Public Participation in Preparation of B&H Energy Strategy

Center for Environment

On Wednesday, March 28, the Centre for the Environment, together with 10 other associations from Bosnia and Herzegovina, started the implementation of its �Public Participation in Preparation of B&H Energy Strategy� campaign.

The campaign aims include informing the citizens about the necessity for strategic planning in the field of energy and approaches to public participation; the opening of dialogue on energy strategy between citizens, expert community and institutions; and, informing the citizens about energy efficiency, renewable energy, global trends in the field and reversing the global warming trends.

By this, the organizers want to motivate and involve as many citizens, associations and experts interested in the field of energy into the process of preparation. Their participation in the preparation of the energy strategy should lay the foundations for a sustainable energy production and consumption future in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The campaign started with actions in 10 B&H cities and townships (Banjaluka, Sarajevo, Tuzla, Konjic, Doboj, Kljuc, Lopare, Stolac, Mrkonjic Grad and Bihac) with activists of the associations involved in the campaign distributing information material to the citizens and representatives of legislative and executive branches of government on local, entity and national level.

The campaign is a part of the �Strengthened Role of Environmental NGOs in B&H� project, financed by the European Union, and the �Public Participation in Preparation of B&H Energy Strategy�, financed by the US Department of Agriculture in cooperation with International Orthodox Humanitarian Organization.

These projects aim to strengthen the role of NGOs in decision making processes and to increase the cooperation on environmental issues between governmental institutions and the NGO sector. One of the most important objectives is to increase public awareness on the environment.

Ekoteam and the Heinrich Boll Foundation (Sarajevo), Centre for Ecology and Energy (Tuzla), Environmental Coalition of Una River Basin (Bihac), Zeleni Neretva (Konjic), Environmental movement Zelenkovac (Podrasnica), Troya (Stolac), Eko-Leonardo (Priboj), Eco-Movement of the Greens (Kljuc) and Tolerance against Difference (Doboj) are the organizations included as partners.