SARAJEVO – On Friday, 1 October, the conference titled “Initiative, Engagement, Enthusiasm – Strengthening Democracy in BiH and the Region through Civic Activism” is taking place in Sarajevo.
This conference is intended to be the contribution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Western Balkans to the Conference on the Future of Europe. It is registered on the platform of the Conference.
It will take place starting from 9, at the Centre for Children and Youth, Novo Sarajevo, and will be broadcasted on social networks.
According to the announcement, the idea of the event is to collect best practices, ideas and challenges of citizen engagement and initiatives in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Western Balkans and explore ways of integrating them into the policy-making process and the wider European debate.
The event is organized by UG Zašto ne (CA Why not), Institute for Democratic Engagement Southeast Europe and Innovation in Politics Institute, with the support of the EU in BiH. It will be opened by Johann Sattler, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina and is the European Union Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina
“Globally, the last decade has seen a rise of civic initiatives and citizens’ activism. The objective of the event is to collect best practices, ideas and challenges of citizen engagement and initiatives in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Western Balkans and explore ways of integrating them into the policy-making process and the wider European debate. This is where locally and regionally inspired citizens’, as well as best practices of their engagement, ideas and challenges can directly feed into the broader stream of ideas and solutions discussed in the Conference on the Future of Europe”, the announcement reads.
The speakers at the event will be Milica Pralica (Oštra nula, Banja Luka, BiH), Merisa Okanović (OP Revolt, Tuzla, BiH), Emina Veljović (Aarhus Centar, Sarajevo, BiH), Dobrica Veselinović (Ne davimo Beograd, Beograd, Serbia), Sofija Todorović (BIRN, Beograd, Serbia), Srđan Perić (KOD, Podgorica, Montenegro), Sibora Kacuri (Local Change Lab, Pristina), as well as a representative of Možemo, Croatia.
The conference will be moderated by Senada Šelo Šabić, Senior Research Fellow at Institute for Development and International Relations and Vedran Džihić, Senior Researcher at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs.