CANVAS

The Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS) is a non-profit, non-governmental, educational institution focused on the use of nonviolent conflict. It was founded in 2004 by Srđa Popović and the CEO of Orion Telecom, Slobodan Đinović. Both were former members of the Serbian youth resistance movement, Otpor!, which supported the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević in October 2000. Drawing upon the Serbian experience, CANVAS seeks to educate pro-democracy activists around the world in what it regards as the universal principles for success in nonviolent struggle.

Established in Belgrade, CANVAS has worked with pro-democracy activists from more than 50 countries, including Iran, Zimbabwe, Burma, Venezuela, Ukraine, Georgia, Palestine, Western Sahara, West Papua, Eritrea, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Tonga and, recently, Tunisia and Egypt.


CANVAS’ training and methodology has been successfully applied by groups in Georgia (2003), Ukraine (2004), Lebanon (2005), The Maldives (2008) and Egypt (2011). It works only in response to requests for assistance.

Maidan?

In his January article “US NGO uncovered in Ukraine protests”, historian and geopolitical analyst F. William Engdahl presented images of identical pamphlets, translated into arabic and Ukrainian.

Various organisations and individuals, including the governments of Belarus and Iran, as well as former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, have accused CANVAS of being a “revolution-exporter”. CANVAS denies this, emphasizing its role as educator and empowerer of peaceful methods.

CANVAS leaders often stress that "in order to be successful, nonviolent movements must avoid taking any advice from foreigners, must be home-grown" and that "nonviolent revolutions cannot be exported-or imported".

The use of Otpor!'s symbol of the clenched fist by many grassroots movements around the world has encouraged rumors that they are directly affiliated with CANVAS. The symbol, however, is not patented and CANVAS has, in fact, welcomed the reuse of the symbol by resistance movements in any nonviolent struggle, including those with whom the organization has had no direct contact. Notably, the symbol has been utilized by activists in such countries as Russia, Venezuela, Serbia, Kenya, and Egypt.

Utilized - visiškai ne utilizuotas.

CANVAS is a non-profit institution which relies solely on private funding; there is no charge for workshops and revolutionary know-how can be downloaded for free on the Internet. CANVAS’ biggest individual funder is its founding member and media mogul, Slobodan Djinovic. Djinovic privately funds about half of CANVAS’ operating costs. CANVAS does not accept funding from individual governments.

Slobodan Đinović, CEO of Orion Telecom, was born in 1975. in Zagreb. Apart from Mathematical Gymnasium and Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Belgrade,he holds degree (MA) from Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University (Boston, USA). Slobodan was one of the student leaders who initiated protests in 1996/1997 and was one of the founders of Resistance movement in 1998.

He is co-author of books ''Non-violent struggle,50 crucial points'' and ''Non-violent struggle – Curriculum for SNVC” published in 2006/2007 in Serbia and the United States. Co-author of the graduate course – ''Strategies and methods of non-violent social change'' at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade. Lecturer and visiting scholar at Colorado College, Grinnell and Fletcher School.

He is one of the pioneers of wireless Internet in Serbia and founder of Media Works (in 2000), which became one of the leading alternative Internet Service Providers in Serbia. Media Works built first WiMax network and launched related services in late 2004. In 2010 Media Works merged with two other large ISPs Sezampro and Neobee under new brand known as Orion Telecom which became the second national fixed phone operator in Serbia.

Additionally, Slobodan is chairing the board of public company “Ada Ciganlija”. 

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He was engaged as a consultant on various projects with World Bank, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Justice and National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia. During his professional career, he has repeatedly participated in numerous humanitarian and human rights activities. Slobodan is married,has a daughter and lives in Belgrade.