Green Kick Drives 15 Local Governments into the EU Covenant of Mayors

Fifteen local governments across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia have joined the EU Covenant of Mayors for Energy and Climate as part of the “Green Kick” project, launched on 1 December 2023 by the Centre for Development and Support (CRP) Tuzla. By developing Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs) and fostering collaboration between civil society and local authorities, the project is driving grassroots action on decarbonisation and advancing the Western Balkans’ progress towards a greener future.

Published: 28 January 2025
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The three-year project includes a set of main activities, such as training sessions for civil society organisations and local governments, awareness-raising campaigns, and a participatory process for the development of local environmental policies (SECAP).

In 2024, project consortium members, the Centre for Development and Support from Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FORS Montenegro from Nikšić, and Smart Kolektiv from Belgrade, Serbia, launched a public call and selected 15 local self-governments (LSGs), five in each country. These include Čelić, Lopare, Orašje, Živinice, and Kladanj from Bosnia and Herzegovina; Petrovac na Mlavi, Vrnjačka Banja, Smederevska Palanka, Novi Pazar, and Kragujevac from Serbia; and Danilovgrad, Nikšić, Plužine, Berane, and Mojkovac from Montenegro.

The joint working teams of representatives from local self-governments and civil society organisations – project consortium and GEAR regional network members – have been formed and have begun the process of these LSGs acceding to the EU Covenant of Mayors for Energy and Climate (CoM). In parallel, they have also initiated the development of Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs), in accordance with CoM methodology and strategic EU goals in decarbonisation.

A set of advanced training sessions for project consortium members (four events with topics related to green transition, decarbonisation, clean and sustainable energy, and presentations of best EU practices from the EU Green Deal and WB Sofia Declaration), and a set of mentoring workshops to support project consortium partners, delivered by CRP Bosnia and Herzegovina (two events on topics such as training Green Kick partners – the first phase of SECAP design and basic communication with LSGs; development of Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans – defining the baseline emission inventory (BEI) and data collection), have been organised so far. Each project consortium member has implemented two rounds of SECAP workshops (kick-off and first SECAP workshop), with joint teams, in 15 selected local self-governments, further boosting the SECAP development process. The special value of this project is the establishment and functioning of joint teams comprising local governments and civil society organisations, focused on the creation of environmental policies at the local level in a coordinated process across three countries in the Western Balkans.

It’s great to see 15 local self-governments from three countries joining the EU Covenant of Mayors and moving forward with the development of SECAPs.

Joint team for SECAP development attending workshop in Danilovgrad, Montenegro

Project partners attending the SECAP design and basic communication with LSG, workshop in Belgrade, Serbia

Joint team for SECAP development attending workshop in Živinice, BiH

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