: — linguistic and cultural identity (emphasis on the native language and culture in the educational In particular, the views of the philosopher can be applied in the context of human rights to education, which includes the right to learn and use one’s own language in the educational process); — formation of civic consciousness (underscoring the importance of education in the formation of national identity and civic This, in particular, may cause the need for constitutional principles that guarantee access to education, its quality and the direction aimed at the development of civic self-awareness); — the right to accessible education (Kulish supported the idea of accessible education for all layers of His views can be integrated into the constitutional principles concerning the general right to education and its compliance with the principles of social justice); — the role of the family in education (the philosopher’s views on the role of the family in education can contribute to ensuring the development and approval of the institution of the family in the context of constitutional The latter can include the right of parents to raise children and responsibility for their education, etc.). The article opens new ways of understanding Kulish’s philosophy of education in the context of its role in social and constitutional development.

Managers of complex change? How United Nations treaty secretariats jointly govern institutional interplay in global environmental governance

AbstractResearch on international bureaucracies, such as treaty secretariats, has predominantly focused on broadening our understanding of their role, function, and influence within their respective regulatory domains. However, the potential for treaty secretariats to manage situations of institutional overlap by coordinating with other agencies across policy areas has remained understudied. This article offers new empirical and theoretical insights for studying collective agency and coordination mechanisms in instances of institutional interaction within hybrid regime complexes. Specifically, it investigates how the treaty secretariats of the Rio Conventions under the United Nations employ joint interplay management as a means to improve institutional coherence within the climate change, biodiversity loss, and desertification nexus. Collectively, the public agencies aim to advance knowledge and discourse, influence norm‐building processes and regulation, or build capacity and support the joint implementation of policy objectives addressing the interlinked environmental problems. They do this by interacting with various actors across governance levels, including national governments, transnational initiatives, private actors, or civil society. By tracing the process linking joint activities with effects of such interactions, this qualitative case study makes a conceptual contribution by extrapolating a mechanistic theory for joint interplay management. The article demonstrates that treaty secretariats have to contend with challenges of resource allocation, diverging mandates, leadership priorities, and the degree of politicization and timing which frequently intervene stages of strategizing and executing joint activities. The results highlight that joint interplay management can be most impactful when secretariats employ orchestration practices through joint outreach and advocacy to advance coherent institutional responses to interdependent environmental problems.

Folk religion as the “life-world”: revival of folk beliefs and renewal of religious categorization in contemporary China

Religious studies in the past paid more attention to the changes of institutional religion than to the status characteristic of folk beliefs. This paper argues that religious categorization based on institutional religion is not conducive to understanding the cultural and religious life of Chinese society, but rather leads to the stigmatization of folk religion and the reduction of the life-world. From this perspective, the historical development of folk religion affects the relationship between national elites, institutionalized religion, and civil society. Folk religion can be foregrounded and exerts great impact on the rise and fall of institutional religion. The folk religion revival in contemporary China and the development of related studies also promote the renewal of religious categorization. The revival of folk religion in the new millennium can consequently facilitate social integration and provide new possibilities for overcoming institutional religion’s exclusiveness and for increasing the cultural diversity of Chinese society.

Взаимодействие некоммерческих организаций и государства в сфере обеспечения национальной безопасности

Non-profit organizations play a significant role in modern society, they unite a huge number of citizens connected by common interests and views. Therefore, it is at least unwise to ignore their influence, including on state security issues. Within the framework of a traceable scientific discussion, the issues of non-profit organiza-tions’ participation in the process of ensuring national security are investigated. Various approaches to under-standing national security and civil society are considered. The determining the essence problem of a non-profit organization and establishing criteria for classifying non-profit organizations in order to classify them as subjects of civil society is outlined. The current economic and political situation in the world requires a change in ap-proaches to the legal status of a non-profit organization, systematization of their organizational and legal forms, functions and methods of activity. Attention is drawn to the need to form a comprehensive legal framework, in-cluding the principles’ establishment, the communication forms development for non-profit organizations, as civil society representatives, and government agencies in order to achieve the tasks set to ensure social consensus and national security. The necessity of developing a comprehensive legal definition of the concept and essence of non-profit organizations as institutions of civil society is substantiated.

Development of Students' Leadership at University Level: Perceptions and Perspective

The study examines student leadership, its importance, and the various factors involved in cultivating and growing student leaders. Effective student leadership fosters a sense of belonging, raises engagement levels, and enables people to take an active role in their education. Student leaders need to encourage, support, and work towards addressing societal issues like poverty, healthcare, and environmental sustainability. Student leaders collaborate with local and national civil society organizations working on anti-corruption initiatives. There is a growing curiosity about student leadership`s effects on learners, educational institutions, and society as a whole. The design of the quantitative investigation was created. The study's population consisted of all public and private universities in Lahore that have been accredited by HEC. The method of stratified sampling was applied. A public institution and a private university were chosen. A total of 100 students from public and 100 from private universities were taken into consideration. 200 students made up the sample in total. The results suggest certain aspects of leadership emphasizing the significance of the university environment including educational and co-curricular activities.

UKRAINIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND COUNCIL OF EUROPE’S STANDARDS: HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION AND DECENTRALISATION AT THE TIMES OF MILITARISATION

The subject of the study is the relationship between Ukrainian local government structures, municipal standards set by the Council of Europe, and their intersection with human rights and decentralisation policies, especially in the context of ongoing militarisation in certain regions of Ukraine. The study aims to analyse how these elements interact and influence each other in the Ukrainian governance system, exploring the legal, policy and practical aspects of this complex interaction. Methodology. The methodology of a study involves a combination of research methods and approaches in order to comprehensively investigate the subject matter. In addition to the legal analysis, the authors presented the results of the document analysis. Also, because the Ukrainian decentralisation reform has had a major impact on most spheres of local life, the authors have chosen an interdisciplinary approach: given the complexity of the issue, this approach helps to incorporate elements of law, economics and international relations to provide a holistic understanding of the issues at hand. The results of the study showed that: a) the Council of Europe currently lacks human rights standards that are integrated with its municipal standards. This is a significant gap that could be strategically addressed, given the potential of local government bodies in the field of human rights protection; b) Ukraine would benefit from the development of a comprehensive framework outlining actions to be taken by local government bodies to protect human rights and facilitate the implementation of European Court of Human Rights judgments. Despite the pervasive effects of militarisation throughout the country, post-conflict reconstruction will require the continuation of these policies. This is particularly important as Ukraine seeks to rebuild the nation and resume the reforms that were underway before the outbreak of conflict, including municipal reform with a focus on financial decentralisation and reform of the implementation of ECHR judgments. Conclusion. In summary, militarisation in certain regions of Ukraine has created a number of complex challenges for local governments, affecting security, governance, human rights and social services. The protracted nature of the conflict has made it even more difficult to address these issues. Finding sustainable solutions to these challenges requires a coordinated effort involving local authorities, the national government, international organisations and civil society to promote stability, protect human rights and rebuild affected communities.

Experts’ assessments of migration scenarios between the Middle East & North Africa and Europe

We describe data collected among 138 migration experts about the repercussions of scenarios of social change on migration between the Middle East & North Africa and Europe, during the period 2021–2030. Scenarios include changes in the cultural, demographic, economic, and political determinants of migration in sending and receiving countries. Assessments focus on the change in the number of family, work, and return migrants, the number of refugees, and the likelihood of achieving safe, orderly, and regular migration. Experts were at the moment of the survey active in European research centers or European (supra-) national governmental or civil society organizations. The survey features a factorial design, which allows for identifying a causal relationship between the experts’ assessments and the scenarios of social change. Our data may be used to estimate projection models of future migration flows, map out what experts consider as critical migration issues for the region, and identify areas of agreement or disagreement between them. As such, our dataset may illuminate decision-making regarding migration policies in Europe and beyond.

Ireland’s Response to Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence: An Interview with Orla O’Connor

Orla O’Connor is the Director of the “National Women’s Council of Ireland” (NWCI), the leading national women’s membership organisation with over 190-member groups. She has held senior management roles in several non-governmental organisations for over 25 years. Time magazine recognised her as one of the 100 Most Influential People in 2019 for her role as Co-director of “Together for Yes”, the successful national civil society campaign that was influential in Ireland voting overwhelmingly in favour of removing the Eighth Amendment from the Constitution, a landmark referendum, which led to the legalisation of abortion in 2018. In addition to campaigning for women’s reproductive rights, Orla has spearheaded several other prominent campaigns related to women’s rights, including pension reform, social welfare reform, and the introduction of quality and affordable childcare. To mark the annual international campaign of the “16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence” – which started on 25 November with the “International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women”, and ended on 10 December, “Human Rights Day” – Orla was interviewed on 8 November 2022. O’Connor discusses recent Irish legislation and policy developments in relation to Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (DSGBV), in particular, the government’s ambitious “Third National Strategy” on the issue – the “Zero Tolerance Plan” – published in 2022. The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

‘Q-Storming’ to identify challenges and opportunities for integrating health and climate adaptation measures in Africa

Climate factors influence the state of human health and wellbeing. Climate-related threats are particularly being experienced by vulnerable populations in Africa. A Question (Q)-Storming session was convened at an international climate adaptation conference. It promoted dialog among a diverse spectrum of researchers, climate and medical scientists, health professionals, national government officials, civil society, business, and international governing organizations. The session identified approaches for the effective integration of health within African national climate adaptation policies. Two organizations partnered to convene the session at the Adaptations Futures 2018 Conference in Cape Town. Q-storming (which is an inverse approach to brainstorming) was applied to extract ideas from all participants. Four topics were presented during the session: (i) adaptive capacities related to climate change and infectious diseases; (ii) adaptive capacity of African governments in relation to health and climate change; (iii) making climate science work to protect the health of vulnerable populations; and (iv) making climate-health research usable. Nine cross-cutting adaptation themes were generated (i.e. key definitions, adaptive capacity, health sector priorities, resources, operational capacities and procedures, contextual conditions, information pathways, and information utility). The Q-Storming approach was a valuable tool for improving the understanding of the complexities of climate-health research collaborations, and priority identification for improved adaptation and service delivery. Concerted recognition regarding difficulties in linking climate science and health vulnerability at the interface of practitioners and decision-makers is required, for better integration and use of climate-health research in climate adaptation in Africa. This can be achieved by innovations offered through Q-Storming.

IMPROVING THE WORKFORCE’ REPRODUCTION QUALITY IN UKRAINE THROUGH THE PUBLIC INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

The article aims at the identifying of the main problems, tasks and tools for further modernization of the professional education’ public institute in the direction of improving the reproduction quality of the labor, professional and qualification potential, as well as the competitiveness of the workforce that are significant resources and incentives for accelerating and increasing the effectiveness of Ukraine’ socio-economic development in the globalized world. Civilization trends and economic practices of developed countries stimulate national civil society to actualize a number of requests to provide an average individual’ decent opportunities to meet the needs for quality education services, profession acquirement, confirmation and increase of qualification regardless of the residence place, equalization of the appropriate starting conditions in local communities and regions, as well as to improve the efficiency of public and state control over the corresponding legislative and social-labor guarantees’ implementation. There were studied the main functions of professional education in society (resource-reproducing, standard- and worldview-forming, innovative producing and translational, social-stabilizing), which are determined by the totality of its effects on the economic and extra-economic life spheres. It’s advisable to group the tasks for increasing the Ukrainian professional education system’ functioning efficiency to the directions for: spreading and affirming standards and requests for quality education throughout life in society and business practices; improving the spatial organization of the institutions’ network of higher and vocational education, career guidance, advanced training and retraining with a focus on increasing the crisis resilience parameters of both the territorial educational subsystems and their elements, as well as the totality of life spheres in the regions and the whole state; rising the society’ and the economy’ innovative potential, spreading and increasing the creativity mechanisms’ effectiveness as sources and incentives for the competitiveness of workers and producers, businesses’ diversification.

THE STRENGTH OF PUSHBACK COLLECTIVE IDENTITY IN A FRAGMENTED MASS MOVEMENT*

This article examines how social movement actors can forge and sustain a collective identity despite heterogeneous backgrounds and the absence of pre-existing commonalities and networks. Based on an ethnography of the French yellow vest movement, we build on the concept of reactive identity to describe two key mechanisms. First, we show this movement’s collective identity crystallized through the actors’ shared reactions to the broader sociopolitical environment. Then, we describe how identification processes are reinforced when social movement actors feel rejected, stigmatized, and repressed in their interactions with national institutions, civil society, and individuals. We explain how these mechanisms are useful for understanding the development of collective identities within mass movements, which encompass individuals with various and fragmented identities. Exploring new dimensions of reaction beyond the us-versus-them mechanisms of identity formation, we show how collective identity can coalesce for groups who became stigmatized as they mobilize to oppose their environment.

Inter-Risk Framing Contests: The Politics of Issue Attention among Scandinavian Climate NGOs during the Coronavirus Pandemic

In this article, we study the framing activities of Scandinavian climate-active non-governmental organizations (NGOs) during the early phases of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Building on theories of focusing events, crisis exploitation and Ulrich Beck’s global risks, we develop and apply the concept of inter-risk framing contests to the case. Empirically, we analyse all climate- and corona-related tweeting activity of a broad selection of green NGOs in Denmark (17 NGOs, 874 tweets), Norway (22 NGOs, 2575 tweets) and Sweden (15 NGOs, 920 tweets), respectively. Methodologically, we employ quantitative text analysis to map socio-symbolic constellations of NGO-term relations using principal component analysis, while complementing this via online ethnographic observation to increase interpretative validity. Overall, the analysis demonstrates similarities and differences in how green NGOs have variously responded to the ambiguous challenges and symbolic opportunities of the coronavirus event, in ways resonant with path-dependent dynamics of the three national green civil societies.

UN Women Structure: Work in the African Direction

Political, economic and cultural factors of development have become a powerful catalyst for the women’s movement on the African continent, which has intensified in the last decades. One of the African women’s gains was the right to participate in various socio-political organizations that significantly influence the internal policies of governments. Among the international organizations focusing on gender equality and human rights issues is UN Women, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in January 2021. UN Women promotes cooperation with national governments and civil society organizations to develop a legislative framework, social policy, targeted programs and services for the implementation of standards of gender equality and justice. The above involves the equal participation of women in social, political, economic and cultural activities. The focus is on the following priority areas: leadership and decision-making level; violence against women; peacemaking and security; women’s economic empowerment; adoption of gender equality in national development planning and budget policy development. The UN Women structure coordinates and supports the work of the entire UN system aimed at achieving gender equality, and all discussions and agreements related to the 2030 Agenda. The work carried out in African countries by the staff and volunteers of the UN Women structure is diverse and fruitful both in the involving African women in economic processes, and in the enhancing their participation in the socio-political life. However, this organization needs more support from national governments, since gender equality and the empowerment of women is a must for comprehensive, equitable and sustainable development.

사법개혁과 개헌 방향에 대한 헌법적 관견

Since the enactment of the current constitution, our society has undergone many changes, and there has been a considerable gap between the constitutional norms and the constitutional reality. Reflecting this reality, political parties including the National Assembly are constantly discussing constitutional amendments. It is necessary to secure the efficiency, stability, continuity, and accountability of the state by reforming the power structure, which is the main cause of the state confusion in the turbulent domestic and foreign environment. Therefore, the revised constitution should contain the design for the national stability, prosperity and sustainable development of the Republic of Korea in the future. In order for a successful constitutional amendment to take place, first of all, the active participation of the sovereign people and the securing of democracy through the public debate led by the National Assembly, which is the representative agency, should be given priority. In order to do this, it is necessary to accurately diagnose the problems of the current constitution, which has been claimed by various experts such as the National Assembly and civil society, and to consider the various interests surrounding the amendment of the constitution. The reason why the judicial reform, which has been tried several times by the active efforts of the political party and sometimes at the request of the judiciary, has ended without great achievement is that the people's expectation and desire for judicial reform, the direction of the reform that the political party thinks, The main reason is that the contents of the reform are different. In the end, in order for judicial reform to be a real reform that conforms to the essence of the judiciary, it must be a reform that is appropriate to the needs and standards of the sovereign people, and at the same time, the judiciary itself recognizes its necessity. Furthermore, while the human rights and fundamental rights of the people are protected and respected through fair and neutral trials under the constitution and laws, the ultimate direction and goal of the constitutional amendment should be to decide and enjoy their lives as freely and equally as possible.

SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA IN SUPPORTING THE UKRAINIAN REFUGEES

The article presents the analysis of a part of results of the sociological study „Mapping the efforts of Alliance of Active NGOs in the field of Child and Family Social Protection members and other NGOs supporting Ukrainian refugees in the Republic of Moldova”, the purpose of which was to map the efforts of civil society organizations, especially those members of the Alliance of Active NGOs in the field of Child and Family Social Protection in providing support to Ukrainian refugees in the Republic of Moldova. The data collection took place between June and July 2022, by applying a methodology in a combined design through quantitative research methods (survey by questionnaire administered online and by telephone) and qualitative research methods (individual interview, focus group, documentary analysis). The quantitative research sample comprised 100 civil society organizations selected from a total of 204 organizations. The qualitative research involved 11 individual interviews and two focus group discussions with representatives of the national civil society from different areas of the country. The study highlighted a special involvement of civil society in the management of the refugee crisis, with a variety of services being provided, both at the border crossing points and at the place of residence in the Republic of Moldova. The development and provision of services by the vast majority of civil society organizations has been based on the needs of refugees. The need for a minimum package of services for refugees is one of the conclusions of the sociological study.