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3rd Workshop of 'The New Democratic Wo/Men of WB' program in Sarajevo

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The New Democratic Wo/Men of Western Balkans program, supported by the International Visegrad Fund, continues with a 3-day long in-person workshop in hotel Europe in Sarajevo (July 2-5) for participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia!

Day 1 – July 3, 2021

We welcomed 34 participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia and our partners and experts coming from 7 countries for the 3rd in-person Workshop in Sarajevo within the ‘New Democratic Wo/Men of Western Balkans’ program, generously supported by the International Visegrad Fund.

First day kicked off with the lecture on ‘Fake News and Disinformation Narratives in Digital Space’ by our partner and expert Dina Arnaut from Euro-Atlantic Council of Macedonia. Our participants learned about what fake news and disinformation are both theoretically and based on an overview of some very interesting examples of conspiracy theories that are present online related to covid-19. Participants were very engaged and developed a great discussion on some local platforms that spread disinformation and fake news.

How to properly design and develop a project? How to plan project activities and should they be based on initial needs research of the target group? These are the questions Filip Gabor from the Be International discussed with our participants through analyzing the results of an exercise they were given based on the situational analysis of a project.

After trying out the situational analysis, we moved on with Todor Lakić from the University of Montenegro who has taken us on a road to create a stakeholders map. Todor showed us that stakeholders are not just a foreign word in project management, but a crucial part of any project. Hopefully, after the lecture, we will be able to design an excellent communication strategy with the stakeholders!

After a lunch break, our participants got re-energized through a fun exercise of ‘Active Listening’ led by Alexandra Tothova from Strategic Analysis SK. The task was to pay close attention to their pair in order to assemble the jigsaw puzzle simultaneously. Needless to say this was a lot of fun!

Our participants spent the rest of the day preparing for the fictional “Regional Forum” of 6 countries that they created. Their task at the Forum will be to represent diplomats of their countries while presenting the initiatives and project they will jointly support at the Forum. The projects they will develop is a part of the post-Covid economical rebirth and a part of their lobbying to enter the Ereb Communities.

Day 2 – July 4, 2021

We started off day 2 of the 3rd ‘The New Democratic Wo/Men of WB’ Workshop in Sarajevo, kindly supported by the International Visegrad Fund with Agata Domachowska and Szczepan Czarnecki from the Instytut Europy Środkowej. They engaged our participants in a discussion on fake news which was a follow up to yesterdays session on fake news and disinformation narratives led by Dina Arnaut form Euro-Atlantic Council of Macedonia. After learning about what fake news phenomenon encompasses within itself, participants were especially engaged in discussing the online platforms they use to get information and different forms of media that older generations use and they emphasizing that older generations don’t fully understand that not all information available on social media is not always true.

Our workshop continued with a very useful session on people and event management facilitated by Balint Caesar from the AEGEE-Budapest. Apart from learning about the components that make each project, participants had a task to develop their own project ideas based on a given scenario. They received useful feedback from Balint which allowed them to improve their proposals.

Another very dynamic and interactive session with Ivana Kešić is behind us. This time the focus was on building argumentation skills of our participants through learning about argumentation techniques when presenting their ideas to stakeholders in order to receive their support.

We have traveled through the world of project management cycle with Jan Cingel from the Strategic Analysis SK. Jan Cingel has shared his vast experience and used practical examples to empower our participants so that tomorrow they can submit wonderful and successful project proposals and demonstrate their leadership potential.

Representatives of Terra Verde, Terra Azul, Terra Amarilla, Terra Marron, Terra Negra and Terra Roja of the South-Eastern part of the Ereb continent ‘met’ for the Regional Forum and the plenary session where each country proposed which of the initiatives developed yesterday will be included in their declaration aimed at the Ereb Communities to which they wish to join. Diplomats from all countries negotiated to agree on the 10 initiatives which will be included in their joint declaration. The delegation that receives most points is the winner of the gift voucher provided by the International Visegrad Fund.

 

Day 3 – July 5, 2021

For the final day of the third in-person meeting in Sarajevo of the ‘The New Democratic Wo/Men of WB’ program, generously supported by the International Visegrad Fund, we welcomed stakeholders Patrik Turošík, Deputy Head of Mission, Diplomat, Consul at the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Sarajevo, Lejla Mamut, OSCE Program Officer of the Gender and Youth Unit, Ivan Iliev, Research Fellow of the Western Balkans Program of the Strategic Analysis and Matúš Babulík, Občiansko demokraticka mládež. After opening remarks each of our esteemed panelists introduced their scope of work before being engaged in a lively conversation with our young participants that had many interesting and quite complex question for the stakeholders.


Thank you to our donor International Visegrad Fund, thank you to our partners Strategic Analysis SK, Alfa Centar Nikšić, AEGEE-Budapest, Euro-Atlantic Council of Macedonia, Be International, Instytut Europy Środkowej, thank you to our speakers and our participants!

The New Democratic Wo/Men of Western Balkans program is generously supported by:

The New Democratic Wo/Men of Western Balkans program is implemented in partnership with: