The Institute for Energy Management in Sofia, with the support of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Bulgaria, organized a one-day conference on "The role of NGOs in improving energy policy and legal framework in the field of energy - challenges in southern Eastern Europe."

The conference was held on March 15, 2018 in Sofia and is part of the events organized under the auspices of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. The key objective of the event was to consider the extent to which the voice of the non-governmental sector is heard in the formulation and implementation of energy policy at European, regional and national levels.

Ms. Maja Turković (ASOR) participated in the conference as the only panelist from the Western Balkans region who spoke about the role of civil society organizations in Serbia in the process of adopting a national energy policy. Ms. Turkovic stressed the need for greater involvement of civil society in the formal process of creating sustainable energy policy, emphasizing the need for cooperation of the civil sector with local industry and the professional public, which is not sufficiently involved in these processes. She sees great opportunities for greater involvement of the civil sector through the existing platform for EU accession to the EU Convention, while strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations through specialization and regional initiatives.