Despite language and other differences, the most underdeveloped rural border areas of Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine share some similar characteristics, such as being at a considerable distance from the country's capital, ethnic diversity and a common cultural heritage. 

They also face similar challenges such as poor infrastructure, increasing poverty, and social exclusion, particularly among vulnerable groups, including refugees, Roma people, the elderly or people with disabilities. CSOs operating in remote rural areas of the Carpathian region do not possess sufficient assets (funding, information, tools for development, etc.) to carry out effective interventions for such complex and cross-cutting problems.

The main objectives of the CCSP are to strengthen collaboration among CSOs in rural areas and between these and other public and private institutions, and enable them to exchange experience, knowledge and good practices on inclusive and sustainable rural development in mountain areas, including social innovation initiatives that can address the challenges they face in a more efficient way.

The first CCSP meeting took place in Kosice, Slovakia, in 2018. Subsequently, local workshops were organised in all countries involved in the hub to engage CSOs, identify their needs and create partnerships. These local workshops are called local “hublets” and bring together CSOs in the rural area of each of the countries. For each country, there is a partner organisation that acts as the country support organisation for the local networks and which is, at the same time, the main representative of that country in the interregional hub. 

After a needs assessment, the platform organised a series of capacity-building trainings for its members. 

The mobilisation of public funding by the hub has been another important activity. CSOs in this area do not have the capacity to apply for and manage funds to help finance their activities. Thus, the hub has helped secure funding through various sources (INTERREG, ERDF, Robert Bosch Stiftung, Open Society Foundation, etc.) and has organised a micro-grant scheme for local hub members through a series of calls for proposals. 

In 2020, the hub published its good practice brochure as a result of the knowledge transfer conducted among partners of the region. 

The success of the CCSP lies in the fact that it was created with and for rural CSOs that want to respond to the needs of communities in the region. The initiative started small and grew step by step with the continuous involvement of CSOs and other stakeholders to ensure ownership of the process. 

It faced various crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted the hub's physical meetings, and the war in Ukraine, which required the rapid mobilisation of humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees arriving in the Carpathians. 

Another major challenge the platform is responding to is the difficulty of accessing funding to support rural CSOs. Given the expertise required to apply for funds and the temporary nature of the funding (up to two years), the hub has tried to diversify funding sources from year to year in order to overcome the unpredictability of having sufficient resources. 

The initiative recognises the added value of cross-border cooperation in responding to common challenges and finding common solutions.