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A vibrant and protected civic space is an essential part of a healthy democracy - but it's under attack.

16 Friends of the Earth member organisations have told us they are facing restrictions, intimidation, harassment and attacks - what we collectively call 'shrinking space'.

In this episode of our podcast we hear how shrinking space for civil society is affecting our members in Austria and in Cyprus, what the causes are - and importunatly how to respond.

"The push is quite clear - they want to delegitimise us, then they want to exclude us from participation. We have to resist - we have to show what the values are of a living democracy and we have to stand up." - Reinhard Uhrig, Friends of the Earth Autria / Global 2000

"You need more effort, more struggle and more strength when you are under day-to-day attack." - Natasa Ioannou, Friends of the Earth Cyprus