Civic Alliance of Montenegro said regional conference ’Energy. Development. Democracy: How successful policy dialogue can ensure sustainable use of energy and climate protection in South East Europe?’ will take place in Podgorica on September 29–30. The event is part of the project ’Public Dialogue on Sustainable Use of Energy and Energy Efficiency’, implemented since 2011 by seven schools of political studies from the region with the support of German Organization for International Cooperation (GIZ) and its Open Regional Fund for Energy Efficiency. The School of Democratic Leadership is the host of the third regional conference. This phase of the project is supported by Federal German Foundation for Environment, School of Democratic Leadership, but six schools from Serbia, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are also members of the Network of Schools of Political Studies, operating under the auspices of the Council of Europe.
Special focus within this project is participation of parliamentarians, so previous two regional conferences were organized in the parliaments of Serbia and Croatia. The conference will bring together representatives of the European Parliament, members of parliaments from regional countries, leaders of civil society organizations, and energy experts. The objective is to exchange information and ideas, to improve better understanding of dynamics and direction of the EU and global sustainable energy and climate protection targets but also specific challenges for Southeast European countries and to share examples of a successful creation and implementation of policies that will help preparing the Southeast European region for being fully integrated into the European energy space.
Additional support in realization of the conference is provided by Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), South East Europe Association Munich, Energy Community Secretariat and Chamber of Economy of Montenegro. Also, a special session within the conference will be devoted to a meeting of members of parliaments and members of energy committees to be hosted by RCC and Energy Community Secretariat.