On November 1st 2019, Belgrade Open School (BOS) and the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Republic of Serbia organized a conference One step closer to citizens through dialogue which took place in Palace Serbia.

Do you remember what you did the day you first heard about the coronavirus? It seemed like distant, unrealistic and not very important news for your life. And do you remember what you did on the last day, before the epidemic was declared in Serbia? What did normal life look like before the coronavirus? And what did you do after the virus entered our country?

In the period from April 27 to June 24, we organized five webinars and held a total of 10 sessions within the online training on the project Active Citizens - Better Society: Advocating for Cooperation and Democratic Development in Serbia.

Two and a half years since pollution control legislation under the Energy Community Treaty obliged Western Balkan governments to apply EU norms, a new Bankwatch analysis finds air pollution – primarily sulphur dioxide (SO2) and dust emissions – from coal-fired power plants remains stubbornly high, choking communities across the region and beyond.

Despite the uneven level of development between the Member States, the European Union has undoubtedly become a global leader in the fight against climate change and the prevention of environmental degradation. The central policy initiative which the EU uses in this regard is the "European Green Deal", which was presented by the European Commission in December 2019. This plan is, in fact, a development strategy of the European Union which aims to transform the economies of the Member States in accordance with the principles of sustainable development. However, in the past two months, the pandemic of virus COVID-19 has had a paralyzing effect on the economies of these countries.  This, in turn, has put a great risk on the implementation of the previously set goals, as well as the achievement of new progressive policies, such as the ones concerning climate.

Decision-makers in Serbia are very far from the idea of preparing for a just transition, so civil society will have to play a key role in opening up a national debate.

INNOVA LAB Bitola with collaboration of Inlsh Icla - Institute for Change and leadership Albania and WBAA – Western Balkan Alumni Association, continues with activities in the project  "HEI Student Internship in NGOs - towards a functional bridge across WB (HEIntern<>NGO)" , under  the  WeB4YES program - Western Balkan Civil Society for Youth Employment Support.

How many people who had troubles with breathing this winter do you know? As we try to count all those who have ended up in "pumps", in health centers and hospitals, locked up in their homes in recent months; we had the opportunity to hear that the Government of Serbia adopted the NERP or the National Emission Reduction Plan as a priority measure for reducing air pollution. What is NERP? Why now and why urgently?

  *|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*     Belgrade Open School has published a publication The necessity of change – analysis of civil society organizations’ capacities for advocacy in Serbia. Download PDF (in Serbian)   ABOUT RESEARCH STUDY There is a need to improve the capacities of civil society organizations in Serbia to conduct advocacy activities, but data about which aspects of their work should be improved is limited. Thus, this research study aimed to explore the advocacy activities of civil society organizations (CSOs). Through the research, civil society organizations representatives’ perspectives on the difficulties that they face in their advocacy activities and their needs for training and support were examined in detail. The research consisted of the analysis of public policies related to civil society organizations advocacy activities (desk-analysis), survey of 200 civil society organizations who have had at least one advocacy activity in the past 5 years as well as in-depth interviews with representatives of CSOs. KEY FINDINGS Some of the key findings are as follows: LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR ADVOCACY OF CSOs Representatives of CSOs who participated in the research indicated that CSOs are not recognized by public authorities as agents of change of public policies. Current institutional framework for advocacy activities of CSOs was rated as less favourable compared to the legal framework, although legal framework was also criticized – almost one-third of CSOs disagree with the statement that legal framework enables these activities. HOW CSOs CONDUCT ADVOCACY ACTIVITIES? Activities that are rarely being conducted by CSOs include: establishing new coalitions and networks to include partners in joint advocacy activities, establishing cooperation with the business sector, planning a budget for communication activities, creating written communication plans and plans for monitoring and evaluation. CSOs reported that they frequently involve citizens in setting advocacy goals and in advocacy activities, but rarely involve them in monitoring and evaluation of their advocacy efforts. CSOs indicated that they often raise funds for advocacy activities via projects. Other types of fundraising are rarely being applied. NEED FOR TRAINING Almost two-thirds of the organizations have participated in training in advocacy. In total, 123 participating organizations stated that they have a need for training in at least one area of public advocacy. Similar number of organizations stated that they need training in communication activities, monitoring and evaluation and setting advocacy goals, while smaller number of organizations indicated that they need training in establishing partnerships and coalitions.   Download PDF (in Serbian) MORE INFORMATION Research study has been conducted within the project "Civil Society Advocates: Through Partnership Towards Democratic Development". The project is implemented by Belgrade Open School in partnership with the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence (BFPE) and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). More information is available  on the website Javno zagovaranje (www.javnozagovaranje.bos.rs).    

The business sector and civil society need to cooperate in monitoring and supporting reforms in the European integration process and working towards the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. That was the key message of the event organized by Belgrade Open School with the support of the Kingdom of Sweden.