All across Europe (and particularly in Central and Eastern Europe) there is a mounting discontent of the citizens against perceived inefficient and corrupt public authorities that add a further burden to the long and difficult economic crisis. The session will discuss to what degree civil society organizations have been successful in their role of staunch advocates for transparency, good governance and public integrity and which are the best ways and tools that deliver results.

Speakers:

Zuzana Wienk, Executive Director of the Fair Play Alliance (SK)

Zuzana Wienk is a program director of Fair-Play Alliance, a leading Slovak watchdog NGO. Fair-Play Alliance uses techniques like investigative analytical journalism to disclose cases of illicit practices in politics and state administration. It is also known for using modern IT tools to increase transparency, and has received international prizes for its web projects. Zuzana Wienk graduated from the Commenius University in Bratislava with a major in journalism. Before founding the Fair-Play Alliance, she worked as a reporter and columnist and recently served as a member of the Press Board, a self-regulatory body for ethics in print media. She is among the most quoted Slovak political analysts.

Laura Ştefan, Anti-corruption expert (RO)

Laura Ștefan is the Law and Anticorruption Coordinator for Expert Forum. She has over 10 years of professional experience combining public sector and private sector practice. Laura Ștefan also acts as an international expert in the areas of judicial reform, anticorruption and money laundering for the European Commission, UNDP, OECD and other international organizations. In 2011 she was appointed by the European Commission as one of the 17 members of the Expert Group on Corruption. Between 2005 and 2007 she served as Director in the Romanian Ministry of Justice, being responsible for the anticorruption policy. She drafted and advocated for the adoption of key anticorruption legislation, designed awareness programs and worked on reforming of the Public Prosecutors Office.

Nele Leosk, Program Director of the e-Governance Academy (EE)

 Nele Leosk is a PhD researcher in political science at the European University Institute (EUI). She is a Fulbright-Schuman fellow at the National Center for Digital Government at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Governance Lab at New York University. Her research interests include: governance and democracy innovation, e-governance, e-democracy and e-participation. Before her PhD research, she was a Program Director at e-Governance Academy (eGA), advising public sector leaders on public sector modernization in more than 30 countries in Europe, Western Asia and in Africa. 

Grzegorz Makowski, Director of the Anticorruption Programme at the Stefan Batory Foundation (PL) 

Grzegorz Makowski is the director of the Public Integrity Program of the Stefan Batory Foundation. He holds a PhD in Sociology. Since 2002 he cooperates with Collegium Civitas (a non-public university established by the Polish Academy of Sciences) as a lecturer and assistant professor. In the past he worked, inter alia, as the field research specialist in SMG/KRC A Millward Brown Company, assistant professor in the Institute of Applied Social Sciences, at Warsaw University and program director at the Institute of Public Affairs, a leading Polish non-governmental think-tank.

Moderator:

Cristian Ghinea, Director of the Romanian Center for European Policies (RO) 

 After eight years of writing for the Romanian media, Cristian Ghinea went abroad in 2007 – 2008 to study EU Governance at the London School of Economics. He was previously involved in civic projects with major Romanian NGOs and founded the Romanian Center for European Policies (CRPE) in 2009. The Center is the main EU-dedicated think tank in Romania and it covers key policy areas for the country`s role within the EU: anticorruption, rural development, Eastern Partnership. CRPE is member of the Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA). CRPE has a local branch in Chişinău, Republic of Moldova.