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The PASOS Annual Report 2007/2008 is now available in print and online, including contact details to hundreds of policy analysts in 40 independent think-tanks in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and details of joint cross-border projects by PASOS members, and a section highlighting where think-tanks are making a difference

in Azerbaijani and English

Last year can be considered as one of the most important years of activity of the Economic Research Center. As, along with enhancing co-operation with its existing partners, the Center added to the list of donors the names of famous foundations from Germany and Norway.

edited by Oľga Gyárfášová, Institute for Public Affairs, Slovakia

A quarterly newsletter from the Center for Research and Policy Making, Macedonia

CRPM Newsletter, December 2007

An overview of the projects and initiatives of 32 independent policy centres in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and contact details to the main expertise of these and many other policy centres

The PASOS Annual Report 2006 highlights the activities of PASOS in 2006, including training events, conferences and PASOS members' joint projects. The report includes income and expenditure for 2006, year-end assets and liabilities, and the independent auditor's report.

This report has its origins in the discussions during the meeting of heads of several Central European think-tanks organised by the Open Society Institute (OSI) Human Rights and Governance Grants Program in Budapest in March 2006.

It was concluded that Central European think-tanks had to face a double challenge: their countries’ membership of the European Union meant the withdrawal of their traditional (often American) institutional sponsors, while continuing political instability made it difficult to rely on government funding. The question was how to maintain financial sustainability and at the same time to keep at arm’s length from the national government? How to keep focused on the institution’s mission, while pursuing project funding in the areas defined by the often divergent donors’ interests?

The year 2006 was one of significant achievements for the ICPS in promoting and popularising the concept of public policy in Ukraine. The Centre's success in disseminating public policy concepts and procedures has been so significant and evident that President Viktor Yushchenko appointed ICPS Director Vira Nanivska President of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA).

2006 рік: МЦПД підбиває підсумки

2006 рік відзначився суттєвими досягненнями для МЦПД у просуванні та популяризації концепції публічної політики в Україні. Здобутки Центру в напрямі поширення концепції та процедур публічної політики стали настільки вагомими й очевидними, що Президент України Віктор Ющенко призначив директора МЦПД Віру Нанівську президентом Національної академії державного управління при Президентові України. Редакція Вісника Центру пропонує читачам ознайомитися з головними успіхами МЦПД за минулий рік

The PASOS Annual Report 2005 outlines the first year (March-December 2005) of the PASOS Secretariat, including a report on income and expenditure in 2005, year-end assets and liabilities, and the independent auditor's opinion.

An overview of the projects and initiatives of 24 independent, non-governmental policy centres, and contact details to the main expertise of these and many other policy centres

The following is a report on the findings of a survey carried out between April-May 2005 of 100 people working on the problems of intercultural communication in Bulgaria. The survey was based on questionnaires and personal interviews in the following regions and municipalities:

Sofia – 18 people, Plovdiv – 10, Ruse – 10, Blagoevgrad – 8, Varna – 9, Stara Zagora – 8, Shumen – 8, Burgas – 8, Kurdzali – 6, Smolian – 5, Turnovo – 5, Karlovo – 3.

by Lena Kolarska-Bobinska and Magdalena Mughrabi

Based on more than 30 interviews with government officials, experts, journalists and development workers in Poland, Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Jordan, this report is a study of Poland’s policy, as a new EU member state (2004-2008), towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It looks at the role Poland plays or could potentially play in the Middle East Peace Process, while investigating whether a need exists for a greater involvement of new EU member states in the context of the re-launch of negotiations with the Annapolis conference. Additionally, it examines Palestinian and Israeli perceptions of Poland in respect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A survey conducted by Institute for Public Policy, Bucharest, Romania

The topic of think tanks’ self-sustainability is less a theoretical seminars’ issue than a serious, concerning matter of development for many NGOs in this region. The decrease of several American foundations' support and even its withdrawal in some regions, especially in recent EU member states (2004/2007 waves), raised a number of questions about the future developments of think-tanks in general. The more critical an NGO's approach to the Government has been, the more difficult it has become for it to engage partnership with governmentally managed resources. Still, the future of think-tanks is an important element for democracy's development from now on, and therefore the study on how overhead costs are raised and on the use of overheads for strengthening the internal capacity of the organisation, proves as a useful indicator for the sector’s sustainability in the new political and economic environment.