The ACF announces the call for communication campaign on democracy

In order to raise awareness about democracy and promote participation in its processes, the Active Citizens Fund (ACF) has launched an open call for proposals for a communication campaign on democracy. The call for proposals is open until 24 October and a seminar on the call will be held on 7 September 2.p.m.

Analysis of indicators of civic participation in Latvia still shows a critically low level of trust in the state, as well as relatively weak civic competence, including low awareness, political and civic interest, critical thinking and civic skills. Unfortunately, such an environment not only creates positive conditions for the development of populism and can encourage the expression of radical opinions, but also hinders the development of the country as a whole – the Chair of the Executive Board of ACF Kristīne Zonberga describes the relevance and necessity of the competition

The objective of the call is, by funding a communication campaign, to promote awareness of democracy and the importance of people’s participation in democratic processes, also promoting positive attitude towards democracy and involvement in these processes and the campaign must also help create positive changes to at least one of the following indicators of ACF outcome “Democratic culture”:

• number of people engaged in decision-making process is increased.
• share of people involved in civic activities is increased.
• share of people believing they can influence decision-making process is increased.

The ACF will support one project with funding between EUR 100 000 and EUR 140 000, and there is no co-financing required. The campaign must be implemented from January to the end of April 2024. The project applications must be submitted through ACF online project system projects.activecitizensfund.lv and must be completed in Latvian.

The campaign must be meet the following conditions (for a full list of conditions, see section 2.3 of the Call for proposals):

• The activities of campaign shall cover the entire territory of Latvia, including remote rural regions (society outside cities).
• The campaign is targeted at reaching the broadest possible public in Latvia, but without excluding the possibility for the project applicant to target certain elements of the campaign to specific target groups.
• The campaign should use integrated communication tactics and channels specifically tailored to reach the selected target groups, including cooperation with national, regional and local media.
• The campaign shall focus on wide-scale communication, less on events. Events may be complementary to achieving the objectives of the campaign, but they cannot be the dominant form of communication.
• The campaign must, among other things, demonstrate the different forms and methods of participation through examples, and cannot be focused on a specific thematic area or only on a particular form of participation.

A strong civil society is characterised not only by participation in elections, but also by active engagement in other processes between elections. The forms and levels of participation vary widely, starting from a membership of a student parliament or an association of apartment building to participation in local community associations or national and local advisory councils and working groups. We expect this campaign to explain the value and possibilities of democracy in a simple way, including through concrete examples of participation, enabling people to believe in and understand "democracy in action" - says the head of ACF programme Ansis Bērziņš.

Conditions for applicants

Project application can be submitted by any association or foundation registered in Latvia that fulfils all the conditions of the call:

• are independent of public administration, political parties, commercial organizations and their influence (among other things, such organizations or their official representatives are in minority (proportionally or by level of influence) among members or managing bodies),
• by their nature / character / activities cannot be equated with political parties, religious or faith-based organizations, trade unions, employer associations, companies or cooperatives,
• do not pursue the professional, commercial or direct economic interests of its members or founders and whose members / founders have no commercial interest in the outcome of the work of the organisation or of its activities.

The limit of EUR 138 000 in total ACF support will not apply. Organisations that have already received AIF support for other projects will therefore be eligible to participate.

Support for applicants

The information seminar on the call for proposals will take place on 7 September at. 14.00-17.00 at the ZOOM platform. Apply by 6 September by filling in the application form: https://forms.gle/n394zaTWyoMC3JN97

Consultations on the call and project preparation are provided by AIF consultants Rasa Lazdiņa (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., phone: 25176456), Oskars Zuģickis (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., phone: 26565858)

Rules and annexes

• Call for proposals LV EN RU
• Annex 1 "Direct eligible expenses"  LV EN RU
  
• Annex 2 "Project applicant declaration" LV
• Annex 3 "Partnership declaration" LV
• Annex 4 'Certification of the partner organisation in English' EN
• Annex 5 'For self-checking - Conditions to be fulfilled for the submission of a project' LV EN RU
• Model application form LV