Call for Applications: ‘Changemakers for Democracy’ Fellowship Program

This 12-month Fellowship will support up to 15 Europe-based practitioners and representatives of innovations, movements and collectives working on democratic renewal and new economic paradigms.

Fellows will also have the opportunity to connect via in-person summits, unlock more funding to explore collaborative efforts (using an approach of participatory budgeting) and join ChangemakerXchange’s vibrant global network of changemakers & activists.

The Fellowship aims to amplify efforts which work on:

• Democratic Renewal
• A new Economic Paradigm
• Amplifying Alternatives

What you can expect as a Fellow?

• Funding
  • They provide financial support of 50,000 EURO for each initiative, in form of a grant to the Fellow’s charitable non-profit organisation. Individuals without an organisation are encouraged to still apply, as they will be doing the best to find alternatives.
• Co-Creation and Co-Learning
  • They also provide small seed grants to support cross-border co-creation/co-learning initiatives which can help mobilise democratic renewal across the region, using an approach of `participatory and collaborative budgeting’.
• Community
  • Fellows get the opportunity to connect with and learn from others working across different dimensions of democratic and economic renewal, helping to seed inspiration and build solidarity between movements in Europa They will also get a chance to join the global CXC network, which includes life-long access to resources and regular opportunities to connect, learn & co-create with social innovators, activists and movement builders across the world.

Who is the Changemakers for Democracy programme for?

• Through Changemakers for Democracy they aim to source, support and connect people with transformative innovations and ideas across Europe that re-imagine democratic and economic narratives, processes and models. There’ll be a focus on ideas and initiatives:
  • that shift power to people in affected communities,
  • give agency to those marginalised by the current system
  • and engage and empower people (in the most diverse sense possible) in better forms of meaningful decision-making about the issues that affect their everyday lives.
• Through the links of ChangemakerXchange and that of Open Society Foundations to the wider democratic renewal community they also aim to share, amplify and give further traction to the ideas of the Fellows.

Criteria

• Applicants working in Europe, and/or resident in one of the eligible countries: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and United Kingdom.
• Given the limited number of spots for this Fellowship they have a preference for individuals representing various efforts, in order to support as many different ideas as possible.
• They are looking for people who represent ideas, innovations, movements and collectives, which fit the theme of the Fellowship (democratic and economic renewal) and who are deeply rooted in the communities they work for. Whilst they’re open to applications from the founders or leaders of initiatives, they acknowledge that democracy is a collective endeavour, hence they’re explicitly open to people who have been nominated or ‘put forward’ by their collective or team in order to represent them and their ideas.
• They invite people of all ages to apply for the programme.

For more information, visit ChangemakerXchange.