Help Shape the Future of Democracy – Join the BRIDGE Regional Roundtables

A message from Volonteurope

We are excited to invite you to take part in one of the upcoming BRIDGE Regional Roundtables, a unique opportunity to come together online, across borders, and help shape the democratic future of Europe.

Across Europe and all its territories, civic space is under pressure. We are witnessing worrying trends of shrinking participation, institutional distrust, polarisation and threats to fundamental freedoms. But civil society continues to resist, reimagine, and rebuild. Now, through the BRIDGE project, we are making sure these lived experiences and ideas lead to real change.

About BRIDGE

BRIDGE stands for ‘Building Resilience and Inclusion for Democracy and participatory Governance in Europe’. It is a European civil society initiative co-funded by the Council of Europe, working to strengthen meaningful democratic participation, institutional accountability and civic space across all 46 Member States. Through national and regional roundtables, collaborative research and public dialogue, BRIDGE is gathering real-time insights from those working on the frontlines of democracy.

The project will culminate in the co-creation of a Catalogue of Civil Participation and a high-level Summit at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg in October 2025. Your contribution at the regional level feeds directly into this process.

Upcoming BRIDGE Regional Roundtables

• Thursday 4 September 2025: French Overseas Territories; 14:00–18:00 CET

• Friday 5 September 2025: Andorra, Austria, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland; 9:00–12:00 CET

• Wednesday 10 September 2025: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine
  16:00–19:00 CET

• Thursday 11 September 2025: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia; 14:00–16:00 CET

• Friday 12 September 2025: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom; 11:00–14:00 CET

• Tuesday 16 September 2025: Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands; 14:00–17:00 CET

• Friday 19 September 2025: Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, San Marino, Türkiye, and the Western Balkans; 10:00–13:30 CET

Register now to secure your place: 👉 https://form.typeform.com/to/lk54HDiP
(Choose which Roundtable you’d like to attend directly in the form)

Each session will be dynamic, interactive and forward-looking. We are especially focusing on what is missing from the current Reykjavík Principles and what should be added or strengthened to respond to today’s democratic realities.

Whether you’re a CSO practitioner, a youth leader, an activist, researcher or simply someone deeply invested in democracy, whether you know a lot or not much about the Council of Europe and the Reykjavík Principles, above all else, it is your voice matters.

Please register today and share the link widely: 👉 https://form.typeform.com/to/lk54HDiP