BERLIN – The 2024 Civil Society and Think Tank Forum will take place on 9-11 October in Berlin, the Southeast Europe Association and the Aspen Institute Germany announced. On the 10th anniversary of the Berlin Process, the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum is bringing together a diverse array of civil society stakeholders representing over 115 organizations to actively shape and participate in the Berlin Process.
According to organizers, over three days, this event will shine a spotlight on policy recommendations through public exchanges between civil society, government, and other key stakeholders from the Western Balkans and the EU.
“With every passing year, it becomes more important to ensure that all stakeholders feel
represented and heard in the Berlin Process,” explains Dr. Christian Hagemann, the Executive Director of the Southeast Europe Association. She adds that the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum provides a one-of-a-kind opportunity by offering civil society the opportunity to reach out with their policy recommendations directly to key decision-makers from the Western Balkans.
“The Civil Society Forum’s approach is unique and particularly effective because it is rooted in local actors’ expertise and experience,” says Dr. Stormy-Annika Mildner, the Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Germany. “This ensures that the recommendations remain relevant and build on existing regional initiatives and capacities in the Western Balkans”, Mildner adds.
Already this year, a Preparatory Forum on July 9-11 in Skopje convened over 130 civil society leaders from the Western Balkans and the EU to formulate policy recommendations. In advance of public exchanges hosted by the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum, the Preparatory Forum sparked new ideas through confidential discussions across seven thematic working groups. Thanks to the diversity of participants’ experiences and fields of expertise, the discussions resulted in policy recommendations which address urgent challenges and opportunities to the Western Balkans.
The thematic areas addressed by the civil society leaders ranged from EU integration, the energy transition, and dealing with the past/reconciliation to crosscutting issues such as rule of law, youth, minorities, and local issues. For the first time, the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum featured a working group on “Gender and Diversity,” including grassroots organizations from across the Western Balkans and the EU. In addition, working groups covered topics including common regional market and mobility, environmental protection, and disinformation and cyber threats.
Participants discussed how the future of the Berlin Process should better reflect their priorities and put forward their own ideas for possible changes to the Process. The final recommendations will offer solutions to policymakers, civil society, and other regional actors which address “low-hanging fruit” as well as more ambitious or long-term measures. In advance of the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum, civil society rapporteurs are currently drafting recommendations and preparing for panel discussions, which will
present the recommendations to decision-makers and the public in the lead-up to the
Berlin Process Summit.
Since the second summit of the Berlin Process in Austria in 2015, the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum has provided a unique platform for dialogue between civil society and government representatives. By
convening stakeholders on the sidelines of the Berlin Process, the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum allows Western Balkan civil society to contribute their ideas to advance cooperation and integration in the Western Balkans.