The Estonian Network of the Anna Lindh Foundation was established in 2006.
The Network's vision is to bring together civil society organisations that are active in promoting intercultural dialogue and understanding within the society, providing a platform to create successful cooperation within the local network and other networks, and tap into the resources provided by the members of the network.
Our strength lies in the accessibility to all sectors within the network to all the members, in addition to the availability of the board of governance. Most of the organisations and members of the network have demonstrated a large impact in the local community by tapping into the relevant topics affecting our society.
Our Network members are active in:
- Global Education
- Social integration
- Intercultural dialogue
- Gender issues
- Education and research
- Social enterprise
Among the achievements of many of the network members is the strong role they played in raising awareness on topics related to the different crises in the society, starting with the Syrian refugee crisis, and ending with the war in Ukraine, providing resources to the educational and youth work sector and creating safe spaces for women and youth.
The Network is re-inventing itself; while many of the older members have become less active, there is an interest by new organisations to join. The Estonian Network encourages new members to build a more sustainable and active network that is very much taped into the important issues facing our society.
Telliskivi 60 a/5
10412 Tallinn Estonia
Estonia
The Estonian Network of the Anna Lindh Foundation was established in 2006 by Prof. Dr. Thomas Richard Kämmerer from the University of Tartu, since then the Estonian network has been active and coordinated by other civil societies: Ethical Links, and the Estonian school of diplomacy and after not having a national coordinator between 2018-2019 in 2020 the Estonian ministry of foreign affairs gave NGO Mondo the mandate to become the Estonian National Network coordinator.
The previous Heads of the Anna Lindh National Network in Estonia, were:
-The Estonian School of Diplomacy (ESD), which was elected by members in 2016.
- Ethical links, which was elected from 2012 until 2016.
Intercultural dialogue is when members of different cultural groups, who hold opinions that can be conflicting or similar in addition to assumptions about different cultures, speak to one another in acknowledgment of each other. In addition the dialogue can be enhanced through mutual activities and interactions.
- The challenges faced in Estonia with intercultural dialogue:
- The historical isolation of the country due to the Soviet Union has kept the country rather reserved towards foreigners, but it must be mentioned that there have been drastic changes due to technological developments and Estonia’s advances in this field.
- The rise of far-right movements in the country have given voice to more conservative and nationalistic movements.
- COVID has made intercultural activities more difficult.