The cooperation continues: Project Strengthening the regional cooperation to promote civic space in the Western Balkan countries

The role of the civil society in driving the positive change is now important more than ever. In order to maintain and strengthen its role in our region, civil society needed to find new ways of working and responding to the numerous challenges.

Through combined set of capacity building, networking, communication, and outreach activities, Balkan Network for Local Democracy began the project to strengthen the link among regional CSOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo*, Serbia and North Macedonia. The project “Protecting Civic Space – Regional Civil Society Development Hub” is strengthening the regional connections and outreaches capacities towards effective transparent and accountable work in protecting civic space.

This project will promote the results and achievements of previous successfully implemented actions of the project CSOs networking for better local democracy in the Balkans, and widen the scope of modern participation tools for its constituencies. Also, this project is a demonstration of a firm and long-standing commitment to local democracy development, good governance principles and getting the EU integration closer to citizens in local communities across the Western Balkans.

CSOs Strengthening Regional Connections for Protecting Civic Space is designed as a combined set of mutually inter-related activities grouped in three Work packages intended to achieve the objectives as set forth. The project is financed by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and implemented by Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN).

According to project activities, a physical event Regional Capacity building and Networking seminar will be organised in Novi Sad, Serbia (20-22 June 2022). It will gather all together some 20 participants including LDAs youth workers, representatives of regional CSO networks, trainers and guest speakers. 

The action is designed to establish  a bond and synergies connecting BNLD with other regional CSOs networks, to improve communication to meet the needs of local constituencies, to develop and apply modern digital democracy and e-participation tools and to develop and adopt BNLD Accountability Code. Program includes networking and capacity-building activities, field visits and exchange with OPENS, and Novi Sad capital of culture organization.