We are delighted to invite you to the next cycle of the Stronger Roots Academy, offering a unique chance to learn from leading international experts and leaders with hands-on experience. Join us for a series of webinars where we will explore how to elevate your community work, communication, and civil-society advocacy to the next level.
You will learn authentic storytelling from Brian Fitzgerald (Dancing Fox), and Johns Hopkins University professor Hahrie Han will show you how to build successful social movements. Tim Lockie, founder of The Human Stack, will demonstrate how to integrate AI into community development without losing our humanity.
Important Information
Please note that the entire webinar series will be conducted in English. Live automated captions and transcription of the spoken word are available directly in Zoom.
Community & Storytelling
Date: Tuesday 29th September 2026
Time: 15:00-17:00
Place: ZOOM
Registration link: https://eu01web.zoom.us/meeting/register/ni6ConmOQdmGZPQuqhaypg
Storytelling is more than just sharing information; it is the heartbeat of any thriving community. This webinar will focus on how to use authentic narratives to inspire, engage, and connect with your audience on a deeper level. We will explore how to transform passive listeners into passionate advocates for your cause and look at practical examples of stories that build lasting relationships.
Who can you look forward to?
Director and Chief Woodland Puddle Jumper, Dancing Fox
Expert on strategic communication and community engagement. He will share how to craft stories that resonate with your target groups and how to maintain their long-term interest.
Community & Movement Building (for the 21st Century)
Date: Wednesday 14th October 2026
Time: 15:00-17:00
Place: ZOOM
Registration link (Google Form): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe4w77KJ67CB64N1v2vZ3_l6iSECDiVc8ajs8Q765LLg6Du-g/viewform?usp=preview
Organized: OSF Bratislava
Why do some grassroots movements “take off” while others appear to have no impact? How can an organization rally large groups of people in support of an idea or policy? What is the magic ingredient that leads to social change? In this talk Hahrie Han synthesizes data and research on social change to describe the science—not magic— behind effective movement building. She highlights her concept of “P3,” whereby building people power depends on understanding how to make participation “possible, probable, and powerful.” Through compelling examples and evidence-based research, Han illuminates the pathways to achieving long-term societal transformation and explains what differentiates a successful movement from an unsuccessful one.
Who can you look forward to?
Hahrie Han is an SNF Agora Institute Professor of Political Science and Faculty Director of the P3 Research Lab at Johns Hopkins University, where she also served as the Inaugural Director of the SNF Agora Institute from 2019-2026. She is a 2025 recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship (so called “genius grants”), is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, was named a 2022 Social Innovation Thought Leader of the Year by the World Economic Forum’s Schwab Foundation. She specializes in the study of organizing, movements, collective action, civic engagement, and democracy.
Credit: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Negotiation skills for NGOs
Date: Thursday 15th October 2026
Time: 13:00-14:30
Place: ZOOM, registration link: TBC
Organized by: Glopolis
NGOs regularly negotiate with governments, funders, partner organisations and other stakeholders. These conversations can become difficult when parties hold different positions or when trust is under pressure. In this webinar, trainer Ilay Beeldsnijder will introduce participants to the fundamentals of the Mutual Gains Approach to negotiation developed by the Consensus Building Institute.
Who can you look forward to?
Ilay Beeldsnijder
Negotiation Consultant and Trainer
Ilay Beeldsnijder is a consultant and trainer at Negotiation & Public Service in the Netherlands, specialising in complex negotiations, mediation and multi-stakeholder processes in the public and semi-public domain. He works with the Mutual Gains Approach (MGA) and Strategic Stakeholder Engagement (SSE) to support organisations and stakeholders in dealing constructively with competing interests.
Community & AI
Date: Tuesday 27 October 2026
Time: 15:00-17:00
Place: ZOOM
Registration link: https://eu01web.zoom.us/meeting/register/3cdvHqWpRWOlnwqyh8VMZg
Most organizations treat AI as a technology problem. It is not. It is a community problem. Think of your organization as an orchestra. When the music sounds wrong, we usually buy a better instrument. But the instrument is rarely the problem. The musicians need support, and someone needs to conduct.
In this two-hour session you will learn how to choose AI tools that fit your organization and your budget, how to write prompts that produce work you can actually use, and how to bring your colleagues with you instead of leaving them behind. You do not need a technical background. If you have never used an AI tool, this session is designed for you. We will finish with a live demonstration: one participant, one real task from their own work, coached on screen.
Who can you look forward to?
CEO and Founder of The Human Stack
Tim Lockie is the founder and CEO of The Human Stack and creator of Digital Guidance®, which helps nonprofits, foundations, and philanthropy adopt AI they already have access to. His work centers on one finding: when technology fails inside an organization, the cause is rarely the technology. It is the gap between what the tools can do and what the people around them have been equipped to do. Tim is a Salesforce MVP with a background in econometrics and two decades in nonprofit technology. He now runs AI fluency programs, coaching cohorts, and organizational assessments for teams across North America and Europe, and speaks regularly on what adoption actually takes.
Community & Defending Democracy
Date: November 2026
More info: TBC
Civil society organizations face increasing pressure and attacks by authoritarian governments. In these times, their community is no longer only a group of donors or clients, but becomes their safety net. This session, featuring experts from D-HUB, will introduce the Anti-Authoritarian Toolkit. We will explore practical strategies for CSOs to build unity and joint vision for their community, to mobilize the community for support and defence and create a movement people want to be part of.
The Stronger Roots program is funded by the European Union. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the grant donor can be held responsible for the use of this information.
