About community boost_r

community boost_r inspires, enables and promotes tech for civil participation in transparency and accountability initiatives in the Western Balkans. The project is run by Fundacja TechSoup and Dokukino in partnership with TechSoup Global, IPKO Foundation and Zasto ne thanks to the support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and the National Endowment for Democracy.

BECOME A PART OF community boost_r

  • Get inspired by checking out the best and latest information, strategies, and case studies for your projects and initiatives.

  • Share your story. Our website is a sounding board for the ideas, innovations, projects, issues and shared challenges of transparency and accountability activists. Do you have a story you’d like to share? Let us know, and we will help you edit and publish your text. We might also be able to help with translations.

  • Network with others Follow ideas and topics you find interesting and contact people behind them. Write e-mails, connect via Facebook or tweet #communityboostr.


ABOUT THE PROJECT


community boost_r started in 2012 as an online information hub for those interested in technology for accountability in the Western Balkans. We published a series of informative articles, videos and infographics on transparency, freedom of information, and open data in the region. To check out the materials we have collected and produced go to Resources.

 

As a part of the project, a big gathering for more than 100 activists, technologists and civil society representatives was organized in October 2012 in Sarajevo, BiH. TechCamp Sarajevo was a common initiative of the community boost_r partnership, the US State Department, and the US Embassy in Sarajevo and ended up being a huge success. Watch videos from the event and read a summary of what happened during this 2-day meet up.

 

PARTNERS

 

The project started through a close cooperation of  Fundacja TechSoup and three regionally based civil society organizations - Dokukino, Kosovo 2.0 and Zašto ne. The continuation of the project in 2013 and beyond is a joint effort of Fundacja TechSoup, Dokukino, Zašto ne and IPKO Foundation that fits into a bigger vision of supporting the civil society development in the Western Balkans and building up a regional government 2.0 capacity.

 

Fundacja TechSoup is working towards the time when every civil society organization on the planet has the technology resources and knowledge it needs to operate at its full potential. Based in Warsaw (Poland), Fundacja acts as a hub for the TechSoup Global Network, a European office of TechSoup Global, as well as an independent Polish organization.

 

DKQ logoFoundation for New Communications Dokukino (DKQ) encourages citizen participation and boosts regional communication in the Western Balkans. DKQ is run by Internet and social media professionals, dedicated to raising visibility of civil society’s efforts in transforming the outline of the region.

 

 IPKO Foundation is a local operating foundation in Kosovo. Their goal is to seed and support the development of the next generation of leaders with a digital vision for Kosovo. These young leaders may come from any sector or discipline but are united in their embrace of technology, Internet and the information society.

 

In the last 10 years Civil Association “Zašto ne” (Why not) started several projects and initiatives that brought the association to be one of the leaders in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the field of government accountability, civic participation and the use of new technology. Some of the initiatives including Truth-o-meter, Vote-o-meter - voter preference testing tool, and Pravodaznam.ba - assisting the freedom of access to information requests. Zašto ne is also an organizer of a regional POINT Conference.

 

Kosovo 2.0 is giving a voice to Kosovo’s silenced majority: young people. Through the website, magazine and grassroots approach, Kosovo combines traditional and new media to create a self-sustaining platform for Kosovo's youth to become informed and active participants of their communities and society.