The Belgrade Open School in partnership with the Foundation BFPE For a Responsible Society and the Balkan Research Network (BIRN) of Serbia, is implementing a four-year project named „Active Citizens - Better Society: Advocating for Cooperation and Democratic Development“ with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Serbia.

The project targets the key aforementioned obstacles to CSOs influence to policy change and democratic community development in Serbia.

Project has following objectives:

Overall objective:

• To contribute to strengthening democratic societies in Serbia grounded in participatory political culture and credible democratic processes.

Specific objectives:

• To advance CSO advocacy practices in Serbia;
• To increase citizen support for CSO activities and improve policy and decision-making processes through participatory policy making;
• To enhance understanding of CSO advocacy role among citizens and relevant stakeholders.

This project: a) improves capacities of CSOs to strategically implement advocacy initiatives and to improve their communication skills and overall outreach of their activities, b) Implement in practice advocacy actions following “learning by doing” principle rooted in new advocacy approaches, citizens engagement, secured constituent feedback incorporated in learning process and adapting advocacy planning. Project provides innovative environment for continuous mentorship and assistance in key aspects of advocacy process. Finally, the project contributes to the improvement of enabling environment for COSs participation in policy development and public decision-making.