Liberties' ongoing commitment to support the impact of its members at the national level is being advanced through the CERV STRIVE 2025 project. These re-grants are designed to strengthen the coordinating role of the executive office, enhance national impact, and deepen capacity-building and communication activities from regional to national levels.
Building upon Liberties' previous successes, STRIVE aims to:
- Provide expert contributions to the promotion and protection of Union values.
- Strengthen and expand the network's reach.
- Build the capacity of members to maximize the impact of their initiatives.
- Boost values-based information and dissemination for enhanced public engagement on rights and values.
The re-granted projects under CERV STRIVE 2025 are aligned with the following specific objectives:
- Support national initiatives to strengthen capacity building for using the Charter of Fundamental Rights and EU Law at the national level.
- Promote national initiatives that advance research and enhance the Charter's role in fundamental rights litigation and its integration into newly adopted EU laws.
- Foster national initiatives that utilize the Charter through strategic campaigns focused on fundamental rights litigation, guided by recommendations and findings from annual Rule of Law reports (EC and Liberties reports).
Expected results from these projects include:
- Establishment of strong partnerships among national initiatives focused on utilizing the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
- Enhanced national research and improved positioning of the Charter in fundamental rights litigation.
- Expanded advocacy efforts and campaigns leveraging the Charter to advance the findings of Rule of Law reports.
These initiatives are essential in empowering civil society across Europe to effectively employ EU legal frameworks, safeguard fundamental rights and promote democratic governance in the face of evolving challenges.
List of awarded projects
Italian Coalition for Civil Liberties and Rights (CILD) (Italy)
Project: Building sector capacity and empowerment to take strategic action on climate, through a deeper research base, strategic sector response building, awareness building and new case triage
Total grant amount: €20,000
Duration: 6 months
This project addresses the lack of strategic litigation and a triage service for climate-related human rights cases in Italy. It aims to enhance legal strategies and foster multi-stakeholder collaboration to leverage recent legal wins for policy reforms.
The project’s key objectives are to strengthen climate jurisprudence in Italy and Europe by analyzing national research on climate human rights jurisprudence and the use of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in litigation, fostering a sector-wide response by bringing together organizations, activists, and legal professionals to explore strategic litigation opportunities, and engaging impacted communities through a strategic communication campaign that facilitates triage and case referrals.
To achieve these goals, the project will:
Conduct jurisprudential analysis and research, examining the impact of recent case law at national and regional levels and identifying legal strategies for climate-related rights protection.
Organise a Sector Response Session, a three-to-four-hour in-person meeting with coalition members, lawyers, NGOs, and activists to present research findings, discuss jurisprudence gaps, explore emerging litigation strategies-particularly for expanding protection under Articles 2 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights-and assess potential risks and rewards.
Implement a strategic communication campaign to disseminate research findings among NGOs, legal practitioners, and affected communities via social media, web platforms, and the CILD and Liberties networks.
The project is crucial as it empowers civil society, legal experts, and communities in Italy to advance strategic climate litigation and collaboration, strengthening legal protections and driving policy reforms on climate-related human rights.
Project: Empower CSOs in France to implement efficient advocacy strategies to defend migrants and refugees’ rights
Total grant amount: €15,000
Duration: 6 months
This project responds to the shrinking rights of migrants and refugees in France by strengthening the capacity of French civil society organisations to safeguard migrants’ and refugees’ right to human dignity, as enshrined in Article 1 of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. It focuses on empowering national and local grassroots CSOs to develop and implement effective advocacy strategies aligned with recommendations from the European Commission and Liberties’ Rule of Law reports.
To address these challenges, the project will:
Organize and facilitate ongoing exchange spaces for CSOs
Coordinate the launch of collective actions, including potential advocacy campaigns.
Support CSOs in developing advocacy and litigation strategies.
Assist CSOs define their communication and media strategies to ensure visibility for their campaigns.
This project is vital in empowering French civil society to protect migrants’ and refugees’ human dignity by enabling grassroots organizations to develop effective advocacy and litigation strategies aligned with European standards amid evolving challenges.
Project: Strengthening Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making
Total grant amount: € 19,137
Duration: 6 months
This project aims to strengthen national capacity in Slovakia to effectively apply EU environmental law in the context of public participation rights in environmental protection. It focuses on updating and expanding the legal guide "Civic Compass," which explains the new Slovak legislation on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), land-use planning, and environmental permitting procedures. The guide connects these national laws to EU legal protections, particularly participation rights under the Aarhus Convention, the EIA Directive, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
To address this gap, the project will:
Update and expand the Civic Compass legal guide to reflect recent legislative changes and EU obligations.
Host a one-time intensive capacity-building workshop for civic activists and legal professionals to enhance their ability to use the guide effectively.
Develop a policy brief analyzing how the new legislation impacts the Aarhus Convention and other EU environmental laws, aimed at informing EU institutions and strengthening Slovakia’s engagement in EU environmental governance.
By enhancing understanding and practical application of public participation rights, this project supports more transparent and inclusive environmental decision-making in Slovakia, aligning national practice with EU standards and promoting sustainable development.
Estonian Human Rights Centre (EHRC) (Estonia)
Project: The Charter in Legal Education and Public Life
Total grant amount: €18,780
Duration: 6 months
This project aims to address institutional and awareness gaps in Estonia by strengthening national capacity through targeted, practical activities. Since Estonia has not yet established a national contact point for the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the project seeks to support efforts to integrate the Charter into litigation and public awareness. The key objectives are to equip law professors with the necessary knowledge and tools to incorporate the Charter into legal education and to inform the general public about the Charter’s impact on fundamental rights protection in Estonia. This will be achieved through a strategic social media campaign that draws on court decisions and findings from the European Commission’s and Liberties’ Rule of Law reports.
To meet these objectives, the project will:
Identify knowledge gaps through a questionnaire involving 30 law professors.
Design and deliver two targeted training sessions based on these findings.
Implement a strategic communication campaign aimed at reaching 50,000 people via digital channels and the Estonian Human Rights Centre (EHRC) website.
The Peace Institute (Slovenia)
Project: Amplifying Voices: Advocacy & Strategic Communication for Impact (AVASCI)
Total grant amount: € 20,000
Duration: 6 months
This project aims to address systemic barriers that limit support and visibility for marginalized individuals, particularly those with irregular status. It seeks to strengthen the capacity of research institutes to engage with vulnerable individuals while safeguarding their rights, integrate ethical research practices and advocacy with case monitoring to inform litigation efforts on fundamental rights, and promote strategic campaigns, including online initiatives, to highlight the challenges faced by vulnerable groups.
The project comprises six interconnected activities designed to enhance ethical engagement and advocacy:
Conduct a situation analysis by reviewing existing projects and interviewing stakeholders to identify ethical challenges, select respondents for support, and evaluate interventions.
Develop comprehensive ethical guidelines, including child protection policies and referral procedures, validated through expert consultations.
Deliver capacity-building sessions to train researchers and professionals in refining these guidelines and strengthening responsible research and advocacy practices.
Monitor 3–5 cases during the advocacy phase to document systemic barriers and inform targeted advocacy efforts.|
Implement a strategic communication campaign to raise awareness through carefully crafted messaging.
Conduct reporting and evaluation to assess the project’s impact, identify challenges, and propose sustainable solutions.
Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation (Malta)
Project: Injustice grows when justice is delayed.
Strengthening advocacy around length of court proceedings, specifically in homicide cases in Malta.
Total grant amount: € 20,000
Duration: 6 months
The objective of this project is to address the challenges related to delays in court proceedings in Malta, by advancing research on this issue and strengthening awareness, advocacy, and highlighting the most severe cases of justice delays in Malta—specifically in relation to the length of proceedings. The ultimate goal is to foster reform in Malta’s justice system.
In light of these challenges, the project will:
Collect information and data from courts and police, and organise face-to-face meetings with victims’ families to gain deeper insight into the types of delays experienced.
Publish a comprehensive report analysing the average duration of each stage of court proceedings in homicide cases over the past 15 years, comparing Malta’s data with that of other EU member states.
Conduct advocacy and communication activities around the report, including a podcast debate to engage the public and stakeholders.
Host a physical exhibition titled ‘Keeping Their Memory Alive Amid Extensive Delays in Court’ to raise awareness and honour victims affected by prolonged judicial delays.
League of Human Rights CZ (CZECH REPUBLIC)
Project: Digitalisation Denied, Justice Delayed?
Total grant amount: € 12,726
Duration: 6 months
This project evaluates the current state of judicial system digitization in Czechia, addressing specific shortcomings in the government's efforts to modernize justice services, as highlighted by both Liberties and European Commission Rule of Law Reports. Its primary goal is to lay the foundation for a strategic advocacy campaign that will generate political pressure and accelerate overdue reforms by producing data-driven policy materials. The project seeks to prepare, consult, communicate, and negotiate findings from its research while strengthening partnerships between key stakeholders involved in public service digitization.
To address these challenges, the project will:
Produce an Evaluation Report on the state of judicial digitization in Czechia, to be completed by 1 December 2025.
Leverage the report’s findings for advocacy by submitting it directly to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Justice (DG JUST) for review and potential consultation.
Resources
Strive 2025: Q&A
Strive 2025: Guidelines for Grant Applications 2025
