2004-2005 Highlights Workplans/business plans  (in PDF format) Activity reports (in PDF format) StrawberryNet, Romania  (14-page, 40-KByte) Final report for 2004 (6-page, 35-KByte) QKE, Albania  (6-page, 30-KByte PDF) Sept-Dec 2004 progress report (10-pages, 51-KByte) Bluelink, Bulgaria  (5-page, 197-KByte) Final report for 2004 (50-Kbyte, 4-pages) and Annex (486-Kbyte, 4 pages)  Eko.Net, FYR Macedonia  (17-page, 50-KByte) Activitiy report for 2004 (7-pages, 125-KByte) To be formed Croatian network (3-page, 23-KByte) Final report for 2004 (4-pages, 33-KByte) Volvox, Serbia and Montenegro Activity report 2003-2004 (8-pages, 1.1-MByte, or without the annex of pictures - 104-KByte) Sharri.Net, Kosovo (territory currently under UN administration)  (16-page, 3.9-MByte PDF, or  395-KByte ZIP) Final report 2004-2005 (14-pages, 670-KByte)   Activities in 2004-2005: StrawberryNet in Romania has demonstrated steady growth and improvement in the past year: read their project final report (6-page, 35-KByte PDF) A new network was born in Croatia: Grincajg. See their activity report (4-pages, 33-KByte). Electronic eco-network EkoMrezaBiH now one step away from state-level registration -- press release in March 2005 The electronic network of Serbia and Montenegro, Volvox, held its founding assembly on 26 February, 2005. See the Activity report of Eko.Net for November-December 2004 (3-pages, 30-Kbyte PDF) Strategic networking meeting dedicated to the "Save the Tara River" campaign, computer training courses, on-line communication and computer distribution: read about these and other activities in the Volvox activity report 2003-2004 (8-pages, 1.1-MByte, or without the annex of pictures - 104-Kbyte) SharriNet's business plan for 2004-2009 includes an in-depth overview of its working environment, market niche, vision and specific activities. You can download the 16-page business plan as PDF (3.9-MByte) or as a ZIP'd PDF (395-KByte) file. Increased content services, new on-line tools, community building and international cooperation: these and more are included in Bluelink's activity report for April - December 2004 (5-pages, 480-KByte PDF) (You can also download it in two parts: narrative part (113-Kbyte) and appendix (374-KByte). The Third National Meeting of the Volvox network in Serbia and Montenegro was organised in December 2004. See the agenda of the meeting (2-page, 70-KByte PDF). Online publishing, information communities, outreach and cooperation. Read about these and other activities in the May-Nov. 2004 activity report of StrawberryNet (5-page, 19-KByte PDF) A computer technical skills training course took place in Rome from November 24-27, 2004. See the workshop agenda (3 pp., 8 KBytes), the list of participants (1-page, 5-KByte PDF) and picture of participants. On November, 2004, Croatian NGO "Osjecki Zeleni" submitted a workplan (3-page PDF) and started activities to create an environmental electronic network in Croatia. "Online content and media," a training course, was held in Rome from Oct.- 12-15. See the course agenda (3-page, 12-Kbyte PDF), the list of participants (1-page, 5-KByte PDF) and meeting report (2-page PDF). The Balkan Bytes project and its beneficiary networks were presented at an international exhibition in Rimini, Italy, in August 2004. See the Balkan Cyber Tea House. An advanced computer course was organised for active Volvox members in Belgrade (SCG) from July 7-9, 2004. A university thesis titled "Outlooks for NGO network self-financing" was written to help networks improve their financial sustainability. Web traffic is growing dynamically on network websites. See Eko.Net's detailed statistical analysis  for August 2003—June 2004 (8-page, 194-KByte PDF file). A Rome training on facilitation skills (June 8-12, 2004) received very positive feedback. See a detailed meeting report (6-page, 200-KByte PDF file). The training was delivered by the Zhaba Facilitators Collective. See the list of participants (1-page, 5-KByte PDF). See the minutes of Volvox's (Serbia and Montenegro) supervisory board about current network development issues. (June 2004, 3-page PDF). A photo gallery was launched on this site. In 2004 three training courses are organised as part of the Rome-based project: facilitation skills (June 8-12), online content and communication (Oct.12-15 ) and technical skills Nov. (23-27 ). See details and application form (99-KByte MS Word). From February 25-28, 2004 a workshop titled "Mission-Driven Business Planning for NGO Networks" was organised in Rome. Please see the agenda (210-KByte PDF file). Background reading: "Mission-Driven Business Planning Toolkit" of APC. See a related article, the workshop evaluation (5-page, 180-KByte PDF) and pictures. See also the list of participants (1-page, 6-KByte PDF) The tangible impact of the electronic networking project since 2001 was reviewed in a survey in order to update the information collected in the book "Networks at Work" and to map out further development. You can download the full report, titled "Networks at Work: Three Years Later" (27-page, 440-KByte PDF file). Also available without pictures (68-KByte PDF). A Balkan IT project on exchange of environmental information  was a finalist at the Stockholm Challenge Awards. See Bluelink's Press Release.   Summary of activities in 2002-2003 Project final report for 2002-2003 - nine-page summary of activities (40-KByte PDF) Network Activity report StrawberryNet, Romania  News publishing, websites and databases, training manuals, promotional items, thematic working groups and much more: read the Aug.-Dec. 2003 report and 2002-2003 Summary (4-pages, 14-KByte PDF). QKE, Albania Network history, e-news, training seminars and more: read the final report (20-page, 70-KByte PDF). Bluelink, Bulgaria News, events calendar, campaigns, thematic websites, trainings and much more in Bulgaria: read the project final report of 2002-2003 (190-KByte PDF) and activity summary for July-Dec. 2003 (76-KByte PDF). Eko.Net, FYR Macedonia Key usage figures, news publishing and trainings: read the final report (124-KByte PDF) EkoMrezaBiH, Bosnia and Herzegovina Read the final report (26-KByte, 7-page PDF). Volvox, Serbia and Montenegro For an active mailing list, web portal, training programmes and distribution of computers, as well as a code of conduct and future plans, read the September 2003 activity report (274-KByte PDF). You may also check the short overview (28-KByte PDF) of activities for 2001-2003. Sharri.Net, Kosovo (territory currently under UN administration) Read about the activities between January 2002 and March 2003: strategic and training workshops, online information exchange, news publishing, Internet cafe and a lot more! The final report (28-KByte PDF). Activities in 2003 Second national meeting of environmental NGO electronic networks in Serbia and Montenegro. See summary and pictures. The Volvox website was launched in December 2003. As part of project round-up activities in December 2003, more than 50 computers were distributed to NGOs that are committed to sharing information online. (See an example of evaluation minutes (illustrated) for Bosnia and Herzegovina (3-page, 280-KByte PDF) and a report with pictures from Serbia and Montenegro. Bluelink organised a training workshop in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, focusing on strategic and practical use of the Internet. See the meeting summary (1-page PDF) Read about an overview of activities (145-KByte PDF file) implemented as part of the Italian-funded project for the period of May-October 2003. In October 2003 the "Center for Electronic Communication: National NGO meeting" was held in Tirana, Albania. See the report from the meeting (1-MByte PDF file) for information about the current status of electronic networking in Albania, achievements and ideas about further steps, as well as the meeting agenda, list of participants and great pictures! The series of study tours to Italy began successfully. The sixth training seminar (350-KByte PDF) on Internet skills and journalism was organised in Tirana, Albania on September 6, 2003. The report includes great pictures, training contents and list of participants. A wealth of activities were carried out in Romania by StrawberryNet from December 2002—July 2003. Read the summary report (20-KByte, 5-page PDF) and see pictures (290-KByte PDF) from the training seminars. The fifth training seminar (350-KByte PDF) on Internet skills and journalism was organised in Vlore, Albania on July 18. Read about the activities of Sharri.Net (Kosovo, currently under UN interim administration) between January 2002 and March 2003: strategic and training workshops, online information exchange, news publishing, Internet cafe and a lot more! The final report (28-KByte PDF). News, web portal, Bulletin, training seminars and much more: read the May-July 2003 progress report (20-KByte PDF) of FYR Macedonia's Eko.Net, as well as its website statistics (640-KByte PDF) and the Eko.Net website itself. An informal meeting was held in Thessaloniki, Greece (June 2, 2003) to explore possible cooperation between NGOs in Greece and other Balkan countries.  See the meetings's minutes (2-page PDF) and photos from the meeting: group photo, TV interviews with Alexander Deliyannis (Greece) and Nina Blagoeva (Bulgaria). See the summary of activities (20-KByte, 3-page PDF) of EkoNet (FYR Macedonia) for the period from January—April 2003. A training about online content sharing and news publishing was organised in Livno and Jablanica in Bosnia and Herzegovina. See EkoMrezaBiH's report (800-KByte, 1-page PDF) and pictures (990-KByte, 1-page PDF, four photos) from the trainings. The second training of Albanian NGOs was organised in Shkoder on May 17, 2003. Please read the meeting's summary (0.5-MByte PDF file), complete with a list of participants, agenda and photos. Activity report (4-page PDF file) of activities in Albania in the first half of 2003. A coordinators' meeting was held in Bosnia and Herzegovina on May 19,2003 to review activities of EkoMrezaBiH. See the meeting minutes (3-page PDF file). The second regional networking meeting was held in Kosovo on 4-5 April, 2003. A training was organised in Pogradec, Albania, focusing on basic Internet and journalism skills (e.g. how to write an article). Please see details (2-page PDF file). Website development, content-sharing training seminars, hardware donations in Bosnia and Herzegovina: read the April 2003 progress report (2-page PDF file) of EkoMrezaBiH. The EkoMrezaBiH website was launched, offering information on environmental legislation, NGO projects and campaigns, contact information and more. (March 28, 2003). A training seminar was organised for NGOs in north-east Bulgaria in the city of Varna. The event lasted for two days (March 22-23, 2003). Five computer workstations were distributed to NGOs in Serbia and Montenegro. On March 21, 2003 a winners meeting was held, combined with a training seminar for local network coordinators. Please see picture 1 and picture 2 from this meeting. BlueLink's (Bulgaria) project progress report for the period of November 2002—February 2003. Training workshop in Pomorie, Bulgaria. Please see the evaluation (1-page PDF file) of the workshop and pictures from the meeting: participants: photo 1, photo 2, photo3 and the venue. Description of activities in FYR Macedonia (12-page PDF file). Summary of activities in Romania , for the period from May—November 2002.  On January 23, 2003 a working meeting was held in Albania about cooperation among the Albanian network, REC and Milieukontakt Oost-Europa. Please see the minutes (2-page PDF file).   Activities in 2002 A national NGO networking meeting was organised in Serbia and Montenegro on December 7, 2002. Please see the agenda (32-KByte PDF file). See photos from the meeting: 1, 2,  3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. The meeting was also featured by the media. Training workshop in Kosovo (currently under UN interim administration) (November 15-17, 2002). Please see athe photo of the participants. The workshop was also featured by a news release of APC networks. BlueLink's (Bulgaria) project progress report for the period of February—November 2002. Summary of activities in Kosovo (currently under UN interim administration) for the period of January-September 2002: narrative report (6-page PDF) and annexes (180-KByte ZIP file). Italian Ministry of Environment has supports the project (Aug. 7, 2002) Website begins with information about networking in Serbia and Montenegro. Activity plan worked out for Albania. See the summary table (2-page PDF file). Basic computer training at the Petnica Science Center in Yugoslavia, from May 29-June 1, 2002 and June 28-July 1, 2002 and November 6-10, 2002. Please see the agenda (100-KByte PDF file) and pictures from the training (Picture 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). See more information. Please see the summary of networking activities in Romania (7-page, 350-KByte PDF file) in the period from January-May 2002. One-page PDF overviews of activities in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, former Yugoslavia, and Kosovo (currently under UN interim administration).. A project start-up meeting was held in Croatia on April 11-12, 2002. Please see the meeting summary (9-page, 115-Kbyte PDF file), the list of participants (2-page, 6-Kbyte PDF file) and pictures of the meeting (3 pictures, 356-KByte PDF file). The first south-east European environmental NGO electronic networking meeting was a major milestone in the regional networking process and also generated significant media coverage. A network working group was created in Kosovo (currently under UN interim adminstration). Please see the list of members (7-Kbyte PDF file). Project activities are implemented in line with the workplan (110-Kbyte, 7-page PDF file) and timeline (7-Kbyte PDF file).  An NGO Internet Room was opened Pristina, Kosovo (currently under UN interim administration).. A project start-up meeting was held in Serbia and Montenegro, Petnica Science Center, on  November 10-11, 2001. See the agenda (78-Kbyte PDF file), minutes and decisions (108-Kbyte PDF file), and the list of participants (54-Kbyte PDF file). See also the project timeline (4-Kbyte PDF file). A project start-up meeting was held in Pristina from January 18-20, 2002. See the agenda (2-page, 45-Kbyte PDF file) and list of participants (8-Kbyte PDF file). An NGO working group was established at the meeting (see the list of members (7-Kbyte PDF file). A project preparation meeting took place in Croatia on September 17, 2001. In attendance were representatives from Green Action Croatia, the REC's head office, and REC Croatia. A project start-up meeting in Fojnica, Bosnia and Herzegovina,  took place on December 10-11, 2001. See the meeting report (128 Kb, 9-page PDF file), the agenda (122-Kbyte PDF file), the minutes (150-Kbyte, 6-page PDF file) and the list of participants (86-Kbyte PDF file). Meeting on Environmental NGO Electronic Networking in Strumica, FYR Macedonia,  November 16-18, 2001. See the Agenda (153-Kbyte PDF file). Meeting on Environmental NGO Electronic Networking in Tirana, Albania, November 16-18, 2001. A project start-up meeting was held in Bucharest, Romania, on  October 23-24, 2001. Support for electronic networking was pledged at the annual meeting of environmental NGOs in Bulgaria. Please see the description of activities in BlueLink's project proposal (88-Kbyte PDF file). A Partnership Involvement Workshop for rural NGOs in Bulgaria (107-Kbyte PDF file) was held.  A cooperation agreement was prepared between Milieukontakt Oost Europa and the REC to coordinate project activities in FYR Macedonia and Albania (November 19, 2001).   Project start-up activities (2001) A Project NGO Steering Committee was formed. An international project start-up meeting was held in April 2001 at the REC's head office in Szentendre, Hungary. Detailed project work plans were drafted and accepted, one for the steering committee (PDF file) and one for the project coordinators (PDF file).  An NGO needs assessment survey was conducted in each south-east European country (and for the region). Based on the results of these surveys, a printed report was prepared.  South Eastern European NGOs were invited to join networks by circulating a Call for Expression of Interest (PDF file).  Activities were outlined in national work plans: Albania (summary, 2-page PDF file), Bosnia and Herzegovina (9-page PDF file), Bulgaria (5-page PDF file), FYR Macedonia (12-page PDF file), Romania (15-page PDF file), former Yugoslavia (6-page PDF file) and Kosovo (currently under UN interim administration) (7-page PDF file). See also BlueLink's (Bulgaria) timeline (27-Kbyte PDF file) and Strategic Workplan (105-Kbyte PDF file). Terms of Reference (83-KByte PDF file) for training sessions were prepared and circulated. Project guidelines were prepared for each beneficiary country outlining the basic principles and implementation criteria of the project. You can download the 5-6-page, 100-Kbyte documents as PDF files: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Romania, former Yugoslavia, and Kosovo (currently under UN interim administration). This project's Web site was launched.

Overview in PowerPoint (4.4-MByte) Balkan Bytes final report (9-page, 220-KByte)   Contents of this page: Activities in 2004-2005 Summary 2002-2003 Activities in 2003 Activities in 2002 Start-up activities (2001)   Key publications: Networks at Work Outlooks for network self-financing   Page last updated: October 7, 2005 To view PDF files please download and install Acrobat Reader: