The sessions of the last day of the Move.Link.Engage conference held on September 23rd, opened discussions on the topics of youth employability development and local sustainable development in terms of just energy transition in coal-reliant communities.

The sixth annual regional conference Move.Link.Engage started today in Belgrade under the title Development for Real: Partnership, Solidarity, and Responsibility in the Post-COVID 19 era. The focus of this year's discussion is the European Union's response to the pandemic, presentation of the key features of the EU's recovery plan and exploring the impact of recent developments on the EU perspective of the Western Balkans.

What is the role of the Western Balkans countries in the implementation of the new development policy of the European Union, how did the pandemic affect the process of European integration and whether the EU response to the current crisis was adequate and timely - were questions on which participants of Move.Link.Engage conference gave answers.

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.

The project team "Active Citizens: Better Society: Advocating for Cooperation and Democratic Development" from April 27, 2020 conducts a series of online trainings with the aim of strengthening the capacity of project and program partners in the field of public advocacy.

The project team made sure that the planned activities on the project were implemented at the scheduled time. From April 27 to June 24, 2020, online training will be organized consisting of a series of webinars as part of the CSOs' support package, which received support this year to implement their advocacy initiatives - to project and program partners.

Approved projects will be implemented between April 1 and October 31, 2020.

“Advocacy is a strategic process, not an ad hoc activity” is a sentence that could often be heard in training where lecturers and project partners discussed the importance of long-term planning for this process, as well as the importance of connecting the civil sector, citizens, decision-makers and media.

Approved projects will be implemented between March 1 and October 31, 2020.

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.

Belgrade Open School has published a publication The necessity of change – analysis of civil society organizations’ capacities for advocacy in Serbia.

On Friday, 17 January, an Info Session on the Call for Proposals under the Program for Support to Civil Society for Public Advocacy, launched by the Belgrade Open School (BOS) in partnership with the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence (BFPE) and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN Serbia), was held in front of more than 40 representatives and a representative of civil society organizations.

Belgrade Open School invites interested CSOs to an Info session on Friday, January 17th in Belgrade, at which attendees will be able to inform about the Call for Proposals under the Civil Society Support Program for Public Advocacy.

Belgrade Open School (BOS) in partnership with the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence (BFPE) and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN Serbia) announces Call for Proposals under the Civil Society Support Program for Public Advocacy.

Belgrade Open School implemented the project "Civil Society as a Force for Change in Serbia’s EU Accession Process" (CS4EU), in the past three years, from 2016 to 2019. During this period, 35 civil society and media organizations were supported and 49 projects were implemented. Through our activities, we were able to significantly contribute to the European integration process and democratic development of Serbia, by strengthening the role of civil society while constantly encouraging citizen involvement in decision-making processes and upholding the principles of the rule of law and human and minority rights. And in order to be able to continue to implement this example of good practice, Sweden has decided to support Belgrade Open School for the second phase of this project, over the next two years. In the second phase of the project, civil society and media continue to be recognized as drivers of change and key players in democratic development in Serbia. They are able to bring the European integration process closer to the citizens, to explain the importance of social changes and contribute to citizen involvement in decision-making processes, and therefore continue to be key beneficiaries of the CS4EU program. The fourth year of the CS4EU programme began with the initial workshop, held from 22-24. December in Sabac, for the new 11 programme partners. Their areas of interest and supported projects under the CS4EU programme can be divided into three clusters: 1) Rule of law, human rights, transparency, and good governance; 2) Freedom of media and reporting about the EU; 2) Youth policy and improving the position of youth.   You can view the list of new programme partners by clicking on this LINK. At the workshop, the partners had the opportunity to get to know each other, as well as the newly set goals of the CS4EU programme. Specific objectives of the CS4EU program are: To enhance the role of civil society in improving policy framework within the decision-making processes by representing communities’ interests. To increase quality of information related to EU accession process and democratic reforms in Serbia. To establish and improve the connections between civil society organizations and private sector within their joint participation in the EU accession process and development framework. The third objective presents  a new component of the CS4EU programme which aims to bridge the gap between civil society organizations and the business sector in order to advance understanding of the role of the two sectors in Serbia's EU accession process and to establish mutual cooperation, which would contribute to Serbia's EU accession process overall. The participants at the initial workshop were also presented with the desk research conducted by Belgrade Open School - "The role of the civil and business sector in Serbia's EU accession process and opportunities for cooperation". Photos from the workshop can be viewed here.  

Belgrade Open School (BOS) announces the List of Approved Project Proposals under the Programme of Support to Civil Society and Media in the Area of European Integration (Programme) implemented by BOS with the support of Sweden, as part of the second phase of the project "Civil Society as a Force for Change in Serbia’s EU Accession Process" (CS4EU). Belgrade Open School congratulates civil society organizations and the media whose project proposals have been approved and expresses gratitude to all applicants who have recognized the importance of the Programme and submitted their project proposals. Approved projects will start with implementation on December 1, 2019. The following is a list of approved project proposals sorted by reference number: List of approved project proposals for programme support Project reference number Name of the organization / media Project name 318 Uzice Child Rights Centre “Monitoring of Implementation of Child Rights in the Process of Serbia’s EU accession” 319 National Youth Council of Serbia (KOMS) “The Voice of the Youth in Democratic Processes” 322 NGO Women’s Forum Prijepolje – TV Forum   “Informed and active citizens – A step closer to the EU” 324 Association of Public Prosecutors and Deputy Public Prosecutors of Serbia   “Support for the system of checks and balances and strengthening the independence of public prosecution” 325 Mental Disability Rights Initiative MDRI-S   “European integration and the rights of citizens with mental disability  - EUQUALITY” 326 Human Rights committee Valjevo “Alternative sanctions in Serbia through the local communities on the road to the EU” 327 Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia “Empowered journalists = informed citizens”  328 Centre for Investigative Journalism “Institutional support for the work of Centre for Investigative Journalism Serbia” 329 EcoNomic Expert Community Association (ENECA) “Participation of the sector of micro, small, medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs in public policies as a precondition for creation of fruitful business environment in Serbia” 333 Crime and Corruption Reporting Network (KRIK) “Reveal and Heal: Investigative Journalism as a Cure for Corruption in Judiciary” 334 European Western Balkans “Challenges of integration: Reporting on Serbia's accession process to the EU”    

On November 21, 2019 the Belgrade Open School (BOS), with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), presented awards for the best change makers in Serbian civic advocacy over the past year. The awards presented as part of the Annual Conference on Strategic Advocacy in Civic Engagement.

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.

Within the project project "Active Citizens - Better Society: Advocacy for Cooperation and Democratic Development", the last training of this year's support cycle was held.

On September 6, 2019, Belgrade Open School organised a Grant Award Ceremony for 18 small scale civil society organisations from the Western Balkans. CSOs have been awarded with the financial support from European Union.