Arnika – Centre for Citizens’ Support (Czechia), Center for Environment (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and Coalition for the Protection of Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnia and Herzegovina) kindly invite you to a summer school for activists organized with the financial support of the Transition Promotion Program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and the Central European Initiative. You can attend the Summer School in-person or online, except for sessions marked “in-person only.”
The Western Balkan countries are unique, with an enormous number of pristine rivers providing habitats for rare and endemic plants and animals. These jewels of nature are threatened by an uncontrolled boom of hydropower plants. The construction causes irreversible damage to the natural environment and violates the rights of local communities. The summer school intends to bring together the civic society, students, academics, and independent experts to the topic of protection of the rivers of Western Balkans to share experience from local campaigns and discuss joint steps to save the Balkan rivers.
Date: September 2 - September 5
Venue: Hotel Bacchus, Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina
The event will be held in Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian All time indicated is the Central European Summer Time
10:30 - 11:00 INTRODUCTION, REGISTRATION OF PARTICIPANTS
11:00 - 14:00 Presentation of scientist data arguments for river protection and discussion how it can be used by the civic society
Independent experts and activists from the Czech Republic and Bosnia and Herzegovina will present various arguments for river protection (hydrologist, environmental, biologist social, etc.) in a popular way. Participants will learn how to use these different arguments and through role-playing excercise learn how to implement it in practice.
11:00 - 11:40 Presenting the arguments Saudin Merdan: Center Dr. Stjepan Bolkay (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
11:40 - 12:20 Presenting the arguments: example of Novomlýnské reservoirs (video presentation) Mojmír Vlašín: zoologist, ecologist and activist (Czechia)
12:20 - 12:40 Coffee break
12:40 - 14:00 Practical excercise and role-playing (in-person only)
14:00 - 15:00 LUNCH
15:00 - 16:00 Building cross-border civic society networks for river protection (English friendly) Eugene Simonov (Russia)
16:00 - 19:00 Campaining for rivers Part 1: sharing regional experiences from the Western Balkans
Participants will present their struggles against dams and for free-flowing rivers in short, up-to-point presentations (each 10 minutes max). The focus will be on sharing the good and bad practice they learned during their campaigns- what has worked for them and what did not?
Dragana Skenderija (Bosnia and Herzegovina): Vrbas case
Maida Bilal (Bosnia and Herzegovina): Kruščica case
Arnel Mahmutović (Bosnia and Herzegovina): Neretvica case
Denis Mekić (Montenegro)
Goran Krivić (Bosnia and Herzegovina): Sana case
Indir Melić (Bosnia and Herzegovina): Ugar case
Shpresa Loshaj (Kosovo)
Friday | September 3
9:00 - 10:00 A struggle for justice for the people affected by the Sardar Sarovar dam project (English friendly) Medha Patkar (India)
10:00 - 13:00 Campaigning for Rivers Part 2: different aspects of campaigning
In a series of presentations, independent experts and activists will present different aspects of building a campaign – legal, media, and PR, direct actions.
10:00 - 10:50 Legal aspect Nina Kresevljaković: lawyer, Aarhus center Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
10:50 - 11:10 Coffee break
11:10 - 12:00 How to communicate with journalists? Markéta Dosoudilová: PR expert, Arnika (Czech republic)
12:00 - 13:00 Happenings and direct actions Dragana Skenderija: activists, Center for Environment (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
13:00 - 14:00 Lunch
14:00 - 18:00 Campaigning for Rivers Part 3: planning of local campaigns (in-person only)
With the knowledge and information obtained in previous days, the participants will plan their local campaigns under the supervision of a campaign planner.
Jelena Brkić: activist (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Saturday | September 4
9:00 - 10:00 Mphanda Nkuwa, 20 years of struggle to protect the Zambezi River, his people, and biodiversity (English friendly) Anabela Lemos (Mozambique)
10:00 - 12:00 River keepers
Presentation of local and international experience with civic monitoring and controlling the rivers state followed by a discussion on how to build “an army of River Keepers” in the region.
10:00 - 11:00 River keepers experience in Poland (English friendly) Jacek Bożek: Club Gaja (Poland)
11:00 - 11:30 Discussion
11:30 - 12:00 Coffee break
12:00 - 13:00 Preparation for the joint happening
13:00 - 14:00 Lunch
14:00 - 18:00 A joint happening and informal activities (in-person only)
Canoeing, movie screening – depending on weather and epidemiological situation.
10:00 - 11:00 Degrowth, energy descent, and 'low-tech' solutions (English friendly) Kris de Decker (Spain)
11:00 - 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 - 15:30 Protected areas and implementation of the Natura 2000 network in the Western Balkans
Presentation of different types of protected areas in the Western Balkans and comparison with the situation in the Czech republic. The focus will be on successful initiatives for territorial protection started by NGOs and on discussion of what can civic society do to improve nature protection and which steps can be done to start to implement the Natura 2000 network – presenting the Czech experience.
11:30 – 13:00 Citizens initiative for protection of nature areas Viktor Bjelić: Center for Environment (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
13:00 - 13:20 Types of protected areas in the Czech Republic (English friendly) Vlastimil Karlík: Arnika (Czechia)
13:20 - 13:40 Czech example of civic initiatives for creation of protected areas (English friendly) Martin Hanousek: Jaro Jaroměř (Czechia)
13:40 - 14:00 Coffee break
14:00 – 14:40 Natura 2000 and the process of official designation of Natura 2000 (English friendly) Michal Hošek: Integra Consulting (Czechia)
14:40 - 15:20 Forms of participation of NGOs during the process of Natura 2000 designation (English friendly) Vlastimil Karlík: Arnika (Czechia)
15:30 - 16:30 Lunch
Speakers
Eugene Simonov Eugene is an environmental advocacy expert and researcher, and coordinator of the Rivers without Boundaries International Coalition. He has rich life and work experience in Russia, USA, China, Mongolia, Israel, and work-related exposure to 30 more countries. He has collaborated with many development institutions, state agencies, and international financial institutions in Russia, China, USA, and Mongolia. Currently, he is focused on the environmental adjustment of post-COVID recovery programs, safeguarding World Heritage through UNESCO treaty mechanisms, climate and biodiversity – proofing of water and energy development programs in Russia, Mongolia, Indonesia, Central Asia, and the Mekong Region.
Saudin Merdan Saudin is an experienced biologist with his main focus on herpetology (reptiles and amphibians). He is a president of a biological and ecological society "Center Dr. Stjepan Bolkay" and a board member of Coalition for the Protection of the Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In his work as a herpetologist, he has been involved in numerous research and protection projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as in the Balkan region.
Mojmír Vlašín Mojmír is a zoologist, ecologist, activist and politician. He graduated from the Faculty of Science of Masaryk University in Brno, majoring in biology. After graduating from school, he was, among other things, the Deputy Director of the Czech Institute for Nature Protection. He is active in a number of non-governmental conservation and scientific organizations, including the Veronica Ecological Institute, Czech Ornithological Society, and Czech Society for the Protection of Bats. He led the campaign against the Nové Mlýny reservoirs on the Dyje river.
Nina Kresevjaković Nina is an activist and environmental lawyer based in Sarajevo.She is actively working on a large number of legal cases against the mass construction of hydropower projects in BiH, as well as on numerous other environmental issues.She started a pilot project called Ecological Law Clinic with law faculties of Sarajevo and East Sarajevo. During 2020, she was hired as an educator of judges and prosecutors from all over the country on environmental law.She is permanently employed as a legal advisor at the Aarhus Center in BiH, is a member of the board of directors of the ACT Foundation, and is a member of the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide.Currently, Nina is working on over 30 different legal cases related to the protection of human rights in the field of the environment.
Markéta Dosoudilová Markéta is a graduate of Czech philology at Palacký University in Olomouc, where she focused mainly on Czech for foreigners, cognitive linguistics, and various aspects of communication. She started her career as a news presenter at Radio Haná, after previous experiences in written media. She loves traveling and volunteering - she worked as a camp counsellor for disabled people in the USA and as an English teacher in Indonesia. She finds her purpose in humble fighting for a better future by informing and inspiring others, mainly in the topics of environmental protection and sustainability, animals' rights, kids/adults / public education and enlightenment, working with people with disabilities, and self-development. Since June 2020, she is responsible for Arnika's international PR.
Dragana Skenderija In 2015 Dragana joined the Center for Environment activist group where she remains to date. She participated in numerous camps where she gained number of experiences which she later used to motivate a new group of activists in the organization. She has contributed to Centers' work through the initiative “Our Space”. She started as a Logistics Assistant, then she became the Coalition for the Protection of the Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina coordinator. She is a great lover of nature and cycling, and she uses every opportunity to enjoy these.
Jelena Brkić Jelena is an activist interested in the field of environmental protection, especially in the context of advocacy initiatives and youth engagement. She worked at the Center for the Environment, where she led the initiative Our Space, which aimed to preserve and improve public green spaces in Banja Luka and beyond.She has also participated in or provided professional support to several civic initiatives dealing with public spaces. Today, she is involved in youth work where she provides mentoring to young people throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina in building an active role in society.
Anabela Lemos Anabela is an environmental justice activist and founding member of Livaningo, Mozambique’s first environmental organization (founded in 1998). She left Livaningo in 2004 to start Justiça Ambiental (JA!). She has always undertaken her activities, at both JA and Livaningo as a volunteer and has been working on environmental justice issues over 22 years. She co-coordinates the Mphanda Nkuwa dam campaign and is involved with other activities such as research, campaigns, and fieldwork. Anabela received the Mozambican National Environmental Prize in 2005.
Jacek Bożek Jacek is a founder and president of Klub Gaja. A professional social entrepreneur, expert in civil society activism in the area of environmental protection and animal welfare. In 2011 he was awarded with the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta for building civil society. He is involved in Klub Gaja nationwide and international programs including the environmental education programs „Adopt a River” (since 2005). In his work, he uses a range of artistic activity forms, he is directing happenings and theatre shows.
Roberto Epple Roberto is a former campaigner of WWF International on European rivers and founder and president of European Rivers Network and SOS Loire vivante. For decades he has initiated and coordinated long-term river basin-related campaigns to save the Danube, Ebro, Guadalquivir, Loire, Elbe, and Rhine in partnership with international NGOs. He played a key role in the realization of the first Europe-wide removals of dams.
Kris De Decker
Kris is the author of Low-tech Magazine, an online publication that refuses to assume that every problem has a high-tech solution. Since 2018, Low-tech Magazine runs on a self-hosted,solar-powered server, and since 2019 it is also available in print. De Decker also wrote for the Demand Centre at Lancaster University (UK), which researches energy demand in relation to social practices, and is the co-founder of the Human Power Plant, an art project that investigates the possibilities of human power production in a modern society. Before the creation of Low-tech Magazine in 2007, De Decker was reporting on cutting-edge science and technology as a freelance journalist for newspapers and magazines. He was born in Belgium and lives in Spain.
Viktor Bjelić Viktor was born in 1977 in Banja Luka, where he studied and became an Bsc. of Geography and Tourism. He is one of the founders of the Center for Environment (Young Researchers of Banja Luka) who for many years worked on various projects, programs, and activities, both professionally and through volunteer engagement. He is the initiator of the founding and he is coordinator of the Aarhus Center in Banja Luka and the network of Aarhus Centers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is one of the initiators of the Coalition for the Protection of the Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Vlastimil Karlik Vlastimil has been an ecological activist since 1997. He has been working in the organization „Děti Země“ (Children of the Earth), Arnika, and the Czech Coalition for Rivers. The main focus of his work is on biodiversity, Natura 2000 network, and especially protection and restoration of rivers. He has led the campaign „For Living Elbe“ against dams on Elbe river in the years 1998 - 2004, is a co-founder of both Coalition of NGOs for Natura 2000 and Coalition for Rivers, and currently works on the position of senior nature conservation expert in Arnika – Center for Citizens Support.
Michael Hošek Michael is co-owner and managing partner of the INTEGRA Group, mainly working on projects related to biodiversity conservation and capacity development in the EU and its candidate and associated countries - in major focused on the EU Nature Directives incl. Natura 2000 legal transposition and real implementation. Between 2002 – 2013, he worked at the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic, where he was Deputy Director- He was responsible for scientific and technical coordination of designation of the Natura 2000 network in the country, and international relationships. Later on, he worked at the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic as Director General for Nature Conservation. He has been serving as Vice President and Council member at the EUROPARC Federation since 2014, and as the Council member of International Union for Conservation of Nature since 2012.
Martin Hanousek Martin is a landscape ecologist and politician (municipal and regional representative for the Green Party), born 1983, he worked at the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic an in the non-profit organization Czech Union for Nature Conservation. Between 2018 and 2021, he was the Deputy Mayor of the City of Hradec Králové for Social Affairs, Health Care, Education, and the Environment. In nature protection, he focuses mainly on the protection of waters and forest-free habitats. He actively opposed the construction of large water reservoirs.
Presentations
Presentation of scientist data arguments for river protection
Saudin Merdan: biologist, Center Dr. Stjepan Bolkay (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Building cross-border civic society networks for river protection
Eugene Simonov (Russia)
Campaining for rivers Part 1: sharing regional experiences from the Western Balkans
Goran Krivić (Bosnia and Herzegovina): Sana case
Indir Melić (Bosnia and Herzegovina): Ugar case
Campaigning for Rivers Part 2: Legal Aspects
Nina Kresevljaković: lawyer, Aarhus center Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
In order to ensure a better and healthier future for as many people as possible, we share our know-how and protect the environment and environmental rights regardless of geographical location.
