Southern Africa’s civic actors unite to reimagine the future of civic space

The Southern Africa Trust will this week bring together 60 civic actors from nine Southern African countries for DARIRO 1.0, the inaugural Civic Futures Roundtable, marking a pivotal moment for regional collaboration on the future of civic space.

Over two intensive days in Pretoria, November 19-20, youth activists, artivists, human rights defenders, feminist defenders, and climate and economic justice advocates will engage in deep reflection and strategic co-creation, responding to the region’s increasingly complex and contested civic environment.

The convening forms part of the Southern Africa Trust’s ongoing work to strengthen the voice and agency of poor and marginalised communities in policy processes across Southern Africa.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the Trust continues to champion pro-poor regional development and amplify the perspectives of those often left out of formal decision-making structures.

DARIRO, the Civic Futures Roundtable Series, is a new strategic learning and capacity-sharing platform developed to equip civic actors with foresight tools, collaborative capabilities, and shared values that can sustain civic work in an era of political, social, economic, and technological disruption.

Rooted in intersectional feminist principles, the inaugural roundtable will provide a space for participants to exchange knowledge across borders, map current civic space challenges and opportunities, and explore forward-looking strategies.

Scenario skills labs, focusing on climate change, artificial intelligence, and intersectional feminist analysis, will enable actors to test responses to possible futures and imagine new forms of organising.

Rachel Gondo, Special Projects Coordinator at the Southern Africa Trust, emphasised the transformative ambition of the gathering. “If we are to build a civic ecosystem that not only survives repression but re-imagines freedom, we must redistribute both power and care,” Gondo said.

DARIRO 1.0 is the beginning of a broader regional journey to co-create a Southern Africa Civic Futures Learning Agenda fully owned by civic actors themselves.

The Agenda builds on insights shared during a webinar held on November 12 this year, where the Trust presented findings from extensive scoping and consultation work that illuminated the realities of diverse civic formations across the region.

Gondo explained the vision guiding the Agenda: “We are reimagining civic space as a living, caring ecosystem anchored in shared values: Justice, Solidarity, Autonomy, Care, and Flexible resourcing.”

The Learning Agenda aims to centre grassroots movements, particularly youth-led and informal formations that have long been excluded from policy-shaping processes. It seeks to strengthen coordination among civic ecosystem actors, elevate regional solidarity, and advance narrative power that reflects the aspirations of communities across Southern Africa.

“The agenda aims to centre grassroots voices and youth movements systematically excluded from decision-making processes in proactively shaping regional civic engagement strategies and strengthening agile coordination amongst civic ecosystem actors,” Gondo added.

The Southern Africa Trust’s broader vision, aligned with its SERITI strategy, imagines a civic ecosystem in which informal civic formations are recognised and resourced; civic actors actively co-shape governance and narratives across the Southern African Development Community (SADC); and civic organising becomes a catalyst for justice, hope, and collective imagination.

Running alongside DARIRO 1.0, the Trust is also hosting a youth-oriented climate discussion contributing to ongoing COP engagements, and participating in G20 Summit sessions taking place this week.

These parallel efforts reflect the Trust’s commitment to ensuring that the perspectives of Southern Africa’s civic actors are represented in globally significant policy arenas.

Staff Reporter

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