Jun

21

A Call From Mozaik: Please Help This Courageous Social Entrepreneur!

June 21, 2008

Outsiders have been messing about with the Balkan region for millennia. Greeks, Romans, Ottomans, Austro-Hungarians, French, Brits, Russians and Americans—all have secured influence in the region and subsequently used it—rarely with “the local interest” foremost in their minds. Even when their intentions are good they bring “ideas and theories” about what the locals “really need” that are rarely based on local knowledge and, unsurprisingly, rarely seem to do any good. Thus, when I visited last year I came to listen and learn, not to help or fix. But when people in the local community come and ask for help, I do believe it is important to reply and try to offer what is sought. A recent post discussed a circumstance where this occurred in
Thessaloniki, Greece, where I may be able to help. Another “cry for help” has come from Zoran Puljic of the Mozaik Foundation in Bosnia Herzegovina. And best of all he most needs the help of other locals. The role I would like to play, forgive the plug, is to be a “catalyst”.
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Jun

15

Return to the Balkans: South-East European Research Centre (SEERC)

June 15, 2008

When I returned from my visit to the Balkans last year I had no idea when I might next visit the region. Next week I will be visiting Thessaloniki, Greece as Member of the International Advisory Board of the SEERC. I focused on this excellent educational institution, part of the CITY College in Thessaloniki and the University of Sheffield in the UK, in a blog post. It is one of the few educational institutions that focus on students from throughout the Balkan region and I met them during my visit last year. It is a pleasure to return and, more importantly, to be able to try to assist the institution in its development. Other Balkan follow-ups have recently taken place and I look forward to more in due course. Readers of this blog who wish to highlight their relevant activities are invited to get in touch.

Mar

31

Catalyst in the Balkans–Presentation at Skoll World Forum

March 31, 2008

Last week was the annual Skoll World Forum at the Said Business School at Oxford University. I believe it is the premier meeting for social entrepreneurship each year and as ever, a large and impressive group of people attended. The keynote address was given by ex-President Jimmy Carter, probably the most successful “ex” in recent history. His stirring performance highlighted what was an excellent, if somewhat US-centric, conference. For the first time Catalyst had been asked to speak at the Conference and I was delighted beyound measure to be asked to talk about our “Catalyst in the Balkans” trip last summer. Jessica Shortall, the architect of “Catalyst in Thailand” also hosted a session at Skoll.
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Dec

14

Article on Social Business for “Marketing Serbia” magazine

December 14, 2007

The article below was written by Rodney Schwartz of Catalyst on 11 October 2007, at the request of Veran Matic, for “Marketing Serbia” magazine. It is featured in the latest issue.
We would welcome your comments, criticisms and challenges on it.

For reasons that are too numerous to list (although turning 50 was one of them!), I journeyed from London to the Balkans and back by train this summer, to spend seven weeks in a region I did not understand and knew little about. What was clear to me was that the reputation of this geographical area in the West was awful and that I was certain to find interesting examples of positive innovations in social business and social enterprise, areas where Catalyst, the company I manage, concentrates its expertise in the UK.

Oct

15

Discussion at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting

October 15, 2007

Sept 27, London- IWPR hosted a provocative discussion this week featuring Rod Schwartz on ‘Social Business in the Balkans’. A Senior executive with extensive experience in the finance and charity sectors, Rod- CEO of Catalyst Fund Management & Research Ltd, - presented his reflections and conclusions from an extensive recent tour of Southeast Europe. In a wide ranging discussion with a diverse group from the business, diplomatic, human rights and media/expert community, Rod outlined his key impressions, including:

The region’s continuing isolation and restricted movement and infrastructure
A widespread denial of responsibility for the conflict and lingering tensions;
The weakness and artificiality of many of the existing governing/political structures

Sep

16

And Now, I Leave the Balkans

September 16, 2007

The astute among you would have realised by now that the dates of the blog posts have not always corresponded to the dates of travel—in fact they rarely have. Mostly, the posts have been drafted from notes taken during the meetings. This post however was begun on my laptop literally as my train pulled out of Zagreb’s main train station (I promise!!). Although the return journey will take me geographically through Slovenia on the way out, this trip has officially ended—when I disembark I will be in Salzburg, Austria. Croatia may once have been part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, but the empire was never Balkan, although it did its share to make the Balkans what it is today, and like many external powers, its influence was generally negative and directed towards the needs of its citizens, not its conquered subjects.
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Sep

16

The Last Day, “Trusting the Journey” and Things to Come

September 16, 2007

As ever I awoke to do my exercises, rushed to breakfast and stole a few minutes before my first meeting to sit down at this computer and try (desperately but always unsuccessfully) to catch up on my blogging. This was to be the last day of my trip and it looked like it would be typical; a variety of meetings, thanks to a host of different sources on an array of topics. Right at the end things did not go as planned and took off in an unexpected direction, but this was very much in keeping with the spirit of the trip. A friend of mine called Peter Tyson urged me to just let things happen this way—“trust the journey”, he would say. A very sensible bit of advice—and when I followed it, I was never disappointed.
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Sep

9

An Organic Food Company Began When a Young Girl’s Laughter Stopped

September 9, 2007

One morning Srdjan (pronounced sir-jan) Mladinic, an alcoholic, was nursing a hangover. He awoke, groggy and in pain, to hear several children playing outside of his home in Split, Croatia. The children were all playing and laughing—his 4 year old daughter among them. The conversation turned to their parents—“what does your dad do?” they all asked each other. Srdjan’s daughter stumbled through some set of excuses, before being teased by a boy who said, “Oh, we all know your dad’s just a drunk!”—and his daughter, a relatively happy child up until that point simply stopped laughing. Read more

Sep

2

So What about the Men—Where Are They All?

September 2, 2007

As I finished the last post about women and women’s organisations, I noticed that many of my previous posts, specifically those about Bosnia, concerned mostly women. I did not specifically seek out women or women’s organisations, but on reflection it seems that an overwhelming majority of the folks I have written about from Bosnia were women. So the question is where are the men?

Sep

2

Two Bosnian Feminist Organisations

September 2, 2007

During the course of my stay in Sarajevo I had meetings with two organisations which were feminist or focused on women. One was rather large and although it was founded to focus on women in Bosnia it now provides services to women in troubled countries all over the world. The other is right at the other end of the scale and is just in the process of coming together at present, with all of the excitement and challenges of an early stage endeavour. Let me tell you about each of them.
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