Democracy

Mission is -promoting European values; to enhance: the civil society development, the democratic process of governance, sustainable development of local community, and promotion of new culture of change and conflict managment.

Vision is -Serbia and Yugoslavia are equal members of the European community of nations.

Intention is -supporting peaceful resolution of conflicts between individuals and community, promotion of the idea of justice and standing up against every kind of violence; developing and maintaining co-operation between citizens and communities in FRY and the world; development of non-profitable sector in FRY; respecting human dignity and against violation of human rights; founding market economy.

Obligation is - articulation and developing of the values of civil society; development of sustainable NGOs; development of a sustainable local community; development of an open forum of citizens and organisations (at the local, regional and national level) aimed at facilitating dialog, exchange of information, advancing mutual understanding, solidarity, co-operation and communication.

Principles are - Investing in peoples´ knowledge and skills is an efficient way for institutional development and promotion change; Training is a tool for capacity building but also for changing attitudes and stimulate initiative at community level; Collaboration and expertise exchange at regional and national level are efficient ways for learning from each others´ successes and failures; Participatory and interactive problem solving processes build partnerships and prevent conflicts; Autonomous, accountable and active local governments are the foundation of democracy; Effective and efficient local governments are crucial for the change management and local development processes; For effective & efficient local governance is more important to have knowledge and skills than capital investment.

YFU is a non-profit student exchange program. They place students in over 30 countries and accommodate students from over 40 countries in Germany. For one year, students live with a host family and attend school.

Management Consulting in the public sector

PDCS is a non-governmental organization providing professional training and facilitation services, consultancy and advisory services in areas of conflict resolution, support of dialogue in the society, citizen participation and civil society development in Slovakia and abroad.

We have been bringing to life the slogan of our organization „The Joy of Learning, Deliberation, and Change“ since 1991 when PDCS was started at the Comenius University in Bratislava as part of the international educational program of Partners for Democratic Change. In 1994, an independent PDCS foundation was established which has continued as a civic association since 1997. We are also members of the Partners Network (https://www.partnersglobal.org/) comprising 20 partner centers which share the same mission and values of democratic change.

For a long time we have worked to co-create and strengthen the democratic culture, spread participation approaches and mechanisms for dialogue and conflict prevention. We have provided help in international development programs and arranged cultured dialogue among various interest groups. We fulfill our mission by working with nonprofit organizations, public administration institutions and cross-sector partnerships. Our training courses have been attended by over 25,000 participants in Slovakia and 45 countries and regions of the world, including Abkhazia, Afghanistan, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Germany, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kirgizstan, Kosovo, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Russia, Senegal, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, the United States, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.

PDCS also published 30 books in 8 languages.

The Afro-Asian Institute Salzburg (AAI) is a non-profit organisation with close ties to the university of Salzburg. It is financed by the public funds and the Catholic Church. The aims of the AAI are to provide educational services on development policy, to enable intercultural encounters and to promote interfaith dialogue.
The AAI is a meeting place for different cultures and religions. We show different global contexts through a varied educational and cultural program in order to raise awareness of injustices and set out development policy issues and its risks in the context of globalization. Affected individuals, as well as experts from the global South have an opportunity in our organization to take the floor. Within the framework of the AAI scholarship program, students from African, Asian and Latin American countries receive financial support, as well as a personal accompaniment and take part in our educational program.