REGIONAL CONFERENCE FOR MEDIA IN THE WESTERN BALKANS
Regional Conference “MEDIA, CSOs AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE”, brought together on one “Sustainable table”, the media representatives from Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Republic of Macedonia, and Republic of Kosovo.
Regional conference “Media, CSOs and sustainable agriculture” was held in Zrenjanin, Serbia, from 15-17 December 2017. Participants were more than 30 journalists from Albania, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia. Conference was part of the project “Sustainable Agriculture for Sustainable Balkans”, funded by the EU, implemented by the consortium of CSOs from the Western Balkan countries and led by ORCA. The aim of our regional conference was to share important and interesting information with the representatives of the media in the Western Balkan region, about current issues related to sustainable agriculture, such as nature protection in agricultural areas, impacts of climate change on agriculture, importance of animal welfare for food safety, experiences of FYR Macedonia and Serbia in application of agri-environment measures, etc.
These topics were presented to guests by our esteemed presenters – prof. Vladimir Dimitrijević, PhD and docent Branko Petrujkić, PhD from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Belgrade, Jelena Burazerović from the Faculty of Biology in Belgrade and longtime team member of ORCA, Velika Atanasova, founder of the Agro journalists’ Association of FYR Macedonia, Uroš Davidović, author of the TV show “Good Land” and Mladen Jovanović, president of the Board at National Coalition for Decentralisation and the consultant at the European Non-profit Strategies.
“Sustainable table and the excursion to the Kaštel castle in Ečka”
At the conference, participants had the opportunity to connect and share experiences and ideas with colleagues from the region. During “Sustainable table”, the participants could taste local foods and homemade specialties brought by their colleagues, such as Montenegrin prosciutto (ham), cheeses and vines, homemade pies, boza and fruit rakias (brandies) from Albania, cookies, dry fruit, ajvar (pepper-based food) and višnjevača (rakia made from sour cherries) from Macedonia and jams and chocolates from Serbia. In addition, participants had the opportunity to visit Kaštel castle in Ečka and receive very interesting information from a professional tour guide, about agriculture development in this part of Banat region in Serbia.
Reminder:
Regional project “Sustainable agriculture for sustainable Balkans: Strengthening advocacy capacities of CSOs and developing policies in the Western Balkans” is aimed at strengthening the capacities of civil society organizations for public advocacy and developing regional policies in the field of sustainable agriculture, protection of biodiversity and animal welfare in the area of the Western Balkans.
Project is implemented by consortium of CSOs from Albania (Institute for Environmental Protection – IEP), FYROM (FLOROZON), Kosovo (NGO AKTIV) and Montenegro (Center for Protection and Research of Birds – CZIP), led by Organisation for Respect and Care of Animals – ORCA from Serbia. The project lasts four years (2016-2019) and is funded by the European Union, represented by European Commission, Directorate General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) as part of Civil Society Facility and Media Programme 2014-2015. Total budget of the project is 960.760 EUR.
Pictures from the activity:
