The Belgrade Open School is in partnership with Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence (BFPE) implemented a project by the name of “Public Finance Reform – 2030 Agenda: SDGs for all Platform“. The aim of the project was to facilitate a society wide dialogue over the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Serbia by establishing a cross sectorial multi-stakeholder platform which would be open to all non-state actors (including civil society organisations, private sector representatives, professional associations and research organizations).

In accordance with the three dimensions of the sustainable development the project was structured in a social, economic and environmental pillar, each of which is managed by a single CSO. The Belgrade Open School was the coordinator of the activities within the Environmental pillar, while the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence acts as its Partner.  The environmental pillar focused on the implementation of the SDGs 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15.

The specific objectives of the Project were:

• Raising awareness for the SDGs in the Serbian society and establishing a structured and evidence-based society-wide dialogue on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda;
• Linking existing networks and provide room for cross sectorial dialogue having in mind the interconnectedness of the SDGs;
• Providing room for discussion of priorities of sustainable development of different actors in the society and support consent building among them;
• Providing room for discussion and consent building with state actors on different levels and engaging in dialogue with Government on inclusive policy formulation aligned with the SDGs;
• Strengthening the role of non-state actors (e.g. CSOs, businesses, professional associations, research organisations) on all levels in implementing the SDGs by facilitating mutual learning;
• Work in close cooperation with other development partners, first and foremost the UN Organisations in Serbia;
• Supporting monitoring and accountability by collecting and providing data on SDG implementation

In order to achieve these objectives, the project activities were conducted:

• Steering and overall coordination of the Platform;  
• Development of the Communication Strategy and the visual elements of the Platform;
• Development of the Platform’s Web Site;
• Development of the report on the Serbian society’s evidence-based priorities for Serbia’s sustainable development;
• The establishment of Thematic Groups which will serve for the Platform’s discussion and for its future policy work;
• Drafting evidence-based policy recommendations in the form of  various policy documents;
• Managing the development of a yearly monitoring report;
• Organizing an annual conference ;
• Selections of municipalities in Serbia in which local activities are going to take place, as well as selection of CSO partners in those municipalities (The local activities will include trainings, regional round tables, drafting of policy briefs and inputs for local development plans);
• Raising capacities of relevant state actors and selected groups of CSOs;
• Establishing cooperation with state actors, private sector, media and academia (This process will serve to collect insights on the Agenda 2030 from these actors and to find ways to incorporate the Agenda in their daily work)

The project was jointly financed by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Deutsche Gesellschaft for Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and hosted by Deutsche Gesellschaft for Internationale Zusammenarbeit. The project implementation started on 15th of March of 2020. The contract was signed for the duration of one year with the possibility of extending it for another two years.