Training “Green Economy and Entrepreneurship”

In the period from June 16th to 18th, 2020, the Network for Rural Development of Serbia held a program-specific training "Green Economy and Entrepreneurship". The training was realized in Mala Remeta on Fruška Gora in the restaurant “Lugarnica” within the Networking and Advocacy for Green Economy project (NAGE) which is financed by the European Union, where the Network for rural development of Serbia is one of the partners.

Training was attended by 20 representatives of CSOs from Serbia. Training was provided by trainers Aleksandra Velimanović (Nimbus - Loznica) and Marko Cvijnović (RC Sova - Sremska Mitrovica) - members of the Network for rural development of Serbia, which have undergone training on this topic in Skopje.

The training was realized in several sessions in order to present all aspects related to Green economy and entrepreneurship to the participants:

- clarification of the term “green economy”,
- description of the state of environment and why green economy, 
- principals of green economy and entrepreneurship,
- green economy and CSOs,
- assessment of green economy policies, modeling and green industry,
- development of an action plan for a green economy.

After the theoretical part of the training, participants were divided into groups to analyze whether their local economies meet the criteria of a green economy. The results of group analyzes and examples of good practice in local communities (Sremski Karlovci, Novi Sad, Trstenik and Loznica) are presented.

In addition to the theoretical and practical part of the training, the trainers presented to the participants examples of good practice of green economy from Serbia:
- Special Nature Reserve “Zasavica”,
- “Sunčana Reka” in Gornja Koviljača,
- “Srem basket of traditional products”.

Participants discussed the potentials for a green economy and green entrepreneurship and exchanged their experiences on this topic.

During the group work, green action plans were defined as a result of joint work:
- Group 1 - Social entrepreneurship in Sremska Mitrovica - PET packaging is not garbage,
- Group 2 - Rural house for presentation of local products on Fruška gora,
- Group 3 - Youth Initiative as a service for tourists in protected natural areas.