The kick-off meeting within the project "Dialogue of Change: Nurturing Participative and Evidence-Based Policy Dialogue in Reform Processes in Serbia" was held on Friday, March 26, 2021, in Belgrade.

During the meeting, the partners had the opportunity to discuss project activities and their planned dynamics, as well as to hear examples of good practice presented by Vesna Lendić Kasalo, representative of the Office for Cooperation with NGOs of the Republic of Croatia. Besides, the tools that will be used during the project implementation were also presented.

The partners of the project are Belgrade Open School, Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies, the EU Public Policy Center of the University of Belgrade, the Olof Palme Center, and the Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs of the Government of the Republic of Croatia. 

The objectives of the project are to support evidence-based policy dialogue and cooperation between CSOs and public authorities as well as capacity building of civil society organizations to create, implement, monitor, and evaluate policies. Through the implementation of the project,  the wider public will be informed about the need and results of dialogue between civil society organizations and public authorities in the decision-making process and problem-solving.

The Dialogue for Change project will respond to existing challenges in the cooperation between civil society organizations and public authorities in the decision-making and policy-making process to address specific community problems. The project will enhance existing and develop new approaches in the dialogue between different stakeholders. The results of the conducted research will be used for capacity building of civil society organizations to be involved and influence the reform processes in Serbia. The project will also contribute to increasing the visibility, understanding, and overall recognition of dialogue as a key tool for decision-making and solving problems of public concern.

The project is supported by the EU Delegation to Serbia and will be implemented in the period from 2021 to 2023.