Demosphere
...Turning democratic hopes into action...
A platform for democracy and rights across Europe
Democracy does not defend itself. It lives through people who organise, collaborate, and act — across borders, sectors, and struggles.
Demosphere is a shared European platform for everyone working to defend and renew democracy and fundamental rights. It connects civil society actors, activists, journalists, legal professionals, cities, researchers, and engaged citizens from across Europe.
Here you can:
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Share your initiatives, events, and campaigns
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Find partners and allies across borders
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Ask for support, solidarity, or amplification
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Learn from others facing similar challenges
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Contribute to a growing, collective movement for democracy and rights
Demosphere was created as a follow-up to the conference: Standing up for Democracy and Rights: Working together to turn hopes into action.
It carries forward the conversations, commitments, and alliances that emerged there and opens them up to many more.
This is not just a platform to observe what is happening. It is a space to participate, connect, and turn shared hope into action.
Welcome.
Add your voice and help turn shared hope into action.
This space brings together news, statements, and calls to action shared by the Demosphere community.
As the demosphere comes alive with contributions from the community, announcements will be revealed.
Funding & projects
Calls to action
News & statements
Events
The Demosphere Participation Charter
Demosphere is a shared European platform for people working to defend and strengthen democracy and fundamental rights. It exists to enable connection, collaboration, and collective action across borders, sectors, and themes. Democracy is understood here as a lived practice that grows through participation, solidarity, and responsibility.
Participation in Demosphere is open to individuals and organisations committed to democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and human dignity. Participants come from different countries, contexts, and traditions, and diversity of perspectives is a strength. Disagreement is part of democratic life; respect is a shared obligation.
How to participate
Demosphere is an active space. Participants are encouraged to:
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Share initiatives, events, campaigns, and resources
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Ask for collaboration, support, or amplification
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Respond to others with ideas, solidarity, and practical offers
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Follow up and take collaboration beyond the platform
There is no hierarchy of contributions. Local actions and transnational efforts are equally welcome.
Principles for participation
Participation in Demosphere is guided by a few shared principles:
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Solidarity – democratic struggles are interconnected across Europe
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Respect – engagement is grounded in care, openness, and non-violence
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Inclusiveness – marginalised voices should be amplified, not sidelined
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Responsibility – contributions are made in good faith and with awareness of impact
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Constructive engagement – critique should enable learning and action, not harm
Hosting and shared ownership
Demosphere is hosted by Nyt Europa on a voluntary, non-funded basis. Nyt Europa maintains the platform and supports a safe and respectful space, but does not set political agendas or curate content.
The platform belongs to its participants.By taking part in Demosphere, you help sustain a common European space where democracy and rights are not only discussed, but practiced — together and across borders.
How to add content to the Demosphere
Demosphere is a community-driven platform, and its content is shaped by the people who use it. If you would like to share an event, initiative, campaign, open letter, or other relevant content, you are very welcome to contribute.
To add content, please contact Nyt Europa and submit your material using the Demosphere content template below.
The template ensures that all posts include the necessary information and can be published clearly and consistently across the platform.
Demosphere works because its contributors take responsibility for the quality and clarity of what they share. Your care in preparing content helps ensure that the platform remains useful, accessible, and effective for the wider community.
Initiatives to Defend Democracy
The initiatives featured below grew out of conversations at the Standing up for Democracy and Rights conference, but they are not limited to the event. They are emerging, participant-driven efforts that continue to evolve across borders, sectors, and themes.
These initiatives are starting points rather than finished projects. They reflect shared challenges and collective ambitions to defend democracy and fundamental rights, and they remain open to new ideas, contributors, and forms of collaboration.
Demosphere provides a common space where these initiatives can stay visible, connect with new allies, and grow into sustained democratic action across Europe.
Strategic Litigation for Democracy and Rights
Courts remain key arenas for defending democracy and holding power to account. This initiative connects actors working with strategic litigation to exchange approaches, assess risks, and explore how legal action can support broader democratic mobilisation.
Contact: Copenhagen University Faculity of Law: zuzanna.godzimirska@jur.ku.dk
Contact the group to exchange strategies on litigation and accountability.
Join this initiative Connect with others using litigation as part of democratic and rights-based strategies.
Advancing Substantive Goals Without a Rights Frame
In some contexts, explicit rights language can be politically sensitive or counterproductive. This initiative explores alternative ways of advancing substantive democratic and social goals through values-based, pragmatic, or indirect approaches.
Contact: International Idea: a.hudson@idea.int
Get in touch to exchange approaches for navigating constrained political contexts.
Join this initiative
Share experiences and strategies for advancing democratic outcomes in challenging environments.
Protecting Borders While Protecting Human Rights
Migration and border control are among Europe’s most polarising issues. This initiative brings together actors working to reconcile border governance with the protection of human rights, including the right to asylum.
Contact: Human Rights Cities Network: vandriel.els@gmail.com
Contact the group to collaborate on rights-based migration approaches.
Join this initiative
Collaborate on human rights–centred responses to borders and migration.
Countering Anti-Minority and Racist Narratives
When discriminatory discourse becomes mainstream, democratic norms are at risk. This initiative focuses on strategies to counter racism, prejudice, and anti-minority narratives through advocacy, communication, and coalition-building.
Contact: Humanity in Action: denmark@humanityinaction.org
Contact the initiative to collaborate on counter-narratives and advocacy.
Join this initiative
Work together to challenge hate and strengthen inclusive democratic narratives.
Building a Strategic Defence Against SLAPPs and Legal Threats
Legal harassment is increasingly used to silence journalists, activists, and civil society. This initiative brings together practitioners working to counter SLAPPs and other abusive legal tactics through strategic defence, shared learning, and coordinated advocacy at national and European level.
Contact: CliDef: cholt@climatelegaldefense.org
Reach out to connect on strategic legal defence and anti-SLAPP work.
Join this initiative
Help strengthen collective responses to legal intimidation by sharing experience, expertise, or support.
Strengthening Democracy Through De-colonisation
Democracy cannot be defended without addressing historical and structural inequalities. This initiative focuses on de-colonising democratic practices, narratives, and institutions, and on ensuring meaningful inclusion of marginalised communities.
Contact: ENAR: nourhene@enar-eu.org
Reach out to engage in decolonial approaches to democracy.
Join this initiative
Help develop democratic practices grounded in justice, inclusion, and historical awareness.
Community Action from Data to Democracy (Data for Democracy)
Data can empower communities — if it is used strategically. This initiative focuses on how community-based and citizen-generated data can be turned into democratic action, stronger advocacy, and more inclusive decision-making at local, national, and European level.
Contact: IWGIA: db@iwgia.org
Get in touch to explore how data can support democratic action.
Join this initiative
Contribute tools, case studies, or partnerships to connect data with democratic change.
Avoiding Alienation of Local Communities
Civil society risks losing legitimacy when local communities feel excluded or spoken for. This initiative explores how CSOs can engage local populations more effectively, counter “foreign agent” narratives, and rebuild trust at community level.
Contact: Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke: wvl@ms.dk
Get in touch to share methods for community-rooted engagement.
Join this initiative
Contribute to strengthening trust and democratic legitimacy at local level.
Securing Funding for Participatory Democracy
Participatory democracy needs sustainable resources. This initiative focuses on how civil society can advocate for funding models and budgetary frameworks - including at EU level - that genuinely support participation, inclusion, and democratic innovation.
Contact: Mariette Le: le.marietta@gmail.com
Reach out to collaborate on funding and democracy advocacy.
Join this initiative:
Join efforts to shape funding structures that enable democratic participation to thrive.
Addressing Systemic Racism
Systemic racism undermines democratic legitimacy and equal participation. This initiative brings together actors working to identify, challenge, and dismantle structural racism through policy change, advocacy, and collective action.
Contact: CEDA: Lamies@ceda.nu
Get in touch to collaborate on anti-racism as a democratic priority.
Join this initiative
Join forces to confront systemic discrimination across Europe.
Inclusive Participation and Co-Ownership for Roma and Other Minorities
Representation without influence is not democracy. This initiative focuses on creating inclusive models where Roma and other minorities are not only represented, but hold real power, voice, and co-ownership in democratic processes.
Contact: RomaLiv: Admir@live.dk
Reach out to explore inclusive and participatory democratic models.
Join this initiative
Contribute to building democratic processes rooted in equality and shared ownership.
Media Coverage and the Quality of Democracy
Media shapes how citizens understand democracy. This initiative examines whether mainstream media coverage strengthens democratic participation - and what can be done when it does not.
Contact: Den danske Helsinki Komite for menneskerettigheder: philip.maschke@gmail.com
Contact the group to discuss media practices and democratic quality.
Join this initiative
Collaborate on improving media coverage that supports informed democratic debate.
Media coverage and the Quality of Democracy
Non-Profit Beyond Borders: Cross-Border Cooperation
Democratic challenges do not stop at national borders. This initiative focuses on strengthening cross-border cooperation among civil society actors, particularly in the Nordic and broader European context.
Contact: Civil Society Europe contact@civilsocietyeurope.eu
Reach out to connect on cross-border civil society cooperation.
Join this initiative
Help build practical frameworks for sustained transnational collaboration.
Non-Profit Beyond Borders:
Cross-Border Cooperation
Building the capacities Europe needs to defend democracy
and rights
Defending democracy requires more than shared values. It requires concrete skills, tools, and strategies that can be used across borders and contexts.
At the conference, Skills and Capacity Labs were designed to translate analysis into action and to strengthen the collective capacity of democracy and rights defenders across Europe.
By featuring the labs on Demosphere, we extend the learning that emerged during the conference and make it accessible beyond the event itself.
The labs showcase practical approaches developed by organisations working at the frontlines of democratic defence, offering inspiration, connection, and opportunities for collaboration.
The labs do not present one-size-fits-all solutions, but adaptable methods and capacities. Including them on Demosphere is an invitation to continue the conversations, share practices, and build new collaborations, ensuring that democratic capacity-building remains a living and evolving process across Europe.
Read about all the Skills and Capacity Labs below
Media, Disinformation and Democracy
Organised by: Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties)
How does disinformation reshape democratic life - and how can civil society respond? This lab explored media ecosystems, disinformation dynamics, and practical strategies to defend democratic discourse across Europe.
Skills & capacities: Media literacy · Disinformation analysis · Strategic communication · Democratic narratives · Advocacy framing
Contact: Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties): info@liberties.eu
Get in touch to learn more about media, disinformation, and democracy work.
Citizen-Generated Data for Inclusive Decision-Making
Organised by: Danish Institute for Human Rights
With: International Civil Society Centre (ICSC) & IWGIA
Who is missing from official data - and why does it matter for democracy? This lab explored how citizen-generated data can amplify marginalised voices and inform inclusive policymaking.
Skills & capacities: Citizen data collection · Inclusive data practices · Rights-based policymaking · Participatory research · Policy translation
Contact: Danish Institute for Human Rights: info@humanrights.dk
Get in touch to explore citizen data tools and frameworks.
Civic Space Monitoring: From Data to Action
Organised by: ECNL, European Civic Forum & Danish Institute for Human Rights
This lab focused on how civic space monitoring tools can move advocacy from reactive to strategic, linking data, early warning systems, and policy engagement.
Skills & capacities: Civic space monitoring · Data analysis · Early warning systems · Evidence-based advocacy · Policy engagement
Contact: ECNL · European Civic Forum · Danish Institute for Human Rights: info@ecnl.org
Contact the organisers to learn more about civic space monitoring tools and methods.
Strengthening Solidarity and Coalition-Building Mechanisms
Organised by: European Network Against Racism (ENAR)
Democracy is defended collectively. This lab focused on building durable coalitions across movements, themes, and borders.
Skills & capacities: Coalition-building · Transnational solidarity · Cross-movement organising · Anti-racism advocacy · Network governance
Contact: European Network Against Racism (ENAR): info@enar-eu.org
Get in touch to learn more about coalition-building and solidarity mechanisms.
A Strategic Approach to Legal Defence
Organised by: Global Climate Legal Defense (CliDef)This lab explored how defensive litigation, including responses to SLAPPs, can be used strategically to protect civic actors and democratic accountability.
Skills & capacities: Strategic litigation · Anti-SLAPP defence · Legal risk assessment · Democratic accountability · Legal strategy
Contact: Global Climate Legal Defense (CliDef): hello@climatelegaldefense.org
Contact the organisers to learn more about strategic legal defence.
Timeout Dialogue Method: Supporting Civic Engagement and Democracy
Organised by: Timeout Foundation
Polarisation is a democratic challenge - dialogue is a democratic skill. This lab introduced the Finnish Timeout Dialogue Method, equipping participants to design and facilitate inclusive, respectful dialogue processes.
Skills & capacities: Dialogue facilitation · Conflict-sensitive engagement · Participatory democracy · Trust-building · Community dialogue
Contact: Timeout Foundation: laura.arikka@eratauko.fi
Reach out to explore how Timeout Dialogues can be used in your context.
Youthopia: Youth Engagement Across Segments and Borders
Organised by: Our Rule of Law Foundation
This lab challenged top-down approaches to youth participation and presented a youth-led, research-driven model for democratic engagement across Europe.
Skills & capacities: Youth participation · Democratic innovation · Youth-led research · Civic education · Cross-border youth engagement
Contact: Our Rule of Law Foundation: about@ourruleoflaw.eu
Reach out to learn more about youth-led democracy initiatives.
From Civic Space Struggles to EU Impact
Organised by: Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN)
With: Civic Initiatives (Serbia)
This lab explored how national and local civic space struggles can be translated into EU-level advocacy through alliances, monitoring, and coordinated action.
Skills & capacities: EU advocacy · Transnational campaigning · Coalition strategy · Enlargement policy · Solidarity building
Contact: Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN): ExecutiveOffice@balkancsd.net
Contact the organisers to explore EU-level advocacy pathways and alliances.
Democratising the EU Budget: The Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)
Organised by: National Federation of Polish NGOs (OFOP) & Stefan Batory Foundation
This lab examined how civil society can influence EU budget processes, governance mechanisms, and participation structures.
Skills & capacities: EU budget advocacy · MFF analysis · Funding governance · CSO participation · Policy influencing
Contact: OFOP · Stefan Batory Foundation: ofop@ofop.eu
Reach out to learn more about civil society advocacy on the EU budget and MFF.
Cities and Regions as Human Rights Actors
Organised by: City of Vienna · Region Västra Götaland · Human Rights Cities Consortium
This lab highlighted the role of cities and regions in implementing human rights through local governance and everyday practice.
Skills & capacities: Human rights localisation · Municipal governance · Rights-based public policy · Human rights cities · Multi-level governance
Contact: Morten Kjærum: morten.kjaerum@rwi.lu.se
Get in touch to explore local and regional human rights implementation.
