Civic Academy (RSGNP0002)

Commitment ID

RSGNP0002

Commitment Title

Civic Academy

Problem

In 2010, the city of Novi Pazar was declared the youngest city in Serbia with an average age of 33 years, i.e. with 49% of the population under 35 years of age. Out of 170 municipalities in Serbia, Novi Pazar is at the very top of those that during 2020 had a positive natural increase in relation to the number of deaths. Namely, for more than a decade, Novi Pazar has recorded a higher percentage of live births than deaths, so the birth rate, according to the number of inhabitants, is almost always twice as high as the mortality rate. The number of registered live births at Novi Pazar exceeds 2,200, and 1,898 babies were born in the Novi Pazar Maternity Hospital in 2020. At City of Novi Pazar exists 2 universities, 7 secondary schools and 15 primary schools in the area of ​​the city of Novi Pazar. In Novi Pazar, between 1,900 and 2,200 students in first grade of primary school are enrolled every year, which ranks this city among the top cities not only in Serbia, but also in the entire Western Balkan region in terms of the ratio of the number of inhabitants toward number of newly enrolled children in the first grade of primary school.
Primary, secondary school and university students do not have the opportunity to become familiar with the organization and functioning of local self-government as part of their formal education. That is why they have an insufficient level of knowledge in this area.

Status quo

The curricula of primary and secondary education, nor the study programs of university education, do not contain content aimed at introducing young people to the way of organizing and functioning of local self-government, which results in the fact that young people in Novi Pazar, who make up 49% of population, are insufficiently familiar with this area. In the long term, this has the effect that due to the lack of knowledge in this area, young people do not have insufficient communication with local self-government representatives, address their problems very poorly, and initiate activities that are important for young people on a very small scale.

Novi Pazar has established a public institution, the Office for Youth, in an effort to improve the quality of life of young people in the city and populated areas of Novi Pazar, advocating the values ​​of civil society, in accordance with the local and national strategy for youth, through constant dialogue with young people and cooperation with all relevant subjects for the development of young people, and with the aim of solving the problems of young people and respecting their needs. Despite the great efforts of the Youth Office to mobilize young people in Novi Pazar and direct them to be active subjects, a significant number of young people remain outside these activities primarily due to insufficient level of knowledge regarding role and importance of local self-government in organizing and functioning of the local community.

Action

Youths at Novi Pazar are not sufficiently familiar with the structure and competences of the local self-government, with the services it provides, as well as with the rights they can exercise. Insufficient information about the competences of local self-government affects the exercise of rights and the provision of services to youth citizens. The civic academy should provide counter-intuitive, modern education about rights and obligations within the scope of local self-government. A modern approach, multimedia content, but direct contact with young people who are preparing for academic life, are a good basis for ongoing education.

The civic academy contains two units. The first part refers to the organization of the Open Day. High school graduates, together with their teachers, will spend one day in the City Administration building, where they will learn about the work of all city authorities. An interview with a representative of one of the city authorities will be organized at the end of the visit. Participants of the academy will have the opportunity to fill out a survey in which they can indicate what they would like to improve in the work of local-self government. Also, they will be given the opportunity to fill out surveys online and anonymously. The second part refers to the production of multimedia contents  (video tutorials) that educate about the competences of local self-government and distributed through various communication channels.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem described above?

The expected outcomes of the Civic Academy is the organization of two open door events of the city administration in which at least 60 high school students will participate. Also, as part of the Civic Academy, at least 5 video tutorials will be published on social networks and will be seen by at least 300 high school students by the end of December 2023.

Through the organization of open days of the city administration, as well as through the creation and distribution of video tutorials that deal with the issue of organization, competences and ways of functioning of local self-government, and the services that are available to citizens in local self-government, at least 60 young people in Novi Pazar are informed and knowledgeable about these topics will be increased by at least 25%.

What long-term goal as identified in your Open Government Strategy does this commitment relate to?

Educating citizens on how they can take part in the decision-making process at the local level is fully in line with the principles of open administration proclaimed by the Partnership for Open Administration. Raising the capacity of citizens in terms of their active use of mechanisms for consultation in the decision-making process will lead to an increase in the number of citizens participating in these processes, as well as to an increase in the quality of the consultation process itself.

Primary Policy Area

Civic Space, Inclusion, Right to Information

Primary Sector

Education

What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?