The project “Critical Thinking for Mediawise Citizens” – CriThink announces:

Call for support of local civil society organizations
Application deadline: July 15, 2019

The Critical Thinking for Mediawise Citizens – CriThink project, implemented by Metamorphosis Foundation in partnership with Eurothink, supported by the European Union, announces this request for applications to provide support to initiatives of local civil society organizations in partnership with media and other stakeholders, which will promote creation of culture of critical thinking through promotion of media literacy.

The initiatives ought to be directed toward fulfilling the project’s overall objectives through activities adjusted to the local needs in each of the 8 planning regions. The overall objective of the action is to promote media literacy as basis for safeguarding the right of citizens to hold diverse opinions, via stimulating a culture of critical thinking, pluralism of opinion and democratic values. Specific objectives are:

  • To foster a culture of critical thinking via education of the general public on the detrimental impact of media manipulations on democracy and European values.
  • To increase capacities of civil society organizations (CSOs) and media to address media manipulations (incl. hate speech) by improving the media literacy levels via joint engagement with state institutions.
  • To increase citizen demand for accountable media through public informal education, promotion of professional standards and international practices that protect freedom of

opinion and expression.

Within this framework in the first cycle of the programme for small grants of CriThink , ten (10) grants in the amount of 6.000 to 7.000 euros will be awarded, in support of project designed for each of the eight planning regions of the Republic of North Macedonia, having in view that more than one grant can be awarded to a region.

Implementation time is no longer than 6 (six) months. Applicants are not obliged to provide co-financing from other sources.

The program for small grants will support the initiatives for stimulating the culture of critical thinking by promoting media literacy with the following activities from this indicative list (the list is not limited, there is a possibility to support other activities if it is established that they are in accordance with the objectives of the project):

  • Production of public education contents for the web and/or for the traditional media (radio, TV, print media);
  • Promotion of public education contents via various kinds of media;
  • Inciting public debate on issues affecting media literacy and critical thinking;
  • Engaging citizens to increase their demand for higher quality media production;
  • Capacity building of local community members including trainings, workshops and lectures;
  • Online promotion via short videos, banners, and other kinds of multimedia contents;
  • Enabling citizens to use the competent state institutions/regulatory bodies, as well as self-regulatory mechanisms of journalistic profession to address media manipulations;
  • Strategic use of social media to reach wider and/or targeted audiences, including online ads;
  • Establishing cooperation and networking between various stakeholders for media literacy advocacy at local and national level.

The grants are primarily dedicated to smaller civil society organizations to provide them with learning and assistance in their capacity building for fundraising and therefore to participate in calls for grants announced by the EU and other donors. Furthermore, partnership with at least one media is needed.

The complete call as well as the application forms are available at the following links:

CSOs – applicants for projects that will be financed through the Small Grants Program, will have to submit their applications in electronic format via e-mail using the standard package of documents for applying at the Metamorphosis Foundation, which includes the following components:

Complete applications are considered applications that include fully completed forms and additional attachments.

When filling the Budget Template, organizations ought to take heed of the rules listed in the Budgeting Manual, and all selected grantees, in cooperation with Metamorphosis and Eurothink, will individually initiate VAT exemption procedure on the basis of foreign donation at the Secretariat for European Affairs (SEA).

Application deadline July 15, 2019 by 16:00, exclusively via e-mail to povik@crithink.mk.

Application forms must be filled in Macedonian, while Appendix 4: The short description form for the project should be completed in English.

Applicants who need clarification or additional information about the call should submit questions by e-mail to povik@crithink.mk no later than June 28, 2019, till 16:00 in order to get timely responses before the deadline.

Share: