Event > award
About the Awards
The Good Lobby Awards is an annual celebration of projects, initiatives and campaigns led by citizens committed to lobby for change.
The Good Lobby Awards recognize the most successful citizen-driven projects and advocacy collaborations between citizens – be they professionals or volunteers – companies, civil society organizations, political representatives, academics and/or foundations.
We bring together individuals from different walks of life and organizations that have been successfully championing for social change.
Thank you for all the nominations you have submitted!
Hear our director, Alberto Alemanno, explain what The Good Lobby Awards mean for us and for society as a whole:
Who decides?
Our selected jury of activists, lawyers and NGOs representatives will vote for the best projects based on the following criteria:
- Innovative and impactful engagement with local, national and EU authorities;
AND/OR
- Creative collaboration and skill-sharing across society, be it with one or more of the following: the private sector, civil society, academia, political movements, and/or philanthropy;
- Promotion of accountable and transparent policy-making at local, national and EU level;
AND/OR
- Outstanding commitment and dedication to the European public interest.
The jury includes members of European civil society, philanthropists, academics, professionals and personalities from the world of arts and culture. Awards will be given during the ceremony that will take place on the 13th of December 2019 in Brussels.
Rewarding the most impactful action by an individual citizen in their community, be it at local, national or EU level.
Winners
Fairosene European Citizens’ Initiative
Students Timothée Galvaire, Tassos Papachristou, Nikos Theodosiadis and Sandro Esposito organised Fairosene European Citizens’ Initiative. Through this ECI, they asked the European Commission to make aviation more sustainable by taxing airlines’ fuel and investing the tax revenues in green mobility.
Nominees
Za Zlarin bez plastike – Plastic-free Zlarin
Ana Robb, Ivana Kordic and Natasa Kandijas organised Za Zlarin bez plastike – Plastic-free Zlarin – a campaign to advocate for new legislation to make Zlarin the first single-use plastic-free island in Croatia.
Never Give Up
NEVER GIVE UP is a programme which comprises of a group of citizen experts who work in centres of excellence in Italy and abroad to prevent, cure and research nutritional and eating disorders.
Reina Becker
Reina Becker advocated for equal taxation for single-parent families, who now pay higher taxes in comparison to married couples.
Rewarding the most impactful pro bono project supported by a law firm, in-house counsel or individual lawyers, be it at local, national or EU level.
Winners
De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and Van Diepen Van der Kroef
Law firms, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and Van Diepen Van der Kroef, provided pro bono assistance and began a litigation case to help Stichting Mother of Srebrenica an activist and lobbying group, to demonstrate that the Dutchbat – Dutch battalion under the command of the United Nations – failed to protect the Muslim population within the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.
Nominees
Ashurst – Equal Rights Trust Serbia Strategic Litigation
Ashurst – Equal Rights Trust Serbia Strategic Litigation project established a programme to increase the number of Serbian lawyers capable of bringing strategic litigation on matters of equality and non-discrimination.
Dechert LLP
The international law firm Dechert LLP has supported the US-based NGO Freedom Now’s efforts to eliminate politically motivated harassment and detention by representing prisoners of conscience on a pro bono basis in order to advocate for their release.
Rewarding the most impactful campaign or action led by an NGO in the European space.
Winners
The European Trade Union Confederation
The European Trade Union Confederation, ETUC, advocated for new legislation and campaigned to reform the European Pillar of Social Rights in order to improve working people’s wellbeing.
Nominees
International campaign for a United Nations parliamentary assembly
UNPA Campaign advocated for new legislation and organised a campaign to propose the establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly.
GOEL – Gruppo Cooperativo (Cooperative Group)
GOEL – Gruppo Cooperativo (Cooperative Group) is a non-profit community movement in Southern Italy challenging the mafia by building a legitimate economy based on sustainable and ethically run social enterprises.
Rewarding the civic commitment of one or more academics in the European space.
Winners
Nora Markard
Professor Nora Markard – University of Hamburg – provided pro bono assistance to establish a sustainable structure for successful strategic litigation in the area of human and civil rights in Germany and Europe.
Nominees
Thomas Perroud
Thomas Perroud – Université Panthéon-Assas – has been successfully advocating through his academic scholarships for the French Constitutional Council to publish the briefs it receives from lobbyists and civil society so as to ensure the transparency and publicity of its judicial-making process.
Sotiris Petropoulos and Asteris Huliaras
Professors Sotiris Petropoulos and Asteris Huliaras – University of Peloponnese – created a support programme for civil society to “infuse expert knowledge to NPOs in order to enhance the positive social impact of their activities within society”.
Rewarding the civic commitment of one or more professionals who actively supported citizen-driven initiatives and other collaborations by offering their pro bono expertise.
Winners
Cathy La Torre
Cathy La Torre, a lawyer in Bologna and LGBTQ+ activist, together with a group of philosophers, communicators, forensic investigators and computer scientists, organised the Odiare ti costa, a campaign to prosecute cyberbullies and trolls who insult and threaten people online.
Nominees
A.T. Kearney
A.T. Kearney provided pro bono assistance to support the actions of Agence du Don en Nature (ADN). ADN advocated to adopt new legislation banning the destruction of unsold non-food products so as to decrease its environmental impact.
Pro Bono Lab
Pro Bono Lab established “Probono Booster” programme and helped NGOs and projects to acquire the various skills needed to scale up. They are doing so by organising workshops with the help of many different pro bono volunteers from the community of Pro Bono Lab and the community of partners.
Rewarding the commitment of one or more foundations to support nonprofit advocacy across Europe.
Winners
“Democracy Needs Imagination”
European Cultural Foundation, through their “Democracy Needs Imagination” project, provided financial support to civil society organisations and individuals to raise awareness about the EU elections and mobilise citizens to vote.
Nominees
#VertrauenMachtWirkung (#TrustCreatesImpact)
The German Foundation Dreilinden together with Wider Sense and Phineo launched #Vertrauen Macht Wirkung (#Trust Creates Impact) campaign to open a discussion on how to change the philanthropic sector so that it facilitates participation, acts transparently and fosters innovation.
Rewarding joint public interest work carried out by several professionals and NGO(s), grassroots, movement(s), or citizens in the European space.
Winners
Right to Repair Europe
A coalition of NGOs, including ECOS, European Environmental Bureau – EEB, iFixit and others, advocated for new EU legislation and organised a Right to Repair Europe campaign to spur responsible manufacturing and innovation along the supply chain.
Nominees
The Beese Project
The Beese Project – Pro Bono Lab, Work for Social, TimeHeroes and others – aims to improve the employability of Higher Education students. They are doing so by supporting the students to acquire relevant and high-quality skills and by assisting them to gain practical experience in their field under the guidance of professional experts from companies.
Schools Against Borders for Children
Schools Against Borders for Children project organised a campaign to stop the UK government collecting nationality, country of birth, first language and ethnicity data of 8.2 million children for immigration enforcement purposes without informing schools and parents.
Rewarding the commitment of one or more political representatives and/or political movement to new forms of engagement, collaboration and co-creation with the electorate via citizen lobbying participation.
Winners
Agora.Brussels
Agora.Brussels’ objective was to set up and institutionalise a Citizens’ Assembly. They advocated for the Assembly to become an officially and legally recognised institution, with legislative power.
Nominees
The European Parliament Intergroup on “Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development”
The European Parliament Intergroup on “Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development” was established to ensure human well-being, protection of nature and socio-economic prosperity.
Volt Europa
Volt Europa, a pan-European political movement, ran in the European elections in 2019 and supported the idea of a federated Europe, with a strong European Parliament in which the citizens become the very centre of European democracy.
Rewarding the media outlet that has contributed the most to cover the stories of citizens and organisations making social change happen across the continent, be it through investigative journalism, podcasts, citizen journalism or other media.
Winners
EU SCREAM
EU Scream is a Brussels-based non-profit and non-partisan politics podcast with a mission to uphold democratic and progressive values and further develop a European public space. EU Scream produces interviews, commentary and stories with professional journalists, senior policymakers and civil society activists
Nominees
Lie Detectors
Lie Detectors established a programme to build resilience among young people against online disinformation and rebuild trust in quality journalism. They also promoted educational approaches to deal with digital information and disinformation flows.
VoxEurop
VoxEurop is a European news and debate website which contributes to democracy in Europe and fosters the emergence of the European public space. They focus on citizens involvement by means of discussion, article proposals, and news translation, offering their readers a tool for transnational engagement.