BETTER TOGETHER – STRENGHTENING DIALOGUE AND COOPERATION IN THE TIME OF CRISES

28 Jun BETTER TOGETHER – STRENGHTENING DIALOGUE AND COOPERATION IN THE TIME OF CRISES

Better Together – Strengthening dialogue and cooperation in the time of crises is the name of KROKODIL’s latest project that will bring together representatives of NGOs from the Western Balkans (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Macedonia and Kosovo) and the European Union (Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania) in the discussion on the way in which governments responded to the pandemic in regard to the NGO sector and especially in regard to the organizations in the field of culture and creative industries. The negotiating skills and capacities of these organizations in extraordinary circumstances will also be discussed.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in 2020, is a unique challenge for democracies, and thus for the work of civil society organizations. Cultural organizations have suffered significant consequences since the activities they carry out often involve the mobility of cultural workers, and the events they organize require a live audience. These organizations had to adapt quickly to the new situation and find a way to offer their audiences support, a place for dialogue, reflection and gathering. In this context, the Better Together project will support the strengthening of leadership skills of cultural organizations and further encourage the exchange of experiences and ideas among participants from different countries through a roundtable dialogue to be held as part of the debate program of the thirteenth edition of the KROKODIL Festival. The conversation will be dedicated to the changed circumstances in which the activities of civil society organizations take place during the pandemic, the challenges that await them in the future, as well as the role of creative and cultural workers in strengthening mobility and cultural diplomacy and consolidating democratic values ​​during times of crisis. The basis for the discussion will be an analysis that will be made during July, based on questionnaires and the results of focus groups in which several dozen representatives of the NGO sector from Serbia and the region will participate.

As part of the project, webinars will be organized with a focus on cross-sectoral cooperation and strengthening the leadership skills of individuals and organizations in the field of networking and advocacy.

The project was supported by the Balkan Trust for Democracy, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the US, and USAID.