“Welcome to Moldova! Sharing Café” on 19th of January was a fantastic opportunity to learn about the Moldovan experience in a discussion moderated by Mariana Harjevschi and with fabulous guests:  Margarita Ursu, Communication Coordinator „I am the change promoter” project, Daniela Galai, Program Manager, Media and Media Literacy in Moldova ERIM, Lucia Brehoi, Head of Department Orhei County Library, and Diana Pînzari, Communication Specialist Women’s Law Center.

Join Progress Foundation and Asociația Bibliotecarilor din Republica Moldova at Welcome to Moldova! Sharing Café and learn about the Moldovan context and experience, get info about different initiatives and about partnership between libraries and CSOs. 

Let us get inspired by practical examples of successful projects from Moldova, and share our experiences in how to help our communities cope with different challenges, how to build their resilience and support their healthy growth. 

Our Moldovan speakers will talk about how their communities benefited from the joint efforts of libraries and NGOs (CSOs) working together, and thus start the discussion about how libraries and CSOs are bringing changes and innovations to their communities, making them more sustainable and answering people’s needs. 

Come and have a coffee with your new Moldovan friends, talk with other librarians and CSOs professionals, learn about their experiences and share your feedback. The networking and coffee will be an informal online conversation amongst the people in the room, encouraging sharing and looking for inspiring solutions. This is a forum for open minds, generosity of thought and curiosity to learn.

Register here for Welcome to Moldova! Sharing Café, 19th January, 10:00 EET:  https://forms.gle/xC6iQGJRmGqyFUEPA 

About Occupy Library Innovators Hub

The Occupy Library Innovators Hub project is implemented by Progress Foundation Romania, in partnership with Сentre for Cultural Management (Ukraine), Library Association of Ukraine (Ukraine), EduAct (Greece), Library Association of Moldova (Moldova), National Library of Moldova (Moldova), Ashoka România (Romania) and National Library of Romania (Romania) in the framework of the "Black Sea NGO Forum Sub-granting Scheme For Activities That Support The Development Of CSO Regional Networks", within the project „Building CSO Capacity for Regional Cooperation within the Black Sea Region”, implemented by the Romanian NGDO Platform – FOND with the financial support of the European Union. The network establishment will organize online webinars and sharing events (October 2020 - March 2021). During the project, case studies and best practices will be documented and compiled in a comprehensive collection to be made available online to all interested stakeholders.  The goal of this endeavor is to provide support for public libraries to contribute to active citizenship and life-long learning in their communities. Moreover, by implementing the project in 5 countries and creating a community of practice among library and CSO professionals, this project aims at learning about the best ways to bring libraries from the region into a professional network through which they can implement shared projects.

About Progress Foundation

Established in 1996, Progress Foundation is an experienced Romanian NGO that pilots local initiatives in the field of education/training, (e-)inclusion and community development, and then scales it up, at national level - as innovative and impactful best practices. Progress Foundation’s projects are developed using county and local libraries as lifelong learning hubs and social innovation centers, to reach out to any social group and/or citizen, especially the most marginalized ones. Starting with March 2016, Progress Foundation is privileged to be a member of FOND – the Federation of Romanian Non Governmental Organizations for Development.

For further details:

Anca Râpeanu, Project Manager occupylibrary@progressfoundation.ro

“Welcome to Greece! Sharing Café” on 11th of January was the best way to start a new year: the Greek enthusiasm gave such a boost of energy, and the fantastic examples from our Greek colleagues will help us grow our communities stronger and healthier with the help of new technologies. 

During these 90 minutes, we explored and discussed concrete examples of library-CSO partnerships from Greece with the help of our guests: Chrysa Gerovasileiou – Eduact, Dimitris Giannakoudis – Xanthi Tech Lab, Christian Cibba – United Societies of Balkans, and our facilitator Kyriakos Kyriakidis, Eduact

“Welcome to Ukraine! Sharing Café”, Tuesday, 8th of December brought us great speakers from Ukraine who shared with us their stories on how they work to help their communities grow. 

During these 90 minutes, we explored and discussed concrete examples of library-CSO partnerships from Ukraine with the help of our guests: Alexander Kozyrev – Lugansk Regional Universal Scientific Library, Kateryna Aleksieienko – Lviv Central City Library named after Lesia Ukrainka, Tetiana Mykytiuk – Chernivtsi Regional Universal Scientific Library named after Mykhailo Ivasiuk, and our facilitator Yaroslava Soshynska – Executive Director of Ukrainian Library Association.

Libraries and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) provide support for communities to grow and develop. Their partnership is crucially important, when we are faced with different challenges: social and economic crisis, pandemic, military action, etc.  Sharing experiences and visions help us to get new knowledge, innovative ideas, useful methods and find out how to make our life better. 

Join the Progress Foundation and Ukrainian Library Association at Welcome to Ukraine – Sharing Cafe and learn about the Ukrainian context and experience, get info about different initiatives and about partnership between libraries and CSOs. 

Come together for a conversation – how libraries and CSOs are bringing changes and innovations to their communities, making them more sustainable and answering people’s needs.

Join the “Welcome to Ukraine! Sharing Cafe” by registering here: https://forms.gle/yNbEJtGf5TYnH8WL7 

About Occupy Library Innovators Hub

The Occupy Library Innovators Hub project is implemented by Progress Foundation Romania, in partnership with Сentre for Cultural Management (Ukraine), Library Association of Ukraine (Ukraine), EduAct (Greece), Library Association of Moldova (Moldova), National Library of Moldova (Moldova), Ashoka România (Romania) and National Library of Romania (Romania) in the framework of the "Black Sea NGO Forum Sub-granting Scheme For Activities That Support The Development Of CSO Regional Networks", within the project „Building CSO Capacity for Regional Cooperation within the Black Sea Region”, implemented by the Romanian NGDO Platform – FOND with the financial support of the European Union. The network establishment will organize online webinars and sharing events (October 2020 - March 2021). During the project, case studies and best practices will be documented and compiled in a comprehensive collection to be made available online to all interested stakeholders.  The goal of this endeavor is to provide support for public libraries to contribute to active citizenship and life-long learning in their communities. Moreover, by implementing the project in 5 countries and creating a community of practice among library and CSO professionals, this project aims at learning about the best ways to bring libraries from the region into a professional network through which they can implement shared projects.

About Progress Foundation

Established in 1996, Progress Foundation is an experienced Romanian NGO that pilots local initiatives in the field of education/training, (e-)inclusion and community development, and then scales it up, at national level - as innovative and impactful best practices. Progress Foundation’s projects are developed using county and local libraries as lifelong learning hubs and social innovation centers, to reach out to any social group and/or citizen, especially the most marginalized ones. Starting with March 2016, Progress Foundation is privileged to be a member of FOND – the Federation of Romanian Non Governmental Organizations for Development.

For further details:

Anca Râpeanu, Project Manager occupylibrary@progressfoundation.ro

If you tried to change the world for the better, you know this is not an easy task – it takes time, it takes knowledge and it takes a lot of friends to make relevant changes even in the smallest communities. 

What about us working together for a change? Let’s meet, greet and match, so we can find out how we can support one another in this process of making better communities.

Progress Foundation is inviting all CSO professionals from Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Black Sea, and Caspian Sea regions to join the Occupy Library Innovators Hub’s events!

The series of free, online, share & learn events for CSOs and public libraries continues with Let’s work together – Matchmaking Café, hosted by Progress Foundation.

This 90 minutes long speed-dating session will be facilitated on Hopin platform,  and is designed to match organizations with specific interests, so as to create a first contact to be developed in future joint projects.

Join us on 12th of November, 10:30 EET to meet and greet change-makers from CSOs and libraries: ➡️https://forms.gle/rHbhF6mzz5Q734QR8 

For details: Anca Râpeanu, Project Manager occupylibrary@progressfoundation.ro

About Occupy Library Innovators Hub

The Occupy Library Innovators Hub project is implemented by Progress Foundation Romania, in partnership with Сentre for Cultural Management (Ukraine), Library Association of Ukraine (Ukraine), EduAct (Greece), Library Association of Moldova (Moldova), National Library of Moldova (Moldova), Ashoka România (Romania) and National Library of Romania (Romania) in the framework of the "Black Sea NGO Forum Sub-granting Scheme For Activities That Support The Development Of CSO Regional Networks", within the project „Building CSO Capacity for Regional Cooperation within the Black Sea Region”, implemented by the Romanian NGDO Platform – FOND with the financial support of the European Union. The network establishment will organize online webinars and sharing events (October 2020 - March 2021). During the project, case studies and best practices will be documented and compiled in a comprehensive collection to be made available online to all interested stakeholders.  The goal of this endeavor is to provide support for public libraries to contribute to active citizenship and life-long learning in their communities. Moreover, by implementing the project in 5 countries and creating a community of practice among library and CSO professionals, this project aims at learning about the best ways to bring libraries from the region into a professional network through which they can implement shared projects.

About Progress Foundation

Established in 1996, Progress Foundation is an experienced Romanian NGO that pilots local initiatives in the field of education/training, (e-)inclusion and community development, and then scales it up, at national level - as innovative and impactful best practices. Progress Foundation’s projects are developed using county and local libraries as lifelong learning hubs and social innovation centers, to reach out to any social group and/or citizen, especially the most marginalized ones. Starting with March 2016, Progress Foundation is privileged to be a member of FOND – the Federation of Romanian Non Governmental Organizations for Development.

“Welcome to Romania! Sharing Café”, Wednesday, 21st of October was a great opportunity to learn about the Romanian context and opportunities, get info about local initiatives, and discover how libraries and CSOs can make the world better! During these 90 minutes, we explored and discussed concrete examples of library-CSO partnerships from Romania with the help of our guests: Anca Pop – Cluj County Library, Alina-Mihaela Nicola – Vâlcea County Library, Ovidiu Ana – Progress Foundation, Ioana Crihană – National Association of Public Libraries and Librarians from Romania (ANBPR), and Maria Kovacs – Volum Association, and our facilitator Ruxandra Miuți – National Library of Romania.