Who is PEN?

Peer Educators Network (PEN) is a youth organization that operates on a non-governmental and non-profit basis, with the goal of establishing a community where young adults can act as catalysts for social and democratic progress. While PEN is headquartered in Pristina, it has a presence in all regions of Kosovo. The organization has a vast network of volunteers and activists who operate throughout Kosovo, serving as advocates for positive transformation within their respective communities.

Mission

The mission of PEN is to empower young men and women, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, or other social categories through programs which enhance their leadership skills while democracy, promoting human rights and active citizenship. PEN’s programs tackle youth empowerment and employment, non-formal education, children integration and capacity building, democracy/active citizenship, volunteerism, gender equality, social innovation and entrepreneurship, environmental protection, anti-violence and healthy lifestyle.

Landscape Fire Management in the Western Balkans Programme

Extreme weather events such as long-lasting droughts create the condition for devastating fires. Post-fire rainstorms result in secondary disasters such as erosion, landslides, and siltation of rivers. Moreover, insect outbreaks (i.e. bark beetles) and plant diseases are common occurrences after LFs. Climate change, land-use change, and the rural exodus are increasing the ecosystem’s vulnerability to landscape fires in the Western Balkans.

To mitigate the negative impacts of LFs in the WB, it is necessary to have inclusive, cross-boundary cooperation and knowledge exchange to strengthen the capacities for landscape fire management (LFM) in the region. All of these aspects are incorporated in the Landscape fire management in the Western Balkans Programme. The Landscape Fire Management in the Western Balkans (LFMWB) is a project financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation – SDC.

The overall goal of this LFMWB is to increase resilience of Western Balkan forests and landscapes against fires benefit the people who depend on these landscapes for their livelihoods and socioeconomic development using a participatory approach that includes the local population in the processes, promotes gender equality, and further strengthens public awareness of the importance of safeguarding natural resources. This goal is aligned with the SDC’s Framework strategic components: Climate-resilient development and Sustainable management of natural resources.