NGO Training


This series of trainings for the NGOs focused on introduction of legal tools for climate action for a 100 representatives of NGOs. It took form as a series of 10 workshops for 10 different NGOs. On each workshop there were two speakers, who are lawyers by profession. During the workshops, the speakers showed practical examples of multiple legal tools (such as requesting information, organizing petitions, writing complaints or legal actions, contacting state authorities, organizing and announcing demonstrations, or communicating with the police and knowing their competencies) and also performed one example activity (such as preparing an official information request) with the participants, based on participant preference.

During the workshops, the focus was on learning the basic legal tools through practical examples. In this way, we encouraged participants not to perceive law as an alienated tool only for professionals. On the contrary, we try to get them to touch the different tools themselves, so that the stress and uncertainty that legal institutes can cause disappears. We have focused on two areas, which we have internally called “paper activist” and “activist in the streets”, based on the participants’ prior selection. Participants thus shared different experiences together and these were put into an overall context by the trainers. Within the “paper activist” area we discussed, for example, the possibilities of forming associations, organizing petitions, writing complaints and filing criminal complaints. In the area of ‘activists in the streets’, the focus is on, for example, organising and reporting demonstrations, or communicating with the police. We set all the findings in the overall climate legal framework.

The speakers have developed a methodical guidelines for the workshops, which is available (in Czech language) on https://klimaradi.klimazaloba.cz/ webpage or in the documents section of the AGIT project website. A “law handbook” for active citizens was created as supporting material for the workshops and distributed there. The handbook, published under ISBN 978-80-11-04192-2, has 92 pages and contains simple explanations of key legal tools for active citizens, supplemented by real examples from practice in the areas of paper activism, demonstrations, policing and civil disobedience. The handbook (in Czech language) is available for download from the above linked webpages. Since we consider this a valuable tool, we plan to continue to print and distribute the handbook even after the end of this project.

Overall feedback and conclusions

We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the participants, who after the workshops felt more empowered to use the legal tools for protection of the climate and environment in general. Of 100 total participants, 46 have filled in the EU survey, of which 45 rated the overall assessment of the workshop as 5/5. For all responders, their knowledge and skills were improved by the workshop, with majority of responders marking 5/5 in this area. Other topics in the survey were also marked favourably. Based on the participant feedback, we consider this learning activity to be a big success, having empowered Czech environmental NGOs in their usage of legal tools and improved their ability to protect the climate and the environment.

A detailed description of each workshop:

Workshop 15.10.2023

On 15.10.2023, the first legal seminar was held in the Municipal Library, attended by a total of 8 participants mainly from the association Klimaticka zaloba CR. In the beginning, there was a mutual introduction and reconciliation of expectations and motivations for participation in the workshop. Subsequently, the project under which the event was held was introduced and the participants were introduced

to the legal framework in the climate area (UNFCCC, Paris Agreement, EU Green Deal, Czech domestic climate policies, and climate litigation).

During the workshop itself, the focus was on learning the basic legal tools through practical examples in a non-frontal way. In this way, we encourage participants not to perceive the law as an alienated tool only for professionals. On the contrary, we try to get them to touch the different tools themselves so that the stress and uncertainty that legal institutes can cause disappear. We have focused on two areas, which we have internally called “paper activist” and “activist in the streets”, based on the participants’ prior selection. Participants thus shared different experiences together and these were put into an overall context by the trainers. Within the “paper activist” area we discussed, for example, the possibilities of forming associations, requesting information, organizing petitions, writing complaints or legal actions, contact with state offices and courts. In the area of ‘activists in the streets’, the focus is on, for example, organizing and announcing demonstrations, or communicating with the police and knowing their competencies. We’ve tried to use some of those elementary legal instruments in practice, to show the participants how to use them and empower them to do so. Every participant learned practically how to write an information request or an announcement of assembly.

At the event we handed the participants our legal handbook “Law in action”, so they could go into details and have a broader overview of various legal instruments enabling public participation, which they might use in their activities. During the final sharing circle, all the participants, even the most experienced ones, declared at least one new useful thing learned (i.e. writing an information request or a petition, announcing an assembly, and knowing the competence of police), much better general knowledge of their civil rights and duties and higher motivation for further actions.

Workshop 11.12.2023

On 11.12.2023, a legal seminar was held in the office of Mladíinfo ČR, attended by a total of 7 participants. In the beginning, there was a mutual introduction and reconciliation of expectations and motivations for participation in the workshop. The participants were mainly students, partly active in student climate movements. Subsequently, the project under which the event was held was introduced, and the participants were introduced to the legal framework in the climate area (UNFCCC, Paris Agreement, EU Green Deal, Czech domestic climate policies, and climate litigation).

During the workshop itself, the focus was on learning the basic legal tools through practical examples in a non-frontal way. In this way, we encourage participants not to perceive the law as an alienated tool only for professionals. On the contrary, we try to get them to touch the different tools themselves so that the stress and uncertainty that legal institutes can cause disappears. We have focused on two areas, which we have internally called “paper activist” and “activist in the streets”, based on the participants’ prior selection. Participants thus shared different experiences together and these were put into an overall context by the trainers. Within the “paper activist” area we discussed, for example, the possibilities of forming associations, requesting information, organizing petitions, writing complaints or legal actions, contact with state offices and courts. In the area of ‘activists in the streets’, the focus is on, for example, organizing and announcing demonstrations, or communicating with the police and knowing their competencies. We’ve tried to use some of those elementary legal instruments in practice, to show the participants how to use them and empower them to do so. Every participant learned practically how to write an information request or an announcement of assembly. At the event, we handed the participants our legal handbook “Law in action”, so they could go into details and have a broader overview of various legal instruments enabling public participation, which they might use in their activities.

During the final sharing circle, all the participants, even the most experienced ones, declared at least one new useful thing learned (i.e. writing an information request or a petition, announcing an assembly, and knowing the competence of police), much better general knowledge of their civil rights and duties and higher motivation for further actions.

Workshop 13.1.2024

On 13.1.2024, the first legal seminar in 2024 was held in the club of local skateboarders of Jilemnice for human rights NGO Jilemnický lidskoprávní spolek, attended by a total of 10 participants. In the beginning, there was a mutual introduction and reconciliation of expectations and motivations for participation in the workshop. Subsequently, the project under which the event was held was introduced and the participants were introduced to the legal framework in the climate area (UNFCCC, Paris Agreement, EU Green Deal, Czech domestic climate policies, and climate litigation).

During the workshop itself, the focus was on learning the basic legal tools through practical examples in a non-frontal way. In this way, we encourage participants not to perceive the law as an alienated tool only for professionals. On the contrary, we try to get them to touch the different tools themselves so that the stress and uncertainty that legal institutes can cause disappear.

We have focused on two areas, which we have internally called “paper activist” and “activist in the streets”, based on the participants’ prior selection. Participants thus shared different experiences together and these were put into an overall context by the trainers. Within the “paper activist” area we discussed, for example, the possibilities of forming associations, requesting information, organizing petitions, writing complaints or legal actions, contact with state offices and courts. In the area of ‘activists in the streets’, the focus is on, for example, organizing and announcing demonstrations, or communicating with the police and knowing their competencies. We’ve tried to use some of those elementary legal instruments in practice, to show the participants how to use them and empower them to do so. Every participant learned practically how to write an information request or an announcement of assembly.

At the event, we handed the participants our legal handbook “Law in action”, so they could go into details and have a broader overview of various legal instruments enabling public participation, which they might use in their activities.

During the final sharing circle, all the participants, even the most experienced ones, declared at least one new useful thing learned (i.e. writing an information request or a petition, announcing an assembly, and knowing the competence of police), much better general knowledge of their civil rights and duties and higher motivation for further actions.

Workshop 27.1.2024

On 27.1.2024, the legal seminar was part of a major conference organized by Brontosaurus to celebrate its 50th birthday. The seminar was attended by a total of 10 participants. In the beginning, there was a mutual introduction and reconciliation of expectations and motivations for participation in the workshop. A specific feature of the seminar was that participants could also register for various other programs of the conference. So we also asked the participants why they chose our legal workshop and what impressions they brought back from other events. Several people from the Slovak Republic participated in the seminar. Together we discussed the legal differences between the two countries and the impact of the current Slovak political situation on civic engagement.

Subsequently, the project under which the event was held was introduced and the participants were introduced to the legal framework in the climate area (UNFCCC, Paris Agreement, EU Green Deal, Czech domestic climate policies, and climate litigation).

During the workshop itself, the focus was on learning the basic legal tools through practical examples in a non-frontal way. In this way, we encourage participants not to perceive the law as an alienated tool only for professionals. On the contrary, we try to get them to touch the different tools themselves so that the stress and uncertainty that legal institutes can cause disappear.

We have focused on two areas, which we have internally called “paper activist” and “activist in the streets”, based on the participants’ prior selection. Participants thus shared different experiences together and these were put into an overall context by the trainers. Within the “paper activist” area we discussed, for example, the possibilities of forming associations, requesting information, organizing petitions, writing complaints or legal actions, contact with state offices and courts. In the area of ‘activists in the streets’, the focus is on, for example, organizing and announcing demonstrations, or communicating with the police and knowing their competencies.

We’ve tried to use some of those elementary legal instruments in practice, to show the participants how to use them and empower them to do so. Every participant learned practically how to write an information request or an announcement of assembly. At the event, we handed the participants our legal handbook “Law in action”, so they could go into details and have a broader overview of various legal instruments enabling public participation, which they might use in their activities.

During the final sharing circle, all the participants, even the most experienced ones, declared at least one new useful thing learned (i.e. writing an information request or a petition, announcing an assembly, and knowing the competence of police), much better general knowledge of their civil rights and duties and higher motivation for further actions.

Workshop 16.3.2024

On 16.3.2024, the legal seminar was part of a major conference organized by ZO ČSOP Veronica in Brno. The seminar was attended by a total of 25 participants. In the beginning, there was a mutual introduction and reconciliation of expectations and motivations for participation in the workshop. As this was our biggest seminar to date, and as the seminar took place in a more acoustically challenging environment, we had to pay more attention to ensure that all participants were truly engaged, understood everything, and had the space to ask questions about anything they didn’t understand. Therefore, for example, when working in smaller groups, we were more active in going to the groups to listen and ask if everything was understood. Subsequently, the project under which the event was held was introduced and the participants were introduced to the legal framework in the climate area (UNFCCC, Paris Agreement, EU Green Deal, Czech domestic climate policies, and climate litigation).

During the workshop itself, the focus was on learning the basic legal tools through practical examples in a non-frontal way. In this way, we encourage participants not to perceive the law as an alienated tool only for professionals. On the contrary, we try to get them to touch the different tools themselves so that the stress and

uncertainty that legal institutes can cause disappear. We have focused on two areas, which we have internally called “paper activist” and “activist in the streets”, based on the participants’ prior selection. Participants thus shared different experiences together and these were put into an overall context by the trainers. Within the “paper activist” area we discussed, for example, the possibilities of forming associations, requesting information, organizing petitions, writing complaints or legal actions, contact with state offices and courts. In the area of ‘activists in the streets’, the focus is on, for example, organizing and announcing demonstrations, or communicating with the police and knowing their competencies. We’ve tried to use some of those elementary legal instruments in practice, to show the participants how to use them and empower them to do so. Every participant learned practically how to write an information request or an announcement of assembly. At the event, we handed the participants our legal handbook “Law in action”, so they could go into details and have a broader overview of various legal instruments enabling public participation, which they might use in their activities.

During the final sharing circle, all the participants declared at least one new useful thing learned (i.e. writing an information request or a petition, announcing an assembly, and knowing the competence of police or how to file a criminal complaint), much better general knowledge of their civil rights and duties and higher motivation for further actions.

Workshop 16.4.2024

On 16.4.2024, the legal seminar was held in Olomouce for the NGO Arnika, z. s. The seminar was attended by a total of 15 participants mainly from Arnika and from a few other climate and environmental NGOs. In the beginning, there was a mutual introduction and reconciliation of expectations and motivations for participation in the workshop. Subsequently, the project under which the event was held was introduced and the participants were introduced to the legal framework in the climate area (UNFCCC, Paris Agreement, EU Green Deal, Czech domestic climate policies, and climate litigation). During the workshop itself, the focus was on learning the basic legal tools through practical examples in a non-frontal way. In this way, we encourage participants not to perceive the law as an alienated tool only for professionals. On the contrary, we try to get them to touch the different tools themselves so that the stress and uncertainty that legal institutes can cause disappears.

We have focused on two areas, which we have internally called “paper activist” and “activist in the streets”, based on the participants’ prior selection. Participants thus shared different experiences together and these were put into an overall context by the trainers. Within the “paper activist” area we discussed, for example, the

possibilities of forming associations, requesting information, organizing petitions, writing complaints or legal actions, contact with state offices and courts. In the area of ‘activists in the streets’, the focus is on, for example, organizing and announcing demonstrations, or communicating with the police and knowing their competencies. We’ve tried to use some of those elementary legal instruments in practice, to show the participants how to use them and empower them to do so. Every participant learned practically how to write an information request or an announcement of assembly.

At the event, we handed the participants our legal handbook “Law in action”, so they could go into details and have a broader overview of various legal instruments enabling public participation, which they might use in their activities.

During the final sharing circle, all the participants, even the most experienced ones, declared at least one new useful thing learned (i.e. writing an information request or a petition, announcing an assembly, and knowing the competence of police), much better general knowledge of their civil rights and duties and higher motivation for further actions.

Workshop 25.4.2024

On 25.4.2024, the legal seminar was held in a Greenpeace office. The seminar was attended by a total of 8 participants, and it lasted for 3 hours. In the beginning, there was a mutual introduction and reconciliation of expectations and motivations for participation in the workshop as we always do. The seminar was held for probably the most experienced audience to date. In many cases, the participants had considerable experience in organizing demonstrations, writing petitions and direct action. That is why we have partly adapted the content of the seminar so that even the most experienced could learn new things, and share their experiences and the less experienced could get clear basic information for which they came to the seminar. During the workshop itself, the focus was on learning the basic legal tools through practical examples in a non-frontal way. In this way, we encourage participants not to perceive the law as an alienated tool only for professionals. On the contrary, we try to get them to touch the different tools themselves so that the stress and uncertainty that legal institutes can cause disappears. We have focused on two areas, which we have internally called “activist in the streets” and “disobedient activist”, based on the participants’ prior selection. Participants thus shared different experiences, and these were put into an overall context by the trainers. in the area of ‘activists in the streets’, The focus is on, for example, organizing and reporting demonstrations, or communicating with the police and with state organs. In the area dedicated to the disobedient activist, we focused on the legal consequences of various actions and protests, on the rights of the individual when contacting the police or staying at the police station, but also on the possibility of filing complaints or criminal charges and lawsuits. We’ve tried to use some of those elementary legal instruments in practice. Every participant learned how to make full use of the freedom of assembly, how to announce a demonstration, and how to communicate with the public bodies in this regard. At the event, we handed the participants our legal handbook “Law in action”, so the could go into details and have a broader overview of various legal instruments enabling public participation, which they might use in their activities. We also set all the findings in the overall climate legal framework (UNFCCC, Paris Agreement, EU Green Deal, Czech domestic climate policies, and climate litigation). During the final sharing circle, all the participants, even the most experienced ones, declared at least one new useful thing learned (i.e. announcing an assembly and knowing the competence of police), much better general knowledge of their civil rights and duties, and higher motivation for further actions.

Workshop 7.5.2024

On 7.5.2024 the legal seminar was organised by Limity jsme my, z.s. in České Budějovice. The seminar was attended by a total of 7 participants. One of the goals of the seminar was also to meet various active people in České Budějovice who would like to associate in the future, meet regularly, and formalize their meetings. There are no very active civic associations in the city yet whose aim is to put pressure on politicians in relation to climate protection. In the beginning, there was a mutual introduction and reconciliation of expectations and motivations for participation in the workshop. The vast majority of the seminar participants did not have much experience with the presented tools. We tried to be very clear and show lots of examples so that they could put the newly introduced tools in a context that was familiar and understood. Subsequently, the project under which the event was held was introduced and the participants were introduced to the legal framework in the climate area (UNFCCC, Paris Agreement, EU Green Deal, Czech domestic climate policies, and climate litigation). During the workshop itself, the focus was on learning the basic legal tools through practical examples in a non-frontal way. In this way, we encourage participants not to perceive the law as an alienated tool only for professionals. On the contrary, we try to get them to touch the different tools themselves so that the stress and uncertainty that legal institutes can cause disappears. We have focused on two areas, which we have internally called “paper activist” and “activist in the streets”, based on the participants’ prior selection. Participants thus shared different experiences together and these were put into an overall context by the trainers. Within the “paper activist” area we discussed, for example, the possibilities of forming associations, requesting information, organizing petitions, writing complaints or legal actions, contact with state offices and courts. In the area of ‘activists in the streets’, the focus is on, for example, organizing and announcing demonstrations, or communicating with the police and knowing their competencies. We’ve tried to use some of those elementary legal instruments in practice, to show the participants how to use them and empower them to do so. Every participant learned practically how to write an information request or an announcement of assembly. At the event, we handed the participants our legal handbook “Law in action”, so they could go into details and have a broader overview of various legal instruments enabling public participation, which they might use in their activities. During the final sharing circle, all the participants, even the most experienced ones, declared at least one new useful thing learned (i.e. how to found an association, write an information request or a petition, announce an assembly, and know the competence of police), much better general knowledge of their civil rights and duties and higher motivation for further actions.

Workshop 27.5.2024

On 27.5.2024 the legal seminar was organised by Tereza, vzdělávací centrum, z.ú. in the center of Prague at the organisation’s headquarters. The seminar was attended by a total of 6 participants. It was specific to the seminar that the participants were experienced lecturers who themselves teach both children and teachers and are very knowledgeable in the field of lecturing and teaching methods. Thus, the seminar stood a significant test with experienced lecturers who often evaluated mainly the methodology and the way the information was delivered. In the beginning, there was a mutual introduction and reconciliation of expectations and motivations for participation in the workshop. The vast majority of the seminar participants did not have much experience with the presented tools. The organisation focuses on educating teachers and children about nature and climate protection and, with the exception of making requests for information, they do not have much experience with legal instruments. We tried to be very clear and show lots of examples so that they could put the newly introduced tools in a context that was familiar and understood. Subsequently, the project under which the event was held was introduced and the participants were introduced to the legal framework in the climate area (UNFCCC, Paris Agreement, EU Green Deal, Czech domestic climate policies and climate litigation).

During the workshop itself, the focus was on learning the basic legal tools through practical examples in a non-frontal way. In this way, we encourage participants not to perceive law as an alienated tool only for professionals. On the contrary, we try to get them to touch the different tools themselves so that the stress and uncertainty that legal institutes can cause disappears.

We have focused on two areas, which we have internally called “paper activist” and “activist in the streets”, based on the participants’ prior selection. Participants thus shared different experiences together and these were put into an overall context by the trainers. Within the “paper activist” area we discussed, for example, the possibilities of forming associations, requesting information, organizing petitions, writing complaints or legal actions, contact with state offices and courts. The area of ‘activists in the streets’, the focus is on, for example, organizing and announcing demonstrations, or communicating with the police and knowing their competencies. We’ve tried to use some of those elementary legal instruments in practice, to show the participants how to use them and empower them to do so. Every participant learned practically how to write an information request or an announcement of assembly. At the event we handed the participants our legal handbook “Law in action”, so they could go into details and have a broader overview of various legal instruments enabling public participation, which they might use in their activities.

During the final sharing circle, all the participants, even the most experienced ones, declared at least one new useful thing learnt (i.e. how to found an association, writing an information request or a petition, announcing an assembly and knowing the competence of police), much better general knowledge of their civil rights and duties and higher motivation for further actions. The participants thanked us very much for organising the workshop and also highlighted the teaching methods and that we managed to get them to work together even within different age groups and share often different experiences.

Workshop 5.6.2024

On 5.6.2024 the last legal seminar was organised by Tady a teď, o.p.s.. in Pilsen. The seminar was attended by a total of 4 participants. It was specific to the seminar that Here and Now is a social service that works with clients of different social and class statuses. As such, participants have a considerable amount of experience in using legal tools on behalf of their clients, and there were frequent connections between these tools and the topic of climate or climate activism. Participants frequently mentioned their experiences and very often asked about the possible use of the tools presented directly in their work. In the beginning, there was a mutual introduction and reconciliation of expectations and motivations for participation in the workshop. Subsequently, the project under which the event was held was introduced and the participants were introduced to the legal framework in the climate area (UNFCCC, Paris Agreement, EU Green Deal, Czech domestic climate policies, and climate litigation).

During the workshop itself, the focus was on learning the basic legal tools through practical examples in a non-frontal way. In this way, we encourage participants not to perceive the law as an alienated tool only for professionals. On the contrary, we try to get them to touch the different tools themselves so that the stress and uncertainty that legal institutes can cause disappears. We have focused on two areas, which we have internally called “paper activist” and “activist in the streets”, based on the participants’ prior selection. Participants often mentioned that in the future they would also like to attend a legal workshop focused on more radical forms of activism and legal support. Participants thus shared different experiences together and these were put into an overall context by the trainers. Within the “paper activist” area we discussed, for example, the possibilities of forming associations, requesting information, organizing petitions, writing complaints or legal actions, contact with state offices and courts. In the area of ‘activists in the streets’, the focus is on, for example, organizing and announcing demonstrations, or communicating with the police and knowing their competencies. We’ve tried to use some of those elementary legal instruments in practice, to show the participants how to use them and empower them to do so. Every participant learned practically how to write an information request or an announcement of assembly. Many of the practical examples we use in the workshop come originally from Pilsen, so the workshop was also a refresher for the participants on several cases that their friends or they themselves have dealt with in the past. At the event, we handed the participants our legal handbook “Law in action”, so they could go into details and have a broader overview of various legal instruments enabling public participation, which they might use in their activities.

During the final sharing circle, all the participants, even the most experienced ones, declared at least one new useful thing learned (i.e. how to found an association, write an information request or a petition, announce an assembly, and know the competence of police), much better general knowledge of their civil rights and duties and higher motivation for further actions.