In January 2011, the Office of the EU Representative to the West Bank, Gaza Strip and UNRWA launched a mapping study on civil society organisations (CSOs) in Palestine1. The study was finalised in May 2011. In October 2014 a second study aimed at updating and widening the mapping study of 2011 was launched with the support of the EU’s Civil Society Facility South programme. The research work was finalised in December 2014. Its main findings are outlined in this report. The two studies have been carried out within the framework of the EU policies for supporting civil society in partner countries. Such policies, particularly after the “Arab Spring” in 2011, have been increasingly focused on supporting the engagement of civil society organisations in policy dialogue and in governance, not merely as partners in project and programme implementation, but as partners in policy making and management of public resources; thus recognising both the legitimacy and the capacity of CSOs to play an autonomous and active role in partnership with public institutions and other actors. The study’s theoretical framework is based on a set of concepts and analytical tools aiming at: identifying the main actors involved in civil society development, analysing the dynamics and processes in which CSOs are involved and singling out the main capacity building and institutional development needs of CSOs. The study focused not only on Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), but on a wider and multifaceted universe of organisations that can be analysed through four main organisational levels: the grassroots organisations and Community Based Organisations (CBOs) (first level), NGOs and other intermediary organisations (second level), and then the local, thematic and national platforms (third and fourth levels). From the methodological perspective, the mapping is characterised by some specific main features, including: a participatory approach; the integration of both quantitative and qualitative information; the integration of “factual elements” (processes, situations, resources, actions, etc.) and “cognitive elements” (such as the representations of reality, the objectives and goals of stakeholders, their expectations, etc.), and finally the capitalisation of existing knowledge and information. A variety of information sources have been used, including documentary sources, consultation activities such as individual interviews, focus group meetings and workshops, and questionnaire – based surveys.