Civil Society Forum Berlin 2022

As the Civil Society Forum features a wide range of important topics and discusses the challenges and opportunities across different areas for the Western Balkans, all three FES SOE Project Managers, Saša Vasić, Harun Cero and Selma Šehović joined this years’ edition. In addition to attending the event, FES SOE took part in the digital preparatory workshops leading up to the event.

In addition, Civil Society Forum featured a strong emphasis this year on the Green Agenda, in terms of energy transition and climate change. Our Project Manager for Socio-Ecological Transformation in SEE, Selma Šehović, actively contributed to these topics ahead of the Forum, but also moderated a panel discussion on Energy Transition and Energy Security in Times of Crises.

This panel discussion featured inputs from Jovan Rajić (Renewables and Environmental Regulatory Institute Belgrade) as the Rapporteur from civil society, and comments from Christiane Hullman (Division 209 Western Balkans German Federal Foreign Office), Dirk Buschle (Energy Community Secretariat), Sonja Risteska (Powering Past Coal Alliance) and Andreas Chollet (WPD Eastern Europe GmbH).

The discussion began with Jovan Rajić’s inputs on the results of the working group, which focused on energy transition, or rather lack thereof in the Western Balkans, stating that there is a lack of strategy as well as political will to take this process on in a comprehensive manner. The recommendations from the civil society focused on the need for more transparency and rule of law in the energy transition, especially in public procurements, more meaningful platforms for exchanges and more inclusion of all important stakeholders.

FES SOE is committed to supporting the process of inclusive energy transition in Southeast Europe, and it was a pleasure to be involved in the Civil Society Forum in Berlin. The Aspen Institute and Suedosteuropa Gesellschaft, with the support of the German Federal Foreign Office has since published a Conference Report with Policy Recommendations from CSF 2022, that you can find on this link.