Slovak@30 Lecture Series – 30 Years of Slovak Civil Society – Thursday, April 13, 2023

“30 Years of Slovak Civil Society”
by
Zuzana Wienk

April 13, 2023

12:00 noon ET

ONLINE

In partnership with the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Washington, D.C., and Friends of Slovakia, we invite you to attend the fourth event in the Slovakia@30 series – a conversation on “30 Years of Slovak Civil Society,” with Zuzana Wienk, Director of Bystriny.

After the fall of communism, a real civil society was suddenly possible in Slovakia. From the early days of independence, nothing was static, including civil society. As the new country developed, the ups and downs of its political life played a major role in shaping civil society, as did social changes that swept the country and the world. There were even times when civil society’s very survival was in doubt. Today that civil society encompasses many vibrant groups. Zuzana Wienk will give an overview of the current state of Slovakia’s civil society, how it got here, and what the future may hold for it, given the war on the country’s border and the new post-pandemic world.

Zuzana Wienk is a former journalist, a writer on current affairs, and a civic activist. She is a co-founder (in 2002), former program director, and executive director of Aliancia Fair-play, a Slovak watchdog NGO that encourages civic engagement to promote responsible politics, increase government transparency, support judicial reform, and stamp out corruption. Since 2016 she has been on the steering committee of the initiative Partnerstvo pre otvorené vládnutie (Open Government Partnership). In 2019 she became the director of the civic association Bystriny, an offshoot of Aliancia Fair-play that connects and supports projects and people active in their communities.

Slovakia@30 is a collaboration between FOS and SASW, consisting of four talks to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Slovak independence in 2023.

To register to participate online in the April 13 event, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/30-years-of-slovak-civil-society-tickets-601637492937.