Civil Education

VESTA Civil Education Programs

Encouraging Cooperation Between Citizens and City Leaders

Summary of Recent Training Programs

Community Development Workshops

More than 600 representatives of government and other community leaders from NE Bosnia and Herzegovina attendeded VESTA's local community development workshops. Attendees learned skills valuable for organizational development within their local communities including strategic and operational planning, project management, and administering public advocacy programs.

Gender Equality Education

VESTA Association, in cooperation with the gender equality programs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, produced educational programs for gender sensitization within the media. To date, VESTA has hosted more than 70 young journalists and editors from the BH media for a training session entitled "Gender and the Media." VESTA Association also held an educational session on gender analysis of municipality budgets which was attended by 25 representatives from non-governmental organizations, financial service organizations from five municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well representatives from gender equality groups. These programs promoting gender equality are important for Bosnia and Herzegovina as the country moves toward incorporation into the EU and the greater international community.

Social Responsibility in the Media

VESTA created specialized training materials on social responsibility within the media and regularly hosts training sessions for media representatives.  Sessions have included training for trainers,  training for the managers of community radio stations, and a special workshops on preparing volunteer programs. To date, more than 60 journalists, editors, and managers from Bosnia and Herzegovina have attended these training programs.

Organizational Management

VESTA Association supports the development of grass-root organizations that serve the needs of marginalized groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Using its own resources, VESTA Association provides training sessions for promising new organizations.  VESTA staff offer assistance with the registration process for new organizations as well as workshops on organizational management, project management, strategic and operational planning, management of public advocacy campaigns, volunteer work and public relations.  This training program has been used by numerous new organizations from the Tuzla area, some of which came into being because of VESTA Association's direct support.

Environmental Public Advocacy Training

VESTA Association offers specially prepared training programs for trainers and non-governmental organizations on the creation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public campaigns advocating better environmental policies and procedures. In doing so, VESTA Association promotes European standards of environmental protection and encourages organizations to proactively deal with issues related to the protection and preservation of the environment in Bosnia and Herzegovina. To date, 32 organizations from the Tuzla Canton have attended this training program.