The 9th Western Balkans Civil Society Forum, which will take place in Thessaloniki on 19-20 October, will bring together around 100 participants, including a wide range of civil society representatives from the EU and the Western Balkans, as well as representatives EU institutions, international organizations and regional governments.
Key topics and considerations on the agenda include: the state of democracy in South East Europe – the “health test” of civil society on the path to EU enlargement; 2023, European Year of Skills: lifelong skills development in South-Eastern Europe; Education, skills and the Youth Guarantee in the Western Balkans; Continuing training, upskilling and retraining in the Western Balkans; and the contribution of civil society to the implementation of the Green Agenda and the sustainable development of South-Eastern Europe. The forum is organized by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), in cooperation with the European Training Foundation (ETF), the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and the European Center for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) .
It takes place again in Thessaloniki, 20 years after the EU-Western Balkans summit of June 21, 2003, which marked a historic step towards the pursuit of the objectives of European integration and the prospect of a potential enlargement of the EU in the Western Balkans.