The Balkan Peninsula is increasingly taking center stage on the global map — not only as a region of remarkable landscapes and layered histories, but also as one of Europe’s emerging frontiers in the search for critical mineral resources. Across western Serbia, hundreds of exploratory drilling sites for lithium and boron reflect a growing wave of foreign direct investment in mining and resource extraction. In the past two years alone, investments in the sector have multiplied sixfold, while over the last decade the increase has reached an extraordinary twenty-seven times its previous scale.
A similar momentum is unfolding in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina, where dozens of locations in the country’s eastern regions are currently being surveyed for minerals considered vital to the development of green technologies and the global energy transition.
At stake are not only landscapes and ecosystems, but also forms of life, memory, and belonging that have shaped communities across the region for generations.
The striking asymmetry between the economic costs and benefits of these projects — together with the potentially irreversible environmental risks they pose in densely populated agricultural regions — has sparked widespread public resistance, growing into the largest wave of social mobilization in the region’s recent history. The movement’s central slogan, “You Will Not Dig” (“Nećete kopati”), has united people across political, cultural, regional, and, perhaps most significantly, ethnic divisions.
Across the region, these struggles follow a shared pattern: the erosion of public interest, opaque decision-making processes, and escalating violence against both nature and local communities in service of global supply chains. Yet they have also given rise to powerful forms of solidarity, resistance, and collective organizing. In response to these dynamics, the Assembly creates a shared space where activist, policymakers, researchers, and cultural actors meet together, opening a dialogue grounded in lived experience. Whole program is held at KC GRAD in Belgrade, and simultaneous translation into English is provided. The event is organised by Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Southeast Europe in cooperation with partners and KC GRAD.
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Zajednički prostori: Skup za budućnost bez ekstraktivizma
Beograd, 3–4. jul 2026, KC GRAD
Balkansko poluostrvo sve više zauzima centralno mesto na globalnoj mapi – ne samo kao region izuzetnih pejzaža i slojevitih istorija, već i kao jedno od novih evropskih područja potrage za kritičnim mineralnim resursima. Širom zapadne Srbije, stotine istražnih bušotina za litijum i bor odražavaju rastući talas stranih direktnih investicija u rudarstvo i eksploataciju resursa. Samo u poslednje dve godine, investicije u ovom sektoru uvećale su se šest puta, dok je tokom protekle decenije porast dostigao izuzetnih dvadeset sedam puta u odnosu na raniji nivo.
Sličan zamah dešava se i u susednoj Bosni i Hercegovini, gde se trenutno na desetine lokacija u istočnim delovima zemlje istražuje za minerale koji se smatraju ključnim za razvoj zelenih tehnologija i globalnu energetsku tranziciju.
Ono što je ugroženo nisu samo pejzaži i ekosistemi, već i oblici života, sećanja i pripadanja koji su generacijama oblikovali zajednice širom regiona.
Upečatljiva asimetrija između ekonomskih troškova i koristi ovih projekata – zajedno sa potencijalno nepovratnim ekološkim rizicima koje oni predstavljaju u gusto naseljenim poljoprivrednim područjima – izazvala je široko javno protivljenje, koje je preraslo u najveći talas društvenih mobilizacija u novijoj istoriji regiona. Centralni slogan pokreta, „Nećete kopati“, ujedinio je ljude preko političkih, kulturnih, regionalnih i, možda najvažnije, etničkih podela.
Širom regiona, ove borbe prate zajednički obrazac: narušavanje javnog interesa, netransparentni procesi donošenja odluka i eskalacija nasilja nad prirodom i lokalnim zajednicama u službi globalnih lanaca snabdevanja. Ipak, one su takođe rodile snažne oblike solidarnosti, otpora i kolektivnog organizovanja.
Kao odgovor na ove dinamike, ovaj Skup stvara zajednički prostor u kojem se aktivisti, kreatori politika, istraživači i kulturni akteri susreću, otvarajući dijalog utemeljen na iskustvu iz prve ruke. Ceo program održava se u KC GRAD-u u Beogradu, a obezbeđen je i simultani prevod na engleski jezik. Dešavanje organizuju Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Southeast Europe u saradnji sa partnerima i KC GRAD-om.
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