Search

The “Green Chair” strengthens the voice of young people and women in environmental protection

The Green Chair Network has received support from the ECO-SYSTEM program for 2024. This program aims to improve environmental protection in Serbia and helps with the implementation of the negotiating platform for Chapter 27. The Environmental Ambassadors of Sustainable Development is a member organization of the “Green Chair” coordination team and a partner in the project.

In 2024, it is planned to carry out activities to achieve…

  1. Strengthening the voice of young people: Through research and public debate, the “Green Chair” Network will advocate for greater participation of young people in decision-making on environmental protection. The research will focus on the opinions and needs of young people, and the results will be used to advocate for their interests.
  2. Improving gender equality: The network will focus on empowering women and their more active involvement in all aspects of environmental protection, as well as fertilizing the work of network members. We want women to be leaders in environmental initiatives and the fight against climate change so that their voices are equally important in decision-making processes.
  3. Sustainability of the Green Bulletin: By digitizing and expanding distribution, the Green Chair will ensure that the voice of the network reaches even more people. The goal is to make information accessible to everyone and to increase awareness and community engagement.

The ECO-SYSTEM Empowerment Programme is the main component of the project ECO-SYSTEM: Support to Environmental Reforms implemented by the Young Researchers of Serbia with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The project started in January 2020 and will run for four years.

ECO-SYSTEM 2024: The “Green Chair” strengthens the voice of young people and women in environmental protection

The Green Chair Network has once again received support from the ECO-SYSTEM program for 2024. This program aims to improve environmental protection in Serbia and helps with the implementation of the negotiating platform for Chapter 27. The Environmental Ambassadors of Sustainable Development is a member organization of the “Green Chair” coordination team and a partner in the project.

The “Green Chair” Network of Organizations brings together 68 civil society organizations dedicated to environmental protection. The network is a key actor in the actions for a sustainable future of Serbia.

In 2023, the members of the network achieved significant results through their work and engagement:

  1. Education: More than 300 activists have been educated about environmental protection through various workshops and programs.
  2. Action: Initiatives have been launched to mitigate the effects of climate change in 5 local communities, by raising awareness of the importance of solving this urgent problem.
  3. Information: The Green Bulletin, the network’s bi-weekly newsletter, has reached a large audience, spreading information on environmental protection throughout Serbia.

In 2024, it is planned to carry out activities to achieve…

  1. Strengthening the voice of young people: Through research and public debate, the “Green Chair” Network will advocate for greater participation of young people in decision-making on environmental protection. The research will focus on the opinions and needs of young people, and the results will be used to advocate for their interests.
  2. Improving gender equality: The network will focus on empowering women and their more active involvement in all aspects of environmental protection, as well as fertilizing the work of network members. We want women to be leaders in environmental initiatives and the fight against climate change so that their voices are equally important in decision-making processes.
  3. Sustainability of the Green Bulletin: By digitizing and expanding distribution, the Green Chair will ensure that the voice of the network reaches even more people. The goal is to make information accessible to everyone and to increase awareness and community engagement.

The ECO-SYSTEM Empowerment Programme is the main component of the project ECO-SYSTEM: Support to Environmental Reforms implemented by the Young Researchers of Serbia with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The project started in January 2020 and will run for four years.

LOCCAR (Local Communities’ Climate Adaptation and Resilience)

According to the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans (2020), the Western Balkans ‎is recognized as one of the regions in Europe most heavily affected by climate change. In addition, climate risks are not sufficiently covered at the local level in the documents and activities implemented. Still, there is no understanding that climate change (heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, ‎coastline erosion, rising sea levels) affects not only the environment but also the local ‎economy and the health of the population, due to a lack of awareness raising among the local population. In its report for Western Balkan countries, European Commission in 2021 stated that they must align with the EU Strategy on Adaptation to ‎Climate Change.

The project Local Communities’ Climate Adaptation and Resilience (LOCCAR) aims to assist local authorities in better understanding, preparing for, and managing climate risks, as well as developing innovative solutions to build resilience. The project will also contribute to establishing sustainable regional cooperation in building climate resilience in the Western Balkans, having in mind that efficient cooperation mechanisms among neighboring countries in the focus of this project (Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina) are missing, even though the transboundary nature of climate-related risks at the local level is reality.

The objective of LOCCAR project is to accelerate climate change adaptation on the local level in Western Balkans through enhancing Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) role in the transformation towards climate resilience, by empowering CSOs visibility in policymaking, raising awareness of local decision-makers on the impacts of climate change on the local communities and supporting sustainable regional cooperation in building climate resilience in the Western Balkans.

A regional round table with the participation of main stakeholders from all three countries will be organized at the end of the project. Based on consultations with selected municipalities, Brochures/Guidelines for the local decision-makers on climate change adaptation in local strategic and policy documents will be prepared and distributed. It is expected that in total 9 selected municipalities in two rounds of meetings with municipalities.‎will provide their contribution. Using the digital dissemination of the Brochure/Guidelines via websites and digital platforms (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter) of the 3 CSOs and 9 municipalities, a significant portion of the population in Western Balkans will be reached with the Joint Project’s outputs.

Project partners are Center for Climate Change, Natural Resources and Energy of the University of Donja Gorica (leading partner, Montenegro), a Resource Center for the Environment REC BIH (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and Environmental Ambassadors for Sustainable Development (Serbia).

LOCCAR project is financed by the Western Balkans Fund and co-financed by the EU in the frame of IPA.

Final LOCAL project publication (- Jačanje otpornosti i kapaciteta prilagođavanja lokalnih zajednica na klimatske promjene u Crnoj Gori, Bosni i Hercegovini, Centar za klimatske promjene, prirodne resurse i energiju Univerziteta Donja Gorica, Podgorica, juli 2023 )