Organisational Learning & Facilitation
Collaborate for Impact Conference
New Silk Roads offered project management, facilitation, and learning documentation of the "Collaborate for Impact" Conference for Impact Europe in Tbilisi, Georgia. Impact Europe is a network organisation of impact investors, impact funders and financial institutions based in Brussels. The event brought together business support organizations from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, the Middle East, and North Africa and representatives from various EU countries. The conference demonstrated the effectiveness of Impact Europe programmes to current and future donors, partners, investors, and other stakeholders, while facilitating knowledge sharing and meaningful connections within the diverse impact ecosystem.
Hivos Learning Events
Since 2013, we have organised a range of learning events for Hivos program teams and their partners. This included gatherings for partners in Tunis and Djerba, a post-COP27 event in Sinai, Egypt, and a learning event in the Hague in collaboration with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These events brought together a variety of Hivos partners, including climate justice organisations, business support organisations, investors, creative hubs, and universities across Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Our role encompassed event management and logistics, curation of speakers, facilitation and moderations of panels, and documenting key learning outcomes.
Afkar Fellowship
New Silk Roads initiated the Afkar Fellowship for changemakers in North Africa, through which we coached fourteen fellows over a period of one and a half year in leadership, fundraising, communication, filmmaking to increase their impact. The Afkar Fellows encompassed an eclectic cohort, including a visual artist and gallerist from Libya, a media entrepreneur from Egypt, a calligrapher from the Western Sahara, a technologist from Tunisia and an activist for LGBTQI+ rights. This unique project was implemented together with What Took You So Long in Sweden and Wasabi in Tunisia with the financial support of the Swedish Institute.
Philea Peer Learning Journey
The Philanthropy Europe Association (Philea) contracted New Silk Roads to facilitate a two-year peer-learning journey on international cooperation for the Funders International Network for Development (FIND) member community. This initiative includes a series of online deep dives and in-person meetings in Brussels and Lisbon, focusing on emerging trends and practices such as locally-led development, innovative funding instruments, and collaborations with African philanthropy. The New Silk Roads team has curated a lineup of dynamic speakers for these sessions and will also develop an interactive digital knowledge product. The FIND member community is co-chaired by “la Caixa” Foundation and Anglo American Foundation.
UNDP Green Growth and Jobs Accelerator (GGJA)
New Silk Roads is providing fundraising, leadership training, and support with monitoring, evaluation, and learning to Flat6Labs, one of the leading business accelerators in the MENA region. One of our success stories is securing a $3.5 million USD tender from UNDP for the "Green Growth and Jobs Accelerator Program", an entrepreneurship support programme implemented in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, and Algeria. New Silk Roads is developing an e-learning curriculum for green SMEs, including several digital courses on green business development, impact measurement, and access to finance for SMEs.
Futures Labs & Talk Series
Project Management and facilitation of several multi-day “Futures Labs” in Egypt and Tunisia to imagine the future of localized climate adaptation in the MENA region. The themes of the labs were "Imagining Just Food Systems in Tunisia" and "Exploring Avenues for a Regenerative Built Environment in Egypt". Alongside these Labs, we hosted an online 'Futures Talks' lecture series, which featured insightful discussions on future design, sustainable cities, and energy scenarios.