Mission and Vision
Our vision: We envision a decolonial, environmentally sustainable future shaped by global justice where all life is valued, and the rights to safety and self-determination are respected.
Our mission: Vibrant, interconnected civil societies that actively shape solutions to local and global challenges.
Coopera e.V. fosters horizontal civil society cooperation, interdisciplinary and trans-local knowledge exchange, and empowerment in the times of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We work in the areas of decolonial solidarity, (queer)feminism and anti-racism, arts and urbanism, sustainability, media (in exile), and political education.
Coopera is a non-profit organization based in Berlin that cooperates with a consortium of committed grassroots projects, pooling resources and supporting solidarity practices. We collaborate in a dynamic network of activists, artists, human rights advocates, journalists, and researchers.
Our work focuses on — but is not limited to — the regions of Eastern Europe, the North and South Caucasus, and Northern and Central Asia.
Contact us
To contact the whole team for media inquiries or other questions, write to info@coopera.io.
History
The story of Coopera e. V. began in December 2011, when a group of young people came together in Berlin during protests against election fraud and the arrest of feminist activists in Russia. After months of protesting and other forms of activism, they registered an association under the name Dekabristen e.V., inspired by the month of their first actions.
Over the years, our organization has grown, our team has diversified, and our areas of knowledge and work have expanded. The previous name of our organization no longer reflects our team, regional focus, and approach to collaboration.
February 2022, with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, marks a turning point for the work of our NGO. This culmination of Russia's aggression against Ukraine since 2014 has had a significant impact on our projects and networks and on the way we work together as equals.
In order to reshape collaborative practices with people and civil societies after the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion, and to continue fostering horizontal cooperation between NGOs and civil society representatives from Eastern Europe, Central and Northern Asia, the North and South Caucasus, and beyond, we reworked our mission and renamed our association Coopera e.V. in January 2024.
With connections to NGOs, media, independent researchers, and grassroots activist networks in the region, proficiency in local languages, and an understanding of the local social, cultural, and political contexts, our team collaborates with regional partners on an eye-to-eye level. We are a team with diverse cultural backgrounds, and many of us share the migration experience. We strive to respond to the rapidly changing circumstances and increasingly complex challenges in our work, and are open to new ideas and approaches.
Our organization consists of teams that focus on specific areas and target groups. As security concerns have been due to break-ins, political pressure, and repression in several locations, we provide team contact details below and do not list individual team members.
Focus areas
Advancing media in times of uncertainty
Coopera supports journalists at risk and exile media within a consortium and a media hub in Berlin. The team was established in 2020 and significantly changed its focus during the early stages of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Our primary goals are to provide emergency support and resources for newsrooms and exiled media professionals. Through training, consultancy, exchange, peer learning, and funding, we support journalists in need and media in exile, advance transdisciplinary cooperation, and cross-border journalism.
Contact the team: media@coopera.io
Decoloniality, anti-racism & queer feminism
We organize lectures, workshops, exhibitions, residencies, reading groups, and other formats in which different actors exchange ideas, understanding both the commonality and the specificity of experiences across the region and developing support networks that ensure greater resilience and sustainability of activist networks.
Contact the team: translocalities@coopera.io
Civic education
Our projects promote media literacy and knowledge of democracy, human rights, and civil society among young people. We aim to foster youth empowerment by organizing participatory programs such as study trips, training, online workshops, and media labs. We produce digital educational materials such as online courses and podcasts.
Contact the team: education@coopera.io
Monitoring & advocacy
We build monitoring and advocacy capacities of civil society in Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus that are aligned with various UN processes. In cooperation with our partners, we organize information events and compile and publish shadow reports on the status of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Contact the team: sustainability@coopera.io
Arts & urbanism
Our projects focus on sustainable urban development by engaging in projects that explore innovative approaches for citizen involvement in shaping their built environments. We focus primarily on cultural and educational formats.
Contact the team: urbanism@coopera.io
