The Belgrade Open School and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched five-year "Together for the Environment" project to improve environmental protection and biodiversity in Serbia. The project was opened at a conference that gathered more than 70 representative from different social sectors - public, civic and business with the aim of developing cooperation.

The Working Group for Internships continued its work in 2023 in order to implement and complete the process of passing the Law on internships started in 2021. The meeting was attended by about twenty representatives of state administration bodies, the National Employment Service, trade unions and civil society organizations. Members of the working group raised issues that have been discussed before.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection, in cooperation with partners, has started the process of developing an Environmental Protection Strategy with an Action Plan within the EU project for the Green Agenda in Serbia. In order to make the process more transparent and with the desire to involve a wider range of organizations in the process of drafting the Strategy, on March 9, 2023, the first consultative meeting was held in Belgrade in order to give representatives of civil society organizati

The Belgrade Open School, as part of the "Virtual Practices for an Inclusive Society" project, organized an initial meeting of partners. At the two-day meeting representatives of partner organizations that will participate in the implementation of the project were present: Association XANO Channel from Spain, Cultural Society Pixel from Italy, National Youth Council of Macedonia, Junior Achievement (Belgium) and Youth Achievements in Serbia.

To contribute to the development of social entrepreneurship, and to present its benefits as a potential for providing support to young people in the NEET situation, the Belgrade Open School implements the E4NEETs project (Strengthening support structures for young people in the NEET situation in the field of entrepreneurship).

For years now, the media scene in Serbia seems irreparable: fake news has not been rare for a long time, investigative journalists suffer enormous pressure, attacks on journalists are becoming more frequent, as well as impunity for attackers, while the media is increasingly polarized. And relevant reports testify to the unfavorable state of the media and media freedoms in our country.

We devoted the issue of the January newsletter to recapitulating the successes and failures that Serbia has made during the year 2022.

The Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) is a key document that should set the goals of the national energy and climate policy, provide a framework for the energy transition process and be an instrument for reaching the long-term goals of the EU energy and climate policy.

The interests of young people change from generation to generation. Compared to other age groups, young people consume different content and prefer modern forms of communication. In order to reach them, convey a message to them and try to exert a certain influence, we need to speak the same language, communicate through the same channels and offer them content tailored to them.

The topic of the December issue of our newsletter deals with the violation of human rights during the organization of the World Cup in Qatar, which we wrote about in the text World Cup 2022 - About football and human lives.

Why do we collaborate? For many years, the Belgrade Open School team has been continuously working on strengthening the capacities of the civil sector, and its professionalization, and establishing it as an equal actor standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the public and private sectors.

In Serbia, the Low Carbon Development Strategy, more than two years after the public discussion, was not adopted, while the Draft of the National Energy and Climate Plan does not envisage measures that would make our country carbon neutral by 2050.

In the statement of the Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) published on Tuesday, November 22, it is stated that the air in the previous days, except in Valjevo, was of good quality and appeals to citizens to contribute to the improvement of air quality by choosing environmentally friendly energy sources. Belgrade Open School considers this kind of appeal unacceptable because it represents the transfer of responsibility for air pollution from decision makers to citizens.

The Minister of Environmental Protection, Irena Vujović, stated that investment in environmental protection will remain one of the priorities in the coming period and added that in the previous two years, the most was done for cleaner air in Serbia. On the other hand, the rebalancing of the budget for 2022 reduced the total budget of the Ministry of Environmental Protection by 1.29 billion dinars.

The energy crisis and the heating season draw out the important questions on issues that require continuous, not seasonal, attention of citizens - the danger of fossil fuels and, in connection with that, finding renewable and long-term solutions. The imperative to abandon fossil fuels primarily lies in the fact that they pollute the environment, cause climate change and have limited supplies, so the issue of availability of these energy sources and dependence on energy imports from other countri

Partnership. Cooperation. Dialogue. How to improve existing mechanisms for involving civil society organizations in decision-making processes? How to actively involve citizens in the challenges that concern them? What are the challenges? What is our practice and what view of dialogue and partnership do representatives of public authorities, the academic community, civil society organizations, and citizens have? To provide answers to key questions related to socially current topics in Serbia, as

New edition of the newsletter Let's talk about negotiations is avaliable.

Are we getting further away or getting closer to the EU? Are we taking a step forward, but two steps back when it comes to Chapter 27 - the area of environmental protection and climate change? Our country's progress in Chapter 27 was discussed at the presentation of the Shadow Report for Chapter 27: One step forward, two steps back, organized by the Coalition 27.

According to last year's data from the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 3 million citizens of Serbia breathed excessively polluted air during 2020. We still don't have this Agency's official report for 2021, but we do have official data, and we can conclude that we breathed excessively polluted air in 2021 as well, and we expect that the new heating season will bring us worrying pollution again.

Belgrade Open School, with the support of the European Union delegation in Serbia, organized a three-day initial meeting within the framework of support for civil society organizations. The meeting was attended by 21 organizations that are part of the second cycle of the Dialogue of Changes project.

88th edition of newsletter "Let's talk about negotiations" is avaliable now.

In 2021/22 the ETF conducted reviews of national career development support systems in all Western Balkan countries aiming to collect facts and information about existing policy and practice. The reviews cover lifelong career guidance for all, career education, career development support for workers, including for non-standard forms of employment.

Looking into the beginning of the heating season and months in which air pollution is increased, we are organizing a panel discussion on air quality in Serbia and civil society initiatives in advocating for the solution to this problem.

According to the research conducted by National Youth Council of Serbia (NYCS), there is big gap between youth and media. Media report on youth three times more often in negative, than in positive context. It is exception rather than norm that media report on cultural content, opportunities for youth or youth activism, and it is mostly reported on youth in black chronicle segment. Even if media report on challenges or problem young people face in Serbia, it is never in depth analysis nor is this

87th edition of newsletter "Let's talk about negotiations" is avaliable now.

How exactly are environmental policies implemented? Are decisions made in a transparent way? Does the public have access to environmental information? Are we participating equally in decision making? Are those who are inducing environmental damage being punished?

Energy transition represents the process of transition from a system in which non-renewable sources are dominantly used for energy production to a system based on the use of renewable energy sources.

Climate change is one of the three primary threats to biodiversity, the others being pollution and habitat loss due to overuse of natural resources. Serbia is a country with significant biodiversity, which is endangered by numerous threats, including the effects of climate change.

Research has shown that people are very aware of environmental problems, on different levels, but they don't know how to get involved.

In the new issue of the newsletter, we wrote about the European Parliament's Resolution on Serbia and its importance for the future course of Serbia's European integration.

Belgrade Open School has prepared an online lecture on Sustainable Development Goals, namely those concerning the protection of the environment in which we live. These are the goals that tell us how to stop the galloping consequences of climate change, how to keep our seas and oceans blue, and how to stop taking from nature more than we can give back.

In order for our mission, goal and the values that we are presenting and offering to desired target group, it is necessary find the best possible way to tell our story. A story about who we are and what we want, what ideas we advocate for and what vision we follow.

During the previous three years, the Belgrade Open School, in cooperation with five universities from Germany, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands and Lithuania and an organization from Greece, participated in an initiative to connect knowledge gained through research in the field of career guidance and counseling and knowledge in the field of human resources development.

The first summer issue of the newsletter Let’s talk about negotiations is dedicated to the visit of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the positioning of Serbia between Russia and the European Union.

How do we support young people who are not employed in the education process? Can social entrepreneurship be an adequate empowerment mechanism for this group of young people? What do the counselors who work with them and who prepare them for further career steps need? These are some of the questions we are trying to answer through the activities of the project "Reinforcement of support structures for NEETs in the entrepreneurial field."

The event Green MeetUp gathered more than 90 representatives from 51 associations who discussed the main environmental problems in communities across Serbia, but also the role that citizens have in the process of environmental protection.

In Serbia, the air is officially excessively polluted in 15 cities and agglomerations. This is the assessment of air quality for 2020, which we received from the Environmental Protection Agency in September 2021. For the assessment of the air in the previous year, 2021, we will wait for September this year. What kind of air we have been breathing so far this year, we will officially find out, you guessed it, only in the fall of 2023.

Civil society organizations gathered around the „SDGs for All“ Platform have developed a second Monitoring Report on progress of Serbia’s preparedness for the implementation of 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals.

A three-day final event was held in Vranje within the Academy of Journalism from May 26 to 28. Fifteen young journalists under the age of 35 had the opportunity to gain new knowledge and skills in areas such as security culture for journalists and the challenges of local investigative journalism.

In addition to strategy and tactics, it is important to know what tools are available to civil society representatives so that the advocacy process involves all relevant actors equally.

How can you apply the knowledge acquired at the faculty in other areas? How much do you know about artificial intelligence? What should a public performance look like? Why is the fight for better environment important? How does a country's economy work? How is the media space shaped? These are just some of the questions that the program Future Studies provides answers to.

As the number of new small and large companies grow in Serbia and the world, so does the number of competitors in the labor market who force employers to invest in the development of their company's human resources and encourage employees to think more and more about continuous career development.

84th edition of newsletter "Let's talk about negotiations" is available.

During the final meeting of the programme partners within the program „Media and Youth for Democratic Development“ it was discussed about current state of media, the impact of media and CSOs in citizen's lives, as well as how to support proactive individuals striving for social change. Moreover, programme partners presented the results of their projects within this programme.

The fourth year of the Civil Society Support Program for Public Advocacy has begun. The program is being implemented within the project „Active Citizens - Better Society: Advocating for Cooperation and Democratic Development" in which 20 civil society organizations will be supported. The focus of this year's Support Program is cooperation of civil society with the business community, and most of the activities will be aimed at strengthening the cooperation of these actors, their

Belgrade Open School (BOS) announces 20 civil society organizations that will receive project and program support within the fourth year of the Civil Society Support Program for Public Advocacy and Cooperation with the Business Sector within the project „Active Citizens - Better Society: Advocating for Cooperation and Democratic Development”.

83rd edition of newsletter "Let's talk about negotiations"

Through the implementation of the „Green Incubator“ project, Belgrade Open School provides mentoring and financial support to local organizations throughout Serbia to work on improving public policies in the field of environmental protection.

The new issue of the newsletter Let's talk about negotiations is available.

On March, 24 a lecture for BOS Alumni network titled Gender Equality and Crises: contradictio in adjecto? was held by Zorana Antonijevic. The audience had an opportunity to learn about the gender dimension of crises and the effects of crises on gender equaity.

Communication of civil society organizations and the media with the public is important for greater visibility, promotion and recognition of their work. To successfully convey the message, it is necessary to use channels and communication tools that are adapted to the public we are addressing.

Belgrade Open School, together with the local partner organization - Association of Young Researchers Bor, in the previous period worked on the Contribution to the Development Plan of the City of Bor. This document is a proposal for parts of the Development Plan of the City of Bor in the field of environmental protection.

The issue’s topic is on The Years of Dialogues - From the Boycott of 2020 elections to the Elections of 2022, we analyzed the current course of inter-party dialogue in Serbia pointed on improving election conditions, giving an overview on the thus far achieved results, as well as their future implementation in the upcoming elections.

Belgrade Open School with pleasure announce list of selected project proposals for support in the Civil Society Support Program for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development of local communities – Green PowerUp.

The development of social entrepreneurship could be a solution to current challenges: just before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were about 1.7 million fewer young people not employed in education or training (NEETs) across the EU.

How do we choose our future universities? What do we take into account when considering different study options? Is studying abroad a real option for students from Serbia? These are some of the questions we tried to answer.

Air pollution in the Western Balkans causes 30,000 premature deaths a year, the European Environment Agency estimates. Inhaling polluted air leads to increased mortality, shortened life expectancy and an increase in the number of chronic diseases, while the health costs paid by the citizens of the Western Balkans are rising. Reducing air pollution is a public health measure that would directly increase citizens’ quality of life and health, and indirectly reduce mortality rates.

Belgrade Open School (BOS) presented the Guide to Digital Youth Security - Privacy and Prevention of Digital Violence for young people, high school students, education workers, and all those who work with young people and want to improve their knowledge of privacy and security using digital platforms.