A five-day seminar was held as part of the Human Rights Leadership Program

HRL News

In partnership with the Slovenian Institute 8th of March, Heartefact organized a seminar as part of the Human Rights Leadership Program. The seminar aimed to empower 23 activists from various parts of Serbia, selected through a public call for participation in this one-year program.

The participants come from 14 cities of Serbia and deal with various topics in the field of human rights, including improving the rights of the Roma community and transgender people, combating violence against women and gender inequality, advocating for a better position of workers and youth in rural communities, solving problems of persons with disabilities and families of children with disabilities, and improving mental health.

During this five-day seminar, the Institute 8th of March worked with the group on developing campaigns that have the potential to result in concrete changes in the local area. Emphasis was placed on finding ways to run campaigns without requiring substantial financial resources.

Mojca Lukan from the Institute 8th of March, one of the facilitators, believes that it is crucial to empower the activists so they do not feel alone in their efforts. ‘We brought a little hope and a little knowledge to the people at the seminar. Then, in ten steps, we explained to them how to plan a campaign, using examples of some of our most successful actions’, she said.

Ana Vučinić, director of the organization Balance from Šabac, noted that her main impression from the seminar was the energy of the people from the Institute 8th of March and Heartefact. ‘That energy has revitalized us all and shown us that we can really change something and that we are on the right track’, she said. Tatjana Jovicic, president of Reč i delo (eng. Word and Act) organization from Loznica, pointed out after the seminar that she was particularly impressed by the program’s atmosphere, as well as the diversity of people she met, which is something that she cannot easily find in her environment.

Heartefact chose the Institute 8th of March from Slovenia as a project partner as they are an internationally renowned organization for leading advocacy campaigns that result in concrete resolution of local problems, such as changes to laws and improvement of regulations, all aimed to achieve a fairer and safer Slovenia for everyone. As the project goes on, the participants of this program will have the opportunity to continue working with the Institute 8th of March through individual consultations, and they will also be able to apply for financial resources that Heartefact will allocate to them to initiate their own actions.

The seminar was held within the Human Rights Leadership Program, implemented by Heartefact with the financial support of the European Union. The project led by Heartefact seeks to address issues of social exclusion, violence, and marginalization in Serbia, fostering a democratic political culture and respect for human rights. Through targeted interventions, the project aims to increase practical understanding of the challenges faced by frontline human rights defenders and critically examine patterns of violence directed at those representing marginalized communities.

HERE you can watch a short video in which the program participants present themselves and summarize their impressions from the seminar. Video is available only in Serbian language.

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Within the framework of the Culture for Democracy (CfD) project, Heartefact is launching a call for proposals aimed at strengthening the organizational, programmatic, and financial capacities of independent cultural actors in Serbia through multi-annual support.

CALL FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS: INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT GRANTS (REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA)

The Culture for Development project is announcing the Institutional Grants Scheme to support well-established cultural organizations in the Republic of North Macedonia. The objective of this call is to strengthen the organizational and financial capacities of these organizations by providing financial resources, infrastructural support and capacity building activities.

Open call for youth participation in the regional VIBE project

Heartefact announces an open call for young people from Serbia to participate in the regional VIBE project, implemented in cooperation with Arsis from Albania and Juventas from Montenegro. Fill out the application form by June 6, 2025.

CALL FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS: GRANTS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CULTURAL AND ARTISTIC PROJECTS (REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA)

The Culture for Development project is announcing the Artistic Grant Scheme Call for project proposals to allocate grants for the implementation of artistic and cultural projects in the Republic of North Macedonia. The objective of this call is to support the development and implementation of socially relevant and culturally enriching contemporary artistic projects that promote diversity in artistic practices and expressions, address critical social issues, and foster community development.

Voices from the Margins – Seminar for Human Rights Defenders in Serbia Held

From April 24 to 27, 2025, the first seminar of the “Voices from the Margins” program was held in Ub, Serbia. The program aims to empower emerging human rights defenders from local communities across the country. The seminar brought together eleven participants from various cities and communities who, over an intensive four-day program, had the opportunity to strengthen their capacities for human rights work through lectures, workshops, and discussions.

Open Call: Beldocs Festival (Kosovo-Serbia Visiting Program)

Heartefact invites young people from Kosovo to apply for a four-day visit to Beldocs – the International Documentary Film Festival taking place in Belgrade. The visit will be organized from May 22 to May 25, 2025 (Thursday to Sunday), during the festival’s official dates of May 21 to May 27 2025.

Call for Project Proposals: Artistic Grants for Implementation of Cultural and Artistic Projects

Jana Milivojević at the residency in France as part of the Playground project

Our young author Jana Milivojević stayed in France, in Pont-a-Mousson, where during the one-week residency she developed and publicly presented her text “We don’t have a camper, and even if we did, we wouldn’t tell you”.

A seminar was held for the new generation of the Human Rights Leadership program

Heartefact, in partnership with the Slovenian 8th of March Institute, from March 27 to 30, 2025, organized a seminar within the project Human Rights Leadership. The goal of the seminar was to empower 18 activists from different parts of Serbia who were selected through a public call to participate in this one-year program.

Nađa Mišković at the residency in Romania as part of the Playground project

Our young playwright Nađa Mišković spent last week in Romania, in Targu Mures, where during her residency at Teatrul Ariel she worked on her text “Will we see the sun?” based on the motifs of the Turkish folk tale “80 eyes”.

Sarajevo successfully hosted the beginning of the Atelier program for young playwrights

Last week, Sarajevo successfully hosted the first module of the Atelier program workshop for young playwrights as part of the new Sarajevo Theater Showcase/New Theater Market project, funded by the European Union through the Creative Europe program.

Sarajevo Theatre Showcase – open call for the inaugural atelier for playwrights

Sarajevo Theatre Showcase announces an open call for the inaugural Atelier for Playwrights. We invite participants from the following countries to apply Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Kosovo, Slovenia, and Serbia.

The new Sarajevo Theatre Showcase launched in Sarajevo as part of the European project New Theatre Market

Today, a press conference was held in the Sarajevo War Theater (SARTR) on the occasion of the start of the New Theatre Market project, the crown of which is the newly established Sarajevo Theatre Showcase, which will be held in the second week of September in Sarajevo. The leader of the project is the SARTR theater with partners: Heartefact from Serbia, Ulysses Theater from Croatia, Binario Vivo from Italy and Para Film & Theatre from Norway.

The Festivity of Otherness was held in Paris

From January 9 to 11, 2025, the Festivity of Otherness was held in Paris. After the Zagreb version of the festival in November, when three plays created as part of the Eclectic of Otherness project co-financed by the European Union were shown on the theater stage of the Arterarij organization, Heartefact House hosted the Belgrade version of the festival in December last year. Lavoir Moderne Parisien hosted the Parisian version of the festival, rounding off the first three editions of the festival.