{"id":7706,"date":"2025-11-19T11:32:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T10:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ipe.hr\/?page_id=7706"},"modified":"2025-11-19T11:56:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T10:56:18","slug":"peripheral-futures","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ipe.hr\/en\/projects\/peripheral-futures\/","title":{"rendered":"Peripheral Futures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The project \u201cPeripheral Futures\u201d<\/strong> is a 12-month cross-border initiative led by Policy Lab<\/strong> (Slovenia) and Institute for Political Ecology<\/strong> (Croatia), which is funded by Protecting EU Values and Fundamental Rights through Public Participation and Civil Society Assistance in Central Europe \u2013 PROTEUS<\/a> project of the Transatlantic Foundation, co-funded by the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project promotes EU values, counter disinformation about climate change and green just transition, and strengthens civic participation in rural and peripheral regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why this matters?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In both Slovenia and Croatia, awareness and understanding of EU rights and values remain unevenly distributed. Most civil society organisations (CSOs) are based in Ljubljana or Zagreb, while peripheral and rural-border regions are often left out of national debates and disconnected from EU-level policy conversations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This geographical imbalance contributes to a profound visibility gap in these regions: the benefits and relevance of EU rights are poorly communicated, easily distorted, and often overshadowed by local power politics dynamics. The result is a growing vulnerability to disinformation\u2014particularly in relation to the green transition and its social impacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate action, energy transition, and environmental regulations are frequently misrepresented in these areas as threats to rural livelihoods, traditional practices, or local autonomy. False or misleading narratives portray EU values as distant, imposed, or elitist\u2014rather than as tools for strengthening democratic participation, environmental protection, and social justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This information vacuum is actively exploited by illiberal actors. Entrenched local elites, often in power for decades, can suppress civil society initiatives and fuel distrust in democratic institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The potential<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this obstacles, numerous young civic actors in peripheral-rural-border regions between Slovenia and Croatia continue to defend fundamental rights, foster civic engagement by mobilising their communities, and resist disinformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they are under-resourced, under-recognised, and too often disconnected from national and EU support systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project focuses on the most underrepresented regions \u2014 at the geographical and political margins \u2014 and supports young people as community multipliers, contributing to grounded, participatory understanding of EU rights and values, countering disinformation about climate and democracy, and reinforcing local democratic infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key activities include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n