Coalition for the Protection of Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Center for Environment and Arnika (Czech Republic) in collaboration with ACT Foundation (BiH) are kindly inviting you to an international conference organized with the financial support of Transition Promotion Program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and Heinrich Böll Stiftung Foundation.
Program of the conference is preliminary and changes are possible.
Date: November 3 - November 5
Conference venue: Hotel Ibis Styles Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
The conference will be held in English and BCS languages. Simultaneous interpretation will be provided.
The Western Balkans are unique with their number of natural watercourses that are true hotspots of European freshwater biodiversity. The boom of hydropower plant construction threatens the last pristine European rivers and negatively affects the environment and local communities. In recent years, local communities have stood up to protect their rights and stopped many harmful projects. Politicians also realized that hydropower is not always a sustainable solution; more and more municipalities commit to being “dams-free” and policies on national level start to restrict construction of small hydropower plants. The conference reflects on development of the last three years and discusses further steps to protect the rivers of the Western Balkans and the people dependent on them, and to secure enough clean and sustainable energy.
Agenda
Thursday| November 3
9:00 – 9:30 WELCOMING PARTICIPANTS
Opening remarks of organizers and donors.
- H.E. Ivana Hlavsová, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Ms. Judith Brand, Office director of Heinrich Böll Stiftung Sarajevo
- Ms. Zuzana Vachůnová, Arnika Association
9:30 – 14:15 PROGRAM BLOCK 1: FROM THE “DECLARATION ON RIVERS” TO “DAMS-FREE MUNICIPALITIES”
The block is presenting reflection on the development of the last 3 years, since both entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Declaration on the Protection of the Western Balkan Rivers . Even the top-rank politicians realize that hydropower is not always a sustainable solution and the negative impacts on nature and people prevails. This political shift is the result of long-term public awareness campaigns and legal fights that local communities have been leading for years – they will present their fights to protect rivers, show how the global pandemic and the shift in political opinion on hydropower development affected their struggles . The representatives of competent authorities will present what they have done and achieved during three years to implement the provisions of the Declaration into practice. The panel discussion will be organized to jointly define the future steps needed to prevent excessive construction of hydropower plants and for better protection of nature and sustainable energy.
9:30 – 10:10 Summary of development since 2019
Robert Oroz: Coalition for the Protection of Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina
In this opening presentation we will show some basic numbers about hydro projects in BiH and Western Balkans and discuss how the situation in regards to hydro energy changed throughout the region.
10:10 – 10:30 Legislative changes in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2019/ Coalition for Rivers BiH
Nina Kresevljaković: Coalition for the Protection of Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Environmental lawyers will present a short summary on main legislative changes in both entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
10:30 – 11:30 “Let our rivers flow!” Local communities’ struggles for free rivers
People from local communities will talk about their successful and unsuccessful fights against hydro power plants on their rivers, share their personal experience and how it affected their community and environment.
- Case of Neretvica river: Arnel Mahmutović/ Pusti me da tečem
- Case of Kasindolska river: Sunčica Kovačević i Sara Tuševljak/ Stop izgradnji MHE na Kasindolskoj rijeci
- Case of Buna river: Oliver Arapović/ Majski cvijet
- Case of Ugar river: Indir Melić/ Sportsko ribolovno društvo Travnik
11:30 – 11:50 Coffee break
11:50 – 12:30 Presentations by competent authorities: Implementation of river protection policies in 2019 - 2022
We will invite representatives of competent authorities from both entities of BiH to present a short summary of their work towards river protection and implementation of the provision of the Declaration.
12:30 – 13:15 Current problems in legislation & necessary changes
Emina Vejlović: Aarhus center Sarajevo
A short summary on what legislative changes needs yet to be done from the perspective of ecological NGOs.
13:15 – 14:15 Panel discussion: The 2019-2022 journey & today’s crossroad
Representatives of authorities and civic society will discuss whether the changes are sufficient, what yet has to be done, where are the remaining obstacles and how can we remove them.
Moderator: Lejla Kusturica: Director at Foundation Atelier for Community Transformation - ACT
Panelists:
Emina Vejlović: Director of Aarhus center Sarajevo
Redžib Skomorac: lawyer, Center for Environment
Oliver Arapović: activists, Majski cvijet '
Representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Others TBC
14:15 – 15:15 Lunch
15:15 – 17:00 PROGRAM BLOCK 2: THE RIVER KEEPERS
15:15 – 15:30 River Keepers
Robert Oroz: Coalition for the Protection of Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local people know environment and rivers and they are often the ones who notice and monitor their desirable changes such as low river flow or suspicious activities. Thus they often supply the work of authorities such as Ecological inspection. In this presentation we will show you how the river keepers work in terrain and present their main findings.
15:30 – 15:50 Ecological Inspection in BiH - presentation of a new analysis
Ratko Pilipović: Center for Environment
We will present a new legal analyses on the ecological inspection in BiH including several case studies and examples of a good practice from other European countries.
15:50 – 16:10 Dry river beds: a new online tool for citizens to monitor and report cases of river destruction
Zuzana Vachůnová: Arnika
16:10 – 16:30 Coffee break
16:30 – 17:00 Constitutional right for water: presentation of the initiative
Nina Kresevljaković & Anes Podić: Coalition for the Protection of Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina
18:00 – 19:00 Dinner
19:00 – 21:00 Informal evening program: Premier of an upcoming movie “Bitka za Neretvu 3” with an introductory world of the director Dragan Stanimirović from Al Jazeera Balkans
THIS PROGRAM IS IN BCS LANGUAGES ONLY!
Friday| November 4
9:30– 12:00 PROGRAM BLOCK 3: DAMS-FREE MUNICIPALITIES
For municipalities, the losses resulting from the construction of hydropower plants are higher than profits. More and more municipalities are aware of the rights of their inhabitants to a healthy environment and clean water. 16 municipalities of Bosnia and Herzegovina have recognized it and joined the Dam-free municipality initiative to support sustainable local development; and the number is still growing. We will present the initiative and discuss how to protect the rivers locally and what the benefit for municipalities is.
9:30– 9:50 The Sixteen Brave Ones: Municipalities without dams/ Coalition for Rivers BiH
Vladimir Topić: Center for Environment
We will present the initiative for dam-free municipalities that we launched in 2019 and our struggles to get on board as many municipalities as possible.
9:50 – 10:20 Mayors in action: Local politicians recognizing the importance of healthy rivers
Mayors of some “dam-free” towns and villages will talk about their reasons for joining the initiative and how it affected the local development.
10:20 – 11:20 Declaration for the protection of Western Balkan rivers: discussion on what has been achieved and what yet needs to be done
11:20 – 12:00 Coffee break
12:00 – 15:30 PROGRAM BLOCK 4: DISCUSSING THE ALTERNATIVE
If neither coal burning nor hydropower is the future for Western Balkans, what should be? In this block we will focus on discussing alternatives to hydropower that are more sustainable, contribute less to climate change and are socially just.
12:00 - 12:20 How do we produce electric energy in BiH - an overview
Anes Podić: Eko akcija
12:20 - 12:40 Presentation of the Manifesto of energy future
Anes Podić: Eko akcija
12:40 - 13:20 Citizens energy: Example of Solar Pecka
Boro Marić: Association Greenways
Crowdfunding campaign for the first solar prosuming rural community pilot project
13:20– 14:20 Lunch break + joint photo
14:20– 15:40 Panel discussion: The energy future of the Western Balkans
If not coal and hydro, what should be the energy future of the Western Balkans? How the energy mix should look like and what legislative/normative changes should be done to achieve it? We will invite representatives of civic society, ministries and international institutions to discuss these questions.
Moderator: TBC
Panelists:
Samir Lemeš: Professor at University of Zenica and member of Eko-forum Zenica
Denis Žizko: Energy and climate change program coordinator
Pippa Gallop: Biodiversity and Finance/Southeast Europe Energy Advisor at CEE Bankwatch
Damir Miljević: Member of managing board at RESET - sustainable energy transition center
Others TBC
15:40 – 16:00 Closing of the conference
16:00 - 17:00 Coffee break and networking
20:00 + Informal evening program: Drinks and networking
Venue TBC
Saturday| November 5
9:30 - 14:00 SPACE FOR ACTIVISTS AND CIVIC SOCIETY
The last day of the conference will be dedicated to civic society only. Being an activist can be very stressful. People usually see us as those who are “always against”, and those who always complain. We experience a lot of verbal attacks, defamation, sometimes legal attacks and in worst cases even physical violence. That is why we would like to dedicate part of the day to talk and learn about self-care and share the experience of dealing with these situations.
OPTION 1: MORNING PROGRAM
THIS PROGRAM IS IN BCS LANGUAGES ONLY!
10:00 - 12:00 Coalition for Rivers: internal discussion - what we have achieved and where we are we headed
12:00 - 12:30 Coffee break
OPTION 2: MORNING PROGRAM
9:30 - 12:30 Visiting the natural area of springs of river Bosnia
JOINT PROGRAM
12:30 - 14:00 Self-care of activists: a space for sharing
14:00 - 15:00 Lunch
