Some of the questions that the panel participants will answer are: how much did civil society organizations contribute to changing the awareness of environmental protection in Serbia? What pressures do activists suffer and what challenges do they face? What was their goal to get involved in the field of environmental protection and how do they manage to get others involved? How do they explain that the issue of the environment has become first on the list of priorities of citizens of Belgrade, and fourth among citizens of Serbia? How much did environmental protests contribute to this? What has changed in the consciousness of our citizens? Are the institutions of the Republic of Serbia partners or enemies of organizations dealing with the environment?

Four environmental panelists will try to answer these and similar questions in two hours of discussion. Participants will be representatives of local environmental organizations and initiatives. School participants will have the opportunity to hear the experiences of activists, their methods, goals and personal stories. In this way, participants will be able to get acquainted with the practical challenges of engagement in the field of environmental protection. At the same time, this is also an opportunity for participants to learn about environmental problems and successes achieved in the field of environmental protection. The participants will discuss topics that are still waiting for Serbia on the way to joining the European Union, bearing in mind the open chapters in this area at the end of last year, and what needs to be done in this area.

The panel is designed as a three-round discussion. In the first round, participants will present the main goals of their activism, methods of struggle, and how they manage to involve/engage others and gain support from the wider public. In the second round, the participants will talk about the challenges and obstacles they faced in their activism and how they overcame them. In the third round, a question will be asked about the future of eco-activism in Serbia and further steps to make the fight for the environment in our country more successful and where organizations see the role of citizens and where institutions. Then there will be an open discussion between the participants and the students of the school.

The participants will be activists from organizations such as RERI, the initiative Let’s Protect the Forests of Fruška Gora, Right to Water, Coalition 27, Young Researchers of Serbia and CAN Europe.

The round table is realized in cooperation with Heinrich Böll Foundation.