Priority 2: ENNA - The New European Policy Hub
Our Strategic Work Plan 2011-2013
Building a new European Player
At its March 2011 General Assembly in Brussels, the European Network of National Civil Society Associations adopted its first Strategic Work Plan valid until 2013. The Strategic Work Plan, entitled Building a New European Player, identifies a set of priorities for the Network's first years of existence.
The General Assembly adopted three headline priorities for the network:
- ENNA: Focussed on its Members;
- ENNA: the New European Policy Hub;
- ENNA: the New European Policy Contributor.
The priorities underpin ENNA's main objectives to be:
- A membership-led and membership focussed network delivering quality services for its members;
- An active source of information on European policy developments and comparative research on challenges and good practice arising from the membership and civil society;
- And finally a positive contributor to the European construction.
The General Assembly adopted three headline priorities for the network:
- ENNA: Focussed on its Members;
- ENNA: the New European Policy Hub;
- ENNA: the New European Policy Contributor.
The priorities underpin ENNA's main objectives to be:
- A membership-led and membership focussed network delivering quality services for its members;
- An active source of information on European policy developments and comparative research on challenges and good practice arising from the membership and civil society;
- And finally a positive contributor to the European construction.
Our second priority: ENNA - The New European Policy Hub
We want to be able to answer all our members' questions on Europe
The General Assembly, in adopting the Strategic Work Plan, identifies the need for our network to be a Policy Hub, monitoring and informing our members and their members on EU policy developments and funding opportunities. We're also expected to act as a contact point for EU actors to become better informed about developments affecting civil society at the national grassroots level.
We seek to develop and strengthen ENNA as a new European actor, building an evidence base, advocating and exchanging information between the national and EU level whilst ensuring a dynamic presence at the EU level.
We seek to develop and strengthen ENNA as a new European actor, building an evidence base, advocating and exchanging information between the national and EU level whilst ensuring a dynamic presence at the EU level.
Four thematic strands
We want our members confident in our intelligence and be veritable experts on our membership
Under this priority, we've divided our work under a number of sub-strands:
- Using ICTs to develop a web-based community hub where information is exchanged dynamically and pro-actively at no expense for ENNA’s members and their membership;
- Networking and developing a robust contact base to enable a high-level of passive intelligence to stream into ENNA;
- Targeted relationship building with the European Commission, European Parliament, and Member States' permanent representations on core policy issues outlined in our statutes;
- Develop a strong and varied evidence base that supports our policy advocacy work.
- Using ICTs to develop a web-based community hub where information is exchanged dynamically and pro-actively at no expense for ENNA’s members and their membership;
- Networking and developing a robust contact base to enable a high-level of passive intelligence to stream into ENNA;
- Targeted relationship building with the European Commission, European Parliament, and Member States' permanent representations on core policy issues outlined in our statutes;
- Develop a strong and varied evidence base that supports our policy advocacy work.
What we're putting in place in the coming years
Turning words into action
To achieve this objective, we're building a digital community hub that is complemented with a robust contact and networking base, strong links with EU decision makers, supported by an advisory committee that will help ensure our work remains relevant at all governance levels.
The ENNA web-based Community Hub
In September 2011, ENNA didn't simply launch a new website, we launched a new concept for civil society. Pulling together our expertise gathered from the Participation for Change Project spearheaded by ENNA members, our Community Hub will aim to provide new and exciting opportunities to connect with European civil society and decision makers. We'll be working on developing an exciting eWorkshop programme allowing people across Europe to meet virtually using our audio-visual chat rooms and to develop new thinking and ideas on the future of European civil society and the European continent.
Networking with our peers at the EU level
ENNA is a brand new network, and we come into a well established EU policy debate space with many actors having decades-worth of experience liaising and working with the EU level. ENNA wasn't created to replace these actors or to compete with them, but rather to add a new perspective coming straight from the local, regional, and national grassroots level. We'll be engaging in actions that develop positive and constructive relationships with these actors, to identify activities that they are undertaking and determine themes where there are shared objectives and priorities.
Connecting with EU institutional players
Similarly ENNA's goal is to develop close relations with EU decision makers, developing trusting relationships so that our members can be informed as soon as possible about new EU initiatives that may affect them. We aim to become conduits for our members to inform EU decision makers about the challenges they face in the hope that EU decision makers can pro-actively support civil society at the grassroots level.
Establishing an advisory committee for ENNA
We'll be working to pull together a committee of experts on EU affairs and civil society in order to provide an external, independent voice to support and inform ENNA's future strategic direction. This advisory committee will play an important role in ensuring ENNA's contribution remains positive and constructive to the European project.
