2. 11. 2020 | BIH - Supporting the way to the EU, PR
In the framework of the project “Supporting BiH on its way to the EU”, the Centre for the European Perspective (CEP), in cooperation with the Directorate for European Integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina (DEI), is conducting the third training in selected chapters of the acquis for civil servants, working at competent authorities. The two-day training, which will be conducted virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic, is taking place between 5 and 6 November 2020 on the topic of cyber security.
The aim of the project is to provide training for civil servants, working at competent authorities at all levels of the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and therefore contribute to advanced knowledge of civil servants working in the field of European integration. The inclusion of BiH into the European integration processes is one of the priorities set out in the basic guidelines of BiH’s foreign policy. The trainings provided will be focusing on topics highlighted by the Directorate for European Integration of BiH as priority areas in the period 2019 and 2020. These are topics related to the chapters of the acquis communautaire: 2 – Freedom of movement for workers, 3 – Right of establishment and freedom to provide services, 10 – Information society and media, 19 – Social policy and employment, and 23 – Judiciary and fundamental rights.
Slovenian experts from the National Cyber Security Incidence Response Center will share experiences and good practices in the field of cyber security, especially in responding to cyber incidents and raising public awareness.
The project is part of the CEP program activities, which are supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia in the scope of international development cooperation. 
31. 10. 2020 | POTC, PR, Security
First training of Peace Operations Training Centre (POTC)
Gender equality and gender mainstreaming in peace operations and missions
Peacekeeping Operations Training Centre that is operating within CEP is happy to announce its first training dedicated to an important cross-cutting topic that was identified as a need by all three founding ministries – Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia – Gender equality and gender mainstreaming in peace operations and missions. Training is primarily organized as an opportunity to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 1325 United Nations Security Council Resolution on Women, Peace and Security and 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration that was adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995.
Pilot POTC training will be organized for experts who want to join international peace operation or mission, primarily for public servants from ministries of defence, internal and foreign affairs. Training is currently planned to be organized in a hybrid manner – with some participants and trainers present at POTC premises, while others will be welcome to join training digitally. Some trainers from abroad will join us digitally as well. All measures and suggestions to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 will be strictly respected.
Training on Gender equality and gender mainstreaming in peace operations and missions will be organized on 24 – 25 November 2020 and will conclude on 26 November with the regional expert meeting. The main objective of the meeting is to share best practices and to hear how 13 countries in the region are implementing the principles of the UN SC 1325 resolution and Beijing declaration into their defence policies.
Anyone interested in the training is welcome to join the training online.
For more information please turn to POTC contact point: [email protected] who will share the programme and more details.
28. 10. 2020 | Learning compass, PR
Click here to read more about the project in Slovenian language. 
Centre for European Perspective is together with Center for Communication, Hearing and Speech, Portorož, and Association for human rights and social inclusion Soci (Udruženje za ljudska prava I socialnu inkluziju – SOCI), Bosnia and Herzegovina, organising a three day training titled “Learning Compass – teacher training for work with children with disabilities”.
This training edition will start with a three-day workshop between November 4th and November 6th where three Slovenian experts will be holding lectures and interactive workshops on teacher training for work with children with disabilities and cooperate with their collegues from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The activities will be concluded with a digital informative session for stakeholders, held in the following weeks.
The activities are based on a wider cooperation in the field of pedagogical work and teaching practices focusing on children with disabilities and special needs, achieved through the sharing of knowledge, experience and best practices among teachers. The project brings together experts and trainers from Slovenia with their colleagues in Albania, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Kosovo and North Macedonia who jointly strive to tackle the challenge of their every day work, to secure an educational process that is engaging, adjustable to the learning styles of each child and gives an equal learning opportunity to every individual.
The challenging new environment of the COVID-19 epidemic has also unveiled additional challenges educational systems worldwide needed to adjust to, from technical aspects of virtual school work to social and psychological components pupils are effected by, and that have widened the gap of equal learning opportunities even further. The project program addresses these challenges through various perspectives, from thematic activities to the overall training format, that will be implemented in an online fashion (virtual classroom).
Visit the CEP website for more information of the overall project and all activities encompassed within the project
Project is part of CEP’s program activities financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia in the framework of Slovenia’s Development Cooperation.
23. 10. 2020 | PR
British Embassy Ljubljana, Centre for European Perspective – CEP and Bled Strategic Forum – BSF are delighted to invite you to the first event in the FUTURE PERFECT series titled:
COP vs COVID – Does climate change still matter?
Monday 9 November, 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (CET)
REGISTER NOW
COVID-19 remains top priority for governments worldwide. What does this mean for climate change?
In November 2021 the UK will host COP26, in partnership with Italy. It will be the most important international climate change meeting since the Paris Agreement of 2015, and pivotal in ensuring action to limit the impact of climate change and avoiding global catastrophe. An ambitious outcome from international negotiations – including challenging commitments from all participants – will be crucial.
But has the world taken its eye off the climate change ball during the response to COVID-19?
On 9 November 2020 the British Embassy in Ljubljana, Centre for European Perspective and Bled Strategic Forum invite you to join leading UK and Slovenian climate change and political experts to discuss the most important of questions – what can government, academia, civil society and the public really do about climate change? What are the threats and opportunities that COVID presents to our climate change action? And just how important is a successful COP 26?
PARTICIPANTS:
- Archie Young (UK Lead Climate Negotiator for COP26)
- Tina Kobilšek (Ministry for the Environment & Spatial Planning)
- Dr Lučka Kajfež Bogataj (Climatologist and Professor at Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana)
- Sir Brian Hoskins (Chair of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London)
- Moderator: Ladeja Godina Košir (Founder and Executive Director, Circular Change)
Please join us via Zoom at the link below.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
This will be the launch event of the FUTURE PERFECT event series, organized by the British Embassy in Ljubljana, in cooperation with CEP, BSF and other partners. The FUTURE PERFECT series will gather experts to ask big questions about our post-COVID future.
For more about the series, follow CEP on Facebook and Twitter or Bled Strategic Forum on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or follow the hashtag #FuturePerfectSeries.
22. 10. 2020 | PR, Serbia - management of patrols, Slovenian Development Assistance
The two-year capacity-building project of the Ministry of the Interior of Serbia is nearing successful completion
Click here to read more about the project in Slovenian language.
After a series of demanding steps over the past two years, carried out with Slovenian support, from analysis of the situation, various forms of exchange of knowledge and experience, to development work and optimization, in the coming week in Serbia, from 27 to 30 October 2020, handover of the developed information technology for patrol management will be held. Prior to the handover, a test workshop and counselling for the use of equipment and knowledge will take place in Vranje, which will enable better management of patrols. In this way, with the help of Slovenia, Serbia is trying to improve the response of police patrols to the needs of the people, the coordination of police work in the field, including the response to migration, and the protection of police officers in performing police duties.
The project is part of program activities carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior / Police of the Republic of Slovenia and CVS Mobile and is financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia from funds for international development cooperation.
Further information:
Andreja Dolničar Jeraj
Programme Director
Centre for European Perspective
28. 9. 2020 | European Digital Diplomacy Exchange, PR
European Digital Diplomacy Exchange Steering Board and Symposium on Government Communication during COVID-19 Pandemic begins virtually
Click here to read more about the project in Slovenian language.
The Centre for European Perspective, together with the U.S. Department of State and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia organized a Steering Board meeting and Symposium on Government Communication during COVID-19 pandemic. The event has been hosted via Zoom, taking place from Monday, 28 September to Friday, 2 October 2020.
DAY 1
At the beginning, participants were addressed by Matt Jacobs from the U.S. Department of State and Project Coordinator Ingrid Omahna from the Centre for European Perspective.
The day commenced after the introductory remarks, with a lecture by Tom Fletcher, Former British Ambassador and Downing Street Foreign Policy Advisor and author of the book “The Naked Diplomat: Understanding Power and Politics in the Digital Age”. He presented a lecture about the state of diplomacy before and after 2020, explained current trends, and pointed out 10 crucial questions to consider in order to survive as a diplomat in the future.
Ivana Boštjančič Pulko from Information Security Administration of the Republic of Slovenia continued with a session about “Essentials for Trainers”. The sharing of experience and knowledge is at the very core of the EDDE network, and as participants openly discussed with Mrs. Pulko, there is a dividing line between a good and bad trainer. Mrs. Pulko covered the theoretical essentials of a good trainer, tips and tricks that can help trainers be more confident and advise on how to engage their audience. Guest participants were engaged in an open discussion, that included their questions, challenges and a topic very close to the overall Steering board and Symposium subject, namely how can trainers adapt to the new COVID reality.
The day concluded with the EDDE Steering Board meeting where the next steps of the project were discussed.
DAY 2
The second day started with a lecture by prof. Corneliu Bjola, Associate Professor of Diplomatic Studies from the University of Oxford. Participants dived deep into The Digital “Dark Side” of the COVID-19 Pandemic with a focus on 5G conspiracy theory. The participants learnt the basics of conspiracy theories, how to detect and counter them effectively and what kind of impact they have on the public health system during the current pandemic.
The second session of the second day focused on the Cases of Disinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic. A lecture was given by Veronika Krátka Špalková, Analyst of the Kremlin Watch Program from European Values Center for Security Policy. She focused on the Czech disinformation environment and held a detailed presentation of the context, waves and cases of disinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The third and last session of the day included a presentation by Jakub Kalensky and Andy Carvin, both working at the capacity of Senior Fellow at the Digital Forensic Research Lab within the Atlantic Council. They presented an overview of Disinformation in the new COVID reality. As they suggested, times of crisis have always presented an opportunity/void in which disinformation can flourish, with the current pandemic being no different. The Atlantic Council is working closely from the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and has researched, analyzed, and exposed various harmful narratives worldwide.
DAY 3
The third day of the event started with a session by Bernd Spainer from Communications Policy & Public Diplomacy Division of the European External Action Service. Lecture focused on Strategic Communication during COVID-19 at the EU level. The next presenter was Elina Lange- Ionatamišviili, from NATO StratCom Centre of Excelence, who presented the role of StratComs during COVID-19 emergency, the issue of “infodemic” and its impact on the society in a broader sense. Last but not least, Christ Smith from EUR Stratcom Team of U.S. Department of State, talked about the role of StratCom during the COVID-19 Emergency from the U.S. Perspective.
DAY 4
The fourth day was dedicated to social media and their active role in digital diplomacy. The first session was held by Matthias Lüfkens, Author of Twiplomacy and Managing Director at Burson Cohn & Wolfe. Matthias explained how governments and world leaders reacted to COVID-19 on Twitter. The day closed with a group activity session about the next steps of the EDDE project.
On the last day, the Steering Board members provided an overview of how different governments have responded in relation to COVID-19.
This valuable event would not have been possible without the support of the U.S. Department of State and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia within the Official Development Cooperation instrument.
