5. 3. 2020 | Bled Strategic Forum, PR, Youth
On 4 March 2020, Jable castle hosted a group of some 40 experts, practitioners, state officials, diplomats, students and civil society representatives to discuss demographic challenges of the Western Balkan (WB) countries in the context of brain drain and possibility of turning it into brain circulation. Organized by Centre for European Perspective (CEP) in cooperation with Central European Initiative (CEI), the event took place within the framework of Young Bled Strategic Forum (Young BSF).
The closed morning session aimed to outline the demographic challenges of WB region and shed a light on the brain drain, as well as identify good practices and policies. The main guiding questions were: Are there ways to stop the brain drain? Is it productive to think of ways to stop it? How can we turn brain drain into brain circulation? What good practices can EU countries offer in this regards? Are there any state-sponsored activities or programs tackling the issue that could be presented as good practices? Are governments doing something to re-attract skilled workers and highly educated individuals into their home countries? Are countries with a large diaspora in any way profiting from this?
The second part, open to general public, hosted various experts in the field who discussed the conclusions from the first session, as well as offered insights into potential solutions to the brain drain issue. The event was opened by Nina Kodelja, Deputy Secretary General of CEI, who stressed that demographic issues affect the societal tissue profoundly. Katja Geršak, Executive Director of CEP, continued with the presentation of good practices that CEP and Slovenia are implementing through development projects. In addition, Andor Dávid, Executive Director of International Visegrad Fund (IVF) shared some thoughts on entrepreneurship, where he stressed that entrepreneurial and innovation spirit have to be awoken at an early age. He added that IVF activities in the WB region focus on future jobs, which do not exist yet but could offer a new impetus to local communities in the future.
The discussants, Dafina Peci, Secretary General at National Youth Congress of Albania, Jernej Štromajer, State Secretary at the Ministry of Education of Slovenia, and Anja Fortuna, President of National Youth Council of Slovenia, agreed there are numerous reasons to why people decide to move, while we should seek deeper reasons to why this occurs. Healthcare, housing, family policies, educational system, democratic performance, environment policies etc. all play an important role when trying to turn brain drain into brain circulation. They also agreed that governments should, through a mix of different policies, offer incentives for youth to stay in their home countries.
Concluding remarks were offered by Peter Grk, Secretary General of Bled Strategic Forum and National Coordinator for the Western Balkans from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, who stressed that what the WB region is lacking are the “lights” (hope), while currently there are no lights to be turned off, paraphrasing the title of the round table. “Both the EU and WB countries need to stop pretending and start creating favourable conditions for youth in the region”, stressed Grk.
Meliha Muherina, Programme Director of the Young BSF, moderated the event.
Concrete policy recommendations on the topic discussed will follow in the upcoming weeks.
4. 3. 2020 | European Digital Diplomacy Exchange, PR
The Centre for European Perspective (CEP), together with the U.S. Department of State, and the support from the Moldovan State Chancellery and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Moldova, is organizing a two-day training for Moldovan government communicators within the scope of “European Digital Diplomacy Exchange (EDDE)” project. The training will take place on 5 – 6 March in Government House in Chișinău.
Today’s public sphere is shaped by the proliferation of digital communication channels that are constantly bringing new challenges for governments. Government communicators are required to be active on social networks, but this role is too often taken for granted. In order to ensure successful communication, they constantly need to expand their knowledge, experience, different abilities and skills.
This training will cover a range of topics from public relations and public diplomacy theory to the practical application of digital tools, conducted by experienced public and private sector communicators in this emerging media environment.
28. 1. 2020 | PR, Serbia - management of patrols, Slovenian Development Assistance
Achieving results in Slovenian international development cooperation with the Republic of Serbia through innovative ICT technologies
Click here to read more about the project in Slovenian language. 
The strategic orientation of the state authorities of the Republic of Serbia, including its important part – the Ministry of the Interior, in the process of reforms and approximation to the EU is to modernize public administration and become an effective service for all citizens. In the year 2020 the implementation of Slovenian international development assistance to the Republic of Serbia continues, with the aim of improving the response of police patrols to the needs of the people, coordination of police work in the field, including adequate response to migration and protection of police officers in the performance of police tasks. It is a contribution to the UN sustainable development goals, to develop an efficient, responsible and transparent institution, which Slovenia has also identified as a priority in the implementation of international development cooperation.
The ICT transformation is a public sector imperative in current times and governments have to harness innovative technologies to create better outcomes for citizens, which is also part of subject matter development assistance. To this end and among other activities, innovative ICT technology is being jointly developed that will help Serbia to effectively manage patrols. In addition to ICT professionals, the development is closely involved with representatives of all police powers; general, traffic and border police, who gathered in Belgrade on January 22, 2020 and successfully tested the ICT solutions developed so far.
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
15. 1. 2020 | PR, Serbia - management of patrols, Slovenian Development Assistance
Press release: By innovative information technologies to achieve results in international development cooperation with the Republic of Serbia
Click here to read more about the project in Slovenian language.
In the year 2020 the implementation of Slovenian international development assistance to the Republic of Serbia continues, with the aim of improving the response of police patrols to the needs of the people, coordination of police work in the field, including adequate response to migration and protection of police officers in the performance of police tasks. The strategic orientation of the state authorities of the Republic of Serbia in the process of reforms and approximation to the EU is to modernize public administration and become an effective service for all citizens. In this respect the modern technology and digitalisation of government operations is crucial for success. It is a contribution to the UN sustainable development goals, to develop an efficient, responsible and transparent institution, which Slovenia has also identified as a priority in the implementation of international development cooperation.
To this end and among other activities, innovative ICT technology is being jointly developed that will help Serbia to effectively manage patrols. In addition to ICT professionals, the development is closely involved with representatives of all police powers; general, traffic and border police, who will gather in Belgrade on January 22, 2020 to test the ICT solutions developed so far.
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
20. 12. 2019 | LET4CAP, PR
Training of trainers was the last activity within the LET4CAP project – “Law Enforcement Training for Capacity Building project” that implemented seven trainings in the last two years. Project members – Centre for European Perspective, Italian Carabinieri, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, the Polish police force “Policja” and the in-house agency of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, “Studiare Sviluppo”, have contributed to more consistent and efficient assistance in law enforcement capacity building to third countries.
Training or trainers in Ljubljana from 17 – 18 December brought together 17 experienced trainers from 13 countries that learned from each other, worked on their presentation and communication skills and improved their knowledge about training theory, design and evaluation. Group work and dynamic programme contributed to an excellent atmosphere that facilitated great peer-to-peer learning as well as expertise from various working environments.
Project has been co-financed by Internal Security Fund of the European Union.
16. 12. 2019 | European Digital Diplomacy Exchange, PR
Nowadays, everyone has a powerful video camera in a pocket: a smartphone. With a little practice, tools, tips, government communicators have all they need at their fingertips. The Centre for European Perspective (CEP) in cooperation with the United States Department of State, therefore conducted a training on Smartphone Videography between 10 and 12 December 2019 in Bled, Slovenia.
The training attracted more than 30 government communicators coming from different ministries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Romania, Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine and Slovenia.
Since video is undoubtedly one of the most engaging and effective tools to communicate with audiences at the time, the participants were introduced to the world of smartphone filmmaking. After a course with Boštjan Romih they became confident and engaging public speakers, digital storytellers after a session with Charlelie Jourdan and effective communicators during the crisis after the lecture from Matt Jacobs. For the finals, they learned about the digital convergence with Matej Praprotnik and media strategies in Bosnia and Herzegovina with Admir Malagic on the first day.
On the second day, film director and CEO of Studio Production House Dražen Štader guided participants through the process of smartphone video production, including the needed equipment, video-techniques and editing of video products. U.S. Embassy Ljubljana Public Affairs Officer, J.B. Leedy presented best practices in smartphone photography, while Ingrid Omahna focused on visual communication design. Andy Carvin from the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council and Nina Pejič, Researcher at Faculty of Social Sciences of the University in Ljubljana talked about the emerging threats in the digital space.
On the last day, participants divided into 6 teams needed to put the gained knowledge into practice. They became a team of government communicators for the Ministry of Citizen Protection of a country called Sloland that is challenged with a huge influx of refugees from a neighboring country called Gotan. They were tasked to launch a 3-day digital campaign to communicate the benefits of immigration and push back against anti-immigrant and anti-refugee rhetoric, which they completed with excellence.
European Digital Diplomacy Exchange project that started off in 2017 on the initiative of the U.S. Department of State, is committed to increasing members’ collective capacities to effectively operate within the digital information space. The strong relationships fostered over the courses of the project have precipitated a network of dedicated professionals who are committed to ensuring governments are operating ahead of the digital curve, and therefore able to better communicate with their citizens, better listen to their citizens, and both embrace and protect their role within the context of this new, democratized, digital information environment.
