The Foundation for Partnership and Civil Society Development

Achievements

The Foundation Istria promotes active participation of all members of society, improves social connections and works to achieve a fairer social environment for all citizens. It also influences the development of intersectoral partnership by connecting the public, civil and business sectors with the goal of working for the common good. Since its beginnings to this day, the role of the Foundation has mainly manifested through the numerous projects of civil society development funded by it.

In 2007 the role of the Foundation was recognised by croatian National Foundation for the Development of Civil Society Development. All the regional foundations signed a contract to implement the Decentralized model of providing financial support in cooperation with the National Foundation for Civil Society. This cooperation enabled the Foundation to open tenders for civil actions “Our Contribution to Society” that was held twice a year for organizations from 3 different regions - Istrian County, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, and Lika-Senj County. Since 2014 the number of regions increased, and the Foundation now covers 5 regions: Istrian County, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Sisak-Moslavina County, Krapina-Zagorje County and Karlovac County. Based on this agreement Foundation carries out the tender procedures for the following state bodies: Ministry of health, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Social Policy and Youth, Office for Combating Narcotic Drugs Abuse.

Through 61 issued tenders in the period from May 2007 to May 2024, 1.128.219,92€ worth of grants and over 359 civil society organisations have been financed to conduct their activities of interest to the wider local community. A transparent and objective mode of allocating funds to civil society organisations has enabled a fairer distribution of funds to the best local community development projects. In line with this, since 2010 The Foundation opens a tender called „Small projects for a better tomorrow “– a tender for community development projects which funds the best projects form Civil Society Organizations from our region. In a transparent and objective manner we try to encourage citizens to get involved in solving problems that they recognize in their own local community. Thus, from 2010 to 2024 Foundation Istria, through the Cities and Municipalities Fond has funded over 181 projects in the local community with over 333.760,33  Euros. Since 2010 we have gathered more than 4500 volunteers and reached over 430 000 financial beneficiaries. By answering our calls for tender with their projects, civil society organizations gain experience in writing project proposals and the application procedure, and those who are chosen for financing also gain experience in project managemen. We are actively contributing to a sustainable civil sector ready for the greater challenges and possibilities offered by the EU. Our contibution to istrian civil society goes beyond just financial support- we are proud to say that our impact is within communities itself. For instance, through funded projects we took part in more than 100 enviormental actions, held over 115 lectures and more than 1280 workshops, built more than 35 children's playgrounds… Just to name a few. You can read more about our Grant awarding system and results here. 
Apart from small scale projects, we deal will large-scale projects and project development as well. So far, we have conducted more than 20 large scale projects (worth over 2.700.000,00 EUR) that contributed to a sustainable civil sector ready for the greater challenges and possibilities offered by the EU funds and programs. Here we highlight some of our larger projects: +Resilient, D'Basket- Basic Skills, Entrepreneurship, Treasures of Diversity, project “STEM Assosiation for popular STEM” and more. For instance, with the +Resilient project we started up ReCeD’Istria (Regional Center for Social Innovation) a place for designing and creating social innovations. Details about our past projects can be found here. 
Apart from projects, the Foundation’s representatives take part in various national structures: the Council for the development of the civil society, the National committee for the coordination of the Republic of Croatia’s participation in programs of transnational and interregional cooperation, and macro regional EU strategies for RC for the 2014.-2020. period, the Steering committee for the operative program Human potential development relative to the first generation of the structural funds, the Croatian alliance for active citizenship, the Croatian foundation network and the Foundation forum “ZaDobroBIT“. We are actively present at the pinnacle of decision making related to the development of the civil sector.
The Foundation also contributes to the better distribution of information to civil society organisations, calls for tender, regulations, potential partners, writing and conducting projects, etc., all through the daily updates on our websites and Facebook page, monthly newsletters,  Info days for civil society organizations and organizing regional and international events.
We strive to continue doing all of the above, while broadening our horizonts and partnering up with other organizations, local and international.

If you are wanting to collaborate with us do not hesitate to contact us at zaklada@civilnodrustvo-istra.hr.