What happens after an election observation mission ends? Join us to discuss how election observation can lead to real democratic reform, with Bangladesh as a case study. 📅 9 September | 15:00–17:00 CET 📍 European Parliament, Room SPINELLI 5G1 Save your seat 🎟️ ow.ly/BgnW50ZvGub @europarl.europa.eu

#Research💡 💰The average Ugandan, Congolese, Liberian and Nigerian would need to save their full income for over 100 years to raise the average amount that candidates reported spending. Make public office more accessible to youth 🖇️ ahead.africa/en/the-cost-...

📥 Beyond Ballots Summer is in your inbox: what's worth remembering from 2026 and what's next. A preview: 🛡️ Our work on the #EuropeanDemocracyShield 🦩 The Flamingos Revolution in 🇦🇱 📊 The Electoral Vulnerability Index from the @kofiannanfdn.bsky.social 🎧 Voices of Civil Society Resistance 🧵

📢 "Democratic resilience depends on accountable institutions, civil society that is able to act, and citizens who can participate meaningfully in the decisions that affect them”, explained our Deputy Director Leon Hemkemeyer at the 2026 ECOSOCC Citizens’ Forum in Addis Ababa.

Last chance to apply for our IT consultant position in Brussels. Join our team to support EPD's IT infrastructure. Apply here before 31 July 🖇️ https://lnkd.in/enc5tPVf

💫 A new buzzword is about to crowd your feeds: the Stakeholder Platform of the European Centre for Democratic Resilience - one of the key components of the #EuropeanDemocracyShield. 🧵

💰The average Ugandan, Congolese, Liberian and Nigerian would need to save their full income for over 100 years to raise the average amount that candidates reported spending. Make public office more accessible to youth 🖇️ ahead.africa/en/the-cost-...

It has been more than a month since Moldovan citizens formally presented 15 recommendations on Local Public Administration Reform to the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. 🇲🇩 📄 These recommendations were developed through consensus during a Citizens’ Assembly. How did it go? ⤵️

🇧🇩 EPD’s Acting Executive Director Thijs Berman was in #Bangladesh last week. He met our local partners from the EU-funded #AHEAD Bangladesh project, joined the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy event with political parties, and exchanged views with international development partners. 🧵

Every election builds knowledge. 📝 🇧🇩 Five months after #Bangladesh's general elections, key electoral actors came together this week to review and prioritise recommendations from citizen and international election observers - including the EU EOM. Reform priorities 🔗 bit.ly/3TlHxSJ

📢 Registration for #IDDBrussels 2026 is now on hold. Thank you for the incredible interest, due to the high number of registrations received, we have now reached the venue's maximum capacity. As a result, registrations are currently on hold.

📢 We're #hiring! Are you an experienced IT consultant based in Brussels? Join us to help keep EPD's IT infrastructure running smoothly. Apply here before 31 July 🖇️ lnkd.in/enc5tPVf

The EU just published its plan for #tech sovereignty. 💻 #Democracy gets 1️⃣ mention across the package. EPD’s take 🧵

#Research💡 Youth digital activism in the Sahel is not uniformly pro-democracy. It is deeply shaped by the intersection of political context, technological access, and forms of social organisation. Explore how youth digital activism varies across the seven countries studied 📄 bit.ly/4488I5D

#Policy💬 🛡️The European Parliament's EUDS committee just confirmed its report on the European Democracy Shield — and it's a win for democratic resilience. 📝 The EPD network, alongside its partners, advocated for a series of amendments that we were glad to see in the report.🧵

☀️ Our last newsletter of the season is in your inbox. 📘CSOs for a stronger Rule of Law Report 📝 Takeaways from #EPDAC2026 🎙️Sovereignty and Software | EU Scream 📍IDD 2026 | 17 Sep 💼 Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung is hiring! 📬 Subscribe to receive the summer edition 🖇️ https://ow.ly/Xwpk50V7vpa

📢 Registrations are open! Join us for the 12th edition of the annual gathering of democracy leaders, institutions and activists from across the globe. 🌍 “What’s Next for Democracy? | Innovation and Alliances in a Changing World” 🗓️ 17 Sep 2026 🔗 Register: https://idd-brussels.eu/registration

#Policy💬 📌 Year after year, the #RuleofLaw Report flags the same issues, but without adequate follow-ups. EPD and 36 civil society organisations are calling on the European Commission to turn stocktaking into action ahead of the 2026 report 🧵👇

🗳️ Are you an expert in electoral process support? Is enhancing civic and voter education amongst your main work topics? EPD is looking for one or more consultants to conduct an external evaluation of the AHEAD Bangladesh project. Apply here before 20 July 🖇️ https://ow.ly/k1yu50ZfhN0

📌 Democracy doesn’t happen on its own — it needs resilience, trust, and collective action. ⭐ A big thank you to all speakers, partners and participants who joined EPD’s Annual Conference 2026 and helped unpack one central question: how do we build democracies ready for the challenges ahead?

New #Research💡 Youth in the Sahel are reshaping political participation through digital means. 📱 Explore our deep dive into online conversations among youth in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Togo 📕 https://bit.ly/4488I5D

🎉 This week's BB ⬇️ 📘 Democracy as a security asset | @wfd.org 📝 The 2025 Protest Surge continues | @europeandemocracyhub.epd.eu 🎙️ The Age of Hyperpolitics | @ecfr.eu 📍 Digital Strategies to Navigate a Closing Civic Space | 16 June 💼 @internationalidea.bsky.social is hiring! 📬 ow.ly/Xwpk50V7vpa

President of EPD, Anu Juvonen wraps up #EPDAC2026 with Camilla Banda and Pablo Callizo of the Club de Madrid Young Decision Makers Network. Thank you all who joined and made this another successful and inspiring edition! clubdemadrid.bsky.social @anujuvonen.bsky.social @demofinland.bsky.social

“We need to give democracy once more a human face” 🎙️ Iveta Radičová, Former Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic (2010-2012) and Club de Madrid Member #EPDAC2026 @clubdemadrid.bsky.social

📌 Final panel on the European Democracy Shield: "Civil society is the last line of defence when public institutions weaken. They’re not complementing democracy, but rather keeping it alive" 🎙️Tjaša Feher, EU Advocacy Manager, EUCrta #EPDAC2026 @tjasafeher.bsky.social @eucrta.bsky.social

📌 Session 6 on designing public-interest digital infrastructures: ''We think a European Google would be good, but EU companies do not always uphold EU values. We can’t borrow the business models of failed states.'' 🎙️ Belén Luna Sanz, @whattofix.tech #EPDAC2026

📌 Session 4 on Democracy in Crisis: “Young people vote roughly the same as other generations, but they have the far right in their voting set (...) Older people vote for mainstream parties, younger people vote for new parties" 🎙️Cas Mudde, University of Georgia, United States @casmudde.bsky.social

🎙️ Gladys Mokhawa, on behalf of Former President of Botswana Masisi: ‘‘President Masisi lost the last elections and congratulated the newly elected president because democratic resilience depends on civil ownership and when citizens recognise themselves in it.’’ #EPDAC2026 @clubdemadrid.bsky.social

‘‘Democracy is not an abstract value, secondary to “hard” priorities such as security and defence, or economic stability. It is good to defend ourselves, but first we need to counter the weakness inside that makes our democracy vulnerable.’’ 🎙️ EPD's Acting Executive Director, Thijs Berman

The stage is set for the event of the year, #EPDAC2026! 💫 How healthy are our democracies and how can we design them to be more resilient? 📲 Stay tuned for key insights from experts, practitioners, and democracy advocates.