About the site

www.participationforchange.org is a website that gives people working in civil society organisations across Europe the opportunity to connect, share and learn from each other.

The Participation for Change project is funded by the European Commission's "Europe for Citizens Programme" as part of the ENNA network.

This is a user-led site. This means that members are able to create their own profiles, connect with other members, start their own discussions and more.

 

Joining the site

To register as a member of the site you will need to provide your email address and select your own password. Other than your name, other personal details are optional.

Profile questions
Each new member to the site will be invited to answer a few profile questions e.g. job title, organisation etc. Contact information is optional (although recommended as this is a networking site!).

Your page
Profile information is displayed on your own page, which can be viewed by all other members. Your page will also display the groups you belong to, your friends and latest activity.

Your settings
You can access and edit your own settings at any time. This means you can change your profile information (for example, if you change jobs), privacy settings and choose what email notifications you wish to receive.

Your inbox
Each new member also has their own inbox, where they can send and receive messages to other members.

Members

Anyone is free to become a member of the site, although it is targeted at people working in civil society organisations across Europe.

Searching members
The members page lists all members. They can be ordered alphabetically, by most recent or by random. There is a search function where you can search for members by name.

Contacting members
If members have provided their work email address and/or phone number in their profile information you can contact them directly. Alternatively, you can visit their member page and select "send a message", which will then be sent to their inbox. You can also contact them by writing on their comments wall (although note that this is published on their page and can be viewed by all members!)

Inviting friends
You can invite other colleagues and friends to join the website at any time – and we would encourage you to do so. The "invite friends" function is available on your page, as well as on the home page. You can also invite existing members to become your friends by selecting the "add as friend" button on their page.

Groups
We have group pages for our Marketplace and for each of our e-conferences. Each group page displays background information, group members, discussions and a group comments wall.

Group discussions
Group discussions can be used to debate issues, ask advice from other group members or simply share relevant news and information. To start a group discussion simply go the group pages and select the "start a discussion" button. You are then free to add text as well as upload documents.

Each discussion must be given a title. You are also free to add key word "tags" which will enable the discussion to come up in site searches. Each discussion contains admin options which allow you to edit discussion entries, delete discussions or close discussions. All new discussions will be listed on the home page.

Site Feedback
We are going to be continually evaluating - and hopefully improving - the Participation for Change website. You can send us any comments by emailing kim.smouter@enna-europe.org or calling +44 (0)20 7520 2507.