Dialogue is a key instrument for decision-making and solving problems of public interest, and the Belgrade Open School has launched the "Dialogue for Change" project in order to establish a dialogue between the civil and public sectors. In the period from August 11 to 13, in Sokobanja, a meeting of 19 selected partners was held within the program of support to civil society organizations, which will conduct a dialogue of changes throughout local communities in Serbia in the period from August 2021 to July 2022.

 Improving the lives of all citizens and solving problems of importance to society as a whole, implies the involvement of all stakeholders - civil and public sector. The civil sector provides thematic expertise in specific areas of social life, and in partnership with the public sector creates and implements public policies to address specific community issues. The participation of all these key actors contributes to the identification of priorities in the creation of laws and regulations tailored to citizens.

Is there a dialogue about change?

"There is a noticeable narrowing of the space for civil society organizations and the projects we have supported are the first line of defense in the process of involving citizens in all those processes that concern them," said Ekmel Cizmecioglu, Program Manager for Civil Society and Human Rights, Republic of Serbia.

"The focus of the project is to support civil society organizations and their activities aimed at dialogue and positive changes in the community, as well as support for research whose results will be used to strengthen the capacity of organizations," said Milorad Bjeletic, executive director of the Belgrade Open School.

Through the project Dialogue of Changes ", the dialogue of key actors is improved and new approaches are developed in the process of creating public policies, based on evidence, ie data and cooperation between civil society organizations and public authorities. At the same time, the project contributes to strengthening the capacity of the organizations themselves to design, implement, monitor and evaluate public policies, "added Vladimir Pavlović, public policy advisor at the Belgrade Open School.

After the introductory part and the ceremonial signing of the contract, the working part of the meeting referred to the rules of project implementation and monitoring, communication rules or visibility, as well as financial management. Photos from the meeting are available here, and news about the activities of supported projects can be found on the official website of the "Dialogue for Change" project.

The project is supported by the Delegation of the European Union in Serbia and is implemented in the period from 2021 to 2023 in partnership with the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies, the Center for EU Public Policies, University of Belgrade, Olof Palme Center as well as with the Office for Non-Governmental Organizations of the Government of the Republic of Croatia.