Our work is founded on strong ideals, endless motivation and personal investments of volunteers and staffers. But we also need other resources to make it through the day and ensure that our abilities to support others are greater every day. So we need to fundraise. We need to ask for grants and we need to ask for donations. Jard job. Unpleasant job. So let’s look into some institutional granting schemes and get a bit more familiar with how we can access them. But let’s also focus on the fruitful area of small donor fundraising and donor relations. Let’s explore and embrace the logic of community funding and learn main strategies, dynamics and tools that will make our work possible, scalable, sustainable.

Facilitators: Vesna Jusup, Paulina Gruda

What potential does the local/municipal level have to support and welcome refugees and migrants – beyond or even in contrast to the policies on the national level? What are inspiring best practices and experiences from the local level and civil society to learn from? What new approaches and what kinds of support from the national and/or EU level would be needed to better enable municipalities to carry out progressive migration policies?

Facilitators: Hannah Goerlich, Lea Rau

With inputs from: Jana Radić (Head of Department for promoting human rights and civil society, Zagreb), Niels Tubbing (City of Amsterdam, International Alliance of Safe Harbours), Tiago da Cruz Bartholo (Coordinator of From the Sea to the City)

The workshop will start with an overview of the problems inherent to the existing EU facilitation package and look at the proposed reform of this legislation to provide both, a comparative analysis as well as a look at impacts on the ground. Further the workshop provides an overview over ongoing strategic litigation cases (for example the Iuventa case and others) and finally participants are invited to jointly work on a counter-narrative and to elaborate a strategy for resistance and damage-control with regard to criminalization of both migrants and those showing them solidarity.

Facilitator: Nina Walch

With inputs from: Julia Winkler (borderline-europe), Fanni Bihari (APA to Erik Marquardt, Greens/EFA), Elli Kriona (HIAS), Petar Rosandic (SoS Balkanroute), Vicky Aggelidou (Legal Centre Lesvos), Ioanna Begiazi (Human Rights Legal Project), Eleni Sirri (BVMN), Till Rummenhohl (SOS Humanity)

This workshop consists of three sessions and includes thematic discussions on the development of rights-based, effective and impactful advocacy.

The first session (‘Making it clear: Transforming law into advocacy’) will focus on interpreting and applying European legal frameworks and understanding legal developments and case law to effectively advocate for the rights of refugees and asylum seekers. Participants will leave equipped with the tools and contact that can help them navigate the legal landscape, enhance their advocacy efforts, and better protect and empower the beneficiaries of their work.

In the second session (‘Making it work: tools for effective campaigns and advocacy’) we will seek to construct a comprehensive toolkit for enhancing advocacy efforts, covering educational and digital tools, as well as analytical tools, research, and databases. Representatives from organisations working on and with a range of tools will offer practical insights and connect with participants who seek to create more impactful and engaging campaigns.

The third session (‘Making it far: delivering the message to stakeholders’) emphasises strategies to ensure that on-the-ground realities shape policy and are not overlooked by decision-makers. Participants will discuss approaches for delivering impactful messages, leveraging media and communication channels, and ensuring that their advocacy effectively informs and shapes policy decisions, ultimately leading to tangible improvements for vulnerable populations.

Facilitator: Stavros Papageorgopoulos

With inputs from: Desislava Todorova (Center for Legal Aid Voice in Bulgaria), Juliette Malfaisan and Heloise Mussard (Equal Legal Aid), Lea Rau (Berlin Government Platform), Vesna Jusup (ECDA), Christianna Mourouzi (MSF Athens), Till Rummenhohl (SOS Humanity), Lisa Weiss and Fanni Bihari (European Parliament)

In a context where legal avenues to migrate are limited, where the issuing of visas is restricted, and where processes to apply for asylum or international protection are too often inefficient and tortuous, non-heterosexual and/or non-cisgender people face additional difficulties.

In recent years, there has not been any significant improvement for LGBTQI+ people worldwide. On the contrary, several countries have recently decided to tighten or reinstate their legislation against LGBTQI+ people. Furthermore, the violence, discrimination and other persecution experienced by sexual and gender minorities extend beyond relationships with the authorities and also includes the social, family and economic areas

When these people try to flee these situations, many face particular obstacles, since on the one hand, people in charge of assisting them are not adequately trained or do not enjoy the trust of refugee persons. On the other hand, legislation in host countries struggles to be inclusive of the specificities of LGBTQI+ people, such as, for example, the definition of a family unit when it comes to family reunification.

In the first part of this workshop, there will be a presentation of a study analyzing safe & legal pathways for LGBTQI+ refugees in France, Italy and Germany. Researchers and activists will present the current situation and legislation in those countries and discuss on how to integrate these people's protection needs in all the existing processes.

Afterwards, there will be an informal discussion involving refugees and activists who have personally experienced these situations. They will tell their personal story, share some considerations and engage with the audience.

Facilitators: Matthieu Tardis, Lio Emmanouil

With inputs from: Anna Shcherbakova (Synergies Migrations, France), Alberto Nicolini (Arcigay, Italy), Tony Andrew (Arcigay, Italy), Anna Seib (Quarteera e.V. Germany)

With the EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum the trend towards more border securitisation at the expense of Human Security is expected to continue. While both, the European Union as well as her Member States bilaterally try to externalize their responsibility for refugee protection along different external borders, the increased usage of AI and other technologies including racial profiling undermines fundamental rights of people on the move. How are the issues of technology, borders and externalisation policies, but also the growing budget invested in these, interlinked? How do European externalisation policies affect third countries and refuees and migrants in these countries? How can civil society and other actors engage and advocate for transparency and respect of rights?

Facilitator: Sara Prestianni

With inputs from: Nidžara Ahmetašević (Journalist and Researcher from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Giorgia Jana Pintus (ARCI), Drew Mitnick (Program Director, Digital Policy, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Washington, DC), Antonella Napolitano (Researcher and Analyst), Anna Schwarz (Senior Programme Officer - Israel, Palestina, Egypt & Jordan, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Berlin)