Over 120 participants from Serbia and the whole region gathered for the closing ceremony of the Swedish supported Program SENSE, to discuss the importance of the role of the environmental civil society in Serbia’s EU integration process.
In early September this year, the closing conference of support to civil society organisations in the field of environmental protection in Serbia was held in Nis. According to Milan Stevanovic, adviser to the Secretary of State for Environment, there should not be any difficulties during the opening of chapter 27, concerning the protection of the environment. “It’s necessary to support the non-governmental sector and work together to raise awareness among citizens about the importance of nature conservation” Stevanovic stated.
Designed by the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) Office in Serbia, and supported by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), a three-year program has been launched to support civil society organizations (CSOs) in Serbia – SENSE. The program aims to promote the participation of NGOs in decision-making in environmental matters in order to contribute to more inclusive governance in the field of environment based on consensus.
The SENSE program provides CSOs that are active in the field, with sustainable development and excellent opportunity to obtain financial support for their projects as well as capacity building.
During the final and closing SENSE conference in Nis it was also announced that awards will be given out to journalists actively reporting on the subject. The aim of the prize is to support journalists, editors and active individuals who are following the environmental development in Serbia. This year’s award was on October 1st decided to be given to the television journalist Adam Santovac from N1, for his professional journalism in the field of environmental protection. The prize was awarded in Nis Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe with financial support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
SENSE, being a part of the Swedish support to the environmental civil society in Serbia REC, Regional Environmental Center, is ongoing since 2012 and will last till the end 2015. The program aims to support environmental CSOs in Serbia and their capacity to lobby for policy change and participate in decision-making processes. With this program, REC works actively to stimulate CSOs to become more proactive advocator for concrete policy changes in the environmental field, and position themselves as an important factor in the governmental-civil sector dialogue. With a budget of 21 350 000 SEK, the Swedish support contributes to strengthen CSOs’ capacity of monitoring and evaluating the implementation of policies, strategies and laws in the EU accession process. It also contributes to strengthened capacities and a better position of CSOs to access EU funding in the future.
