Holistic Security and Protection: CEE Programme

4 to 11 May 2024

Combining physical, psychosocial and digital elements of protection and care with security planning and management on both individual and collective level

 

Activists, human rights defenders, and political organisers across Central and Eastern Europe work and operate in a hostile climate. Conservatism, misogyny, economic scarcity and rise of the far right are only a few of the threats they face. This impacts our own and collective wellbeing, as well as our effectiveness, and, especially in the long run, it can deter and hinder efforts towards greater social, ecological and economic justice.


Holistic security training aims to:

  • reframe security as an internal and integral part of our work,
  • broaden the meaning of personal and collective sense of safety on emotional, physical or cyber level,
  • identify and understand various risks and threats we and our groups face,
  • develop systems of community care and self-care within our contexts, collectives and movements to tackle different forms of repression and violence.

What will happen?

  • we will strengthen the ability to self-reflect and take measurements to increase our sense of control and safety
  • we will explore group processes, power dynamics and our ability to collaborate, learn and share
  • we will create space to think critically about risks we face, prepare and develop strategies to improve the security of activists and their communities
  • we will dive into cyberspaces and safe digital organising
  • we will talk about the sustainability of our actions in the context of violence, threats and hostility
  • We will build on experiences and best practices in the room
  • we will reflect on the specifics of organising in Central and Eastern Europe

This training is part of the Ulex Central and Eastern Europe Programme pilot year. It is designed and delivered by a training team embedded in CEE social movements.

 

Creating Space: Security and Radical Well-being 

This dimension will support participants in reclaiming security as a subjective and personal or community concept. We will explore external risks and threats for activists in their context (e.g. with regards to law, violence, technology, and impact through gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, class, etc.). Looking at psychological responses to threats, we will build an understanding of the impact of stress and trauma on well-being, care and security. We will explore self-care, collective care, well-being as political tools in political struggles, and the importance of mobilising inner resources and solidarity while improving security in groups and organisations.

Explore, Strategize and Planning: Analysis and Planning for Security 

This aspect of the training will enable participants to analyse and unpack threats, which are often multilayered and thus tend to overwhelm. We will analyse and prioritize risks, including situational monitoring, and explore ways to strategise for readiness, prevention, responses and resumption. Actor mapping help to identify allies and adversaries to consider for networking, advocacy and political action, and a reflection of different security strategies opens space for strategic planning. We will dive into realistic scenarios, prevention and emergency planning, and focus on the needs and topics of the group.

Act: Security and care in Action

This can range from action training or crisis response simulation to investing in securing public and internal communication to actively build care and awareness structures within the movements, activist groups or organizations themselves. In our training, we offer space to acquire basic digital care skills as well as the option for peer coaching on specific scenarios or how to deal with conflicts within activist groups.


How to apply?

Everyone active in social movements in the region of Central and Eastern Europe is welcome.

Apply here by 8th of April 2024.

The training´s working language is in English, but please let us know in the form if this is something you could use support with. The training team speaks other languages too and together we can think about solutions.

Some travel bursaries will be available.
There is no charge for the training, so economic difficulties should not prevent you from attending!

This training will take place in Kunbábony, Hungary

This venue is accessible for people with limited mobility.

Suggested Contribution
In the solidarity economy: €300/€550/€1100
(see the details of our approach to Solidarity Economics for details)

The Team

Our Name

Ulex: Latin (argelaga Catalan, gorse English) noun:

1. A thorny-evergreen flowering shrub, with a high capacity for regeneration and resilience. Its seedpods open in contact with fire and it reshoots from charred stumps. A successionary plant that grows well under challenging conditions. It improves soil fertility through nitrogen fixing, preparing the way for renewed biodiversity.

2. A traditional choice for igniting fires. Burns hot and bright.

3. A networked project adding nutrition and fertility to European social movements through training and capacity building. It kindles the realisation of social justice, ecological intelligence, and cognitive vitality.