Academy for Political Development organized a seminar entitled  „Media and civil society in political processes” from 18 till 21 May in Postira on the island of Brac. While the previous seminar focused on lectures and discussions, this time the emphasis was on workshops and trainings with experienced practitioners.
Seminar started with a short introduction of the programme, followed by a lecture on the role of civil society in political decision-making processes, held by professor Žarko Puhovski, President of Croatian Helsinki Committee and professor at the Faculty of Political Science. It led to an interesting debate among participants.

The second part of the seminar was conducted through trainings and workshops. Participants had a possibility to choose two out of four workshops in flexible and intensive interaction within small groups. The lecturers introduced their topics, helping participants to decide which of the workshops to choose: public speaking, public relations, lobbying or negotiating.

Božo Skoko, researcher at the Faculty of Political Science, was talking about development and importance of public relations, while Kenneth Bricker, International Republican Institute consultant from Belgrade, demonstrated how lobbying works in everyday practice.

Remaining two workshops were public speaking held by Igor Kolman and negotiations held by Romana Palčić.
Participants also exchanged experience on ethics in public communication, a lecture held by Dr. Danijel Labaš from Croatian Studies.

In panel discussion „Working with the media from different professional perspectives’“ examples from practical experience were presented by Mislav Bago, Croatian Television, Žarko Tušek, Croatian Democtaric Union, Marina Škrabalo, MAP Consulting and Antonella Cerasino, OSCE Mission to the Republic of Croatia.

Program was concluded with the case study “Lobbying against the DruzbAdria project”, held by activist Vjeran Piršić from the Eko Kvarner association.

Through lectures and debates participants gained theoretical knowledge and exchanged views on the role of media and communication in the political processes, receiving an insight into communication skills practice needed for public activity.