The final transnational partner meeting of the STORY – The Story of the 1.5°C Limit: Solutions and Storytelling of Youth from the Western Balkans project took place on 27 and 28 September 2026 in Banja Luka and Travnik. Nine representatives of the four partner organisations came together to reflect on two years of joint work, exchange experiences and agree on the final steps before the project concludes.
The first day of the meeting, held in Banja Luka, provided an opportunity for partners to review the activities carried out so far, share lessons learned and discuss what worked well throughout the project, the challenges they encountered and what they might approach differently today. Part of the discussion focused on the final dissemination activities and ways to ensure that the project’s results reach as many people as possible.
Special attention was given to the project’s final online presentation, scheduled for 15 October 2026, during which the key project results will be presented to a wider audience, including the regional climate fiction anthology Homo Climaticum: Balkan and the practical guide Stories for Change.
These two publications demonstrate, in different ways, what storytelling can bring to conversations about the climate crisis: from literary worlds and personal perspectives to practical ideas for using stories when working with young people and creating space to reflect on change.
On the second day, partners gathered in Travnik. Beyond the formal steps that accompany the end of every project, the meeting offered an opportunity to reflect together on everything that cannot be captured solely through reports and results achieved – the experiences, collaboration and ideas that will remain long after the project activities come to an end.
From Working Together to Connecting with Audiences
Following the partner meeting, participants attended a panel discussion and presentation of the publications Homo Climaticum and Stories for Change in Travnik, organised by project partner CZZS. The other partners joined the event in support, taking part in the programme by reading selected stories and sharing experiences gained throughout the project.
It was a meaningful continuation of the conversations that began during the meeting – an opportunity to present the results of the joint work to an audience, while giving the stories created through the project a new space and new readers.
For Zero Waste Montenegro, participating in the STORY project provided an opportunity to explore, together with our partners, how literature and creative expression can contribute to conversations about the climate crisis. Homo Climaticum: Balkan brings together diverse authorial voices and perspectives on a changing world, while Stories for Change offers ideas for using storytelling as a tool for communication and working with young people.
The final partner meeting in Banja Luka and Travnik marked the end of one chapter of the project, but not the end of the stories that emerged from it. We will continue to share them, draw on them in our work and create space for new conversations about the climate crisis and the future we are shaping together.
The partner meeting was organised as part of the project “THE STORY OF THE 1.5°C LIMIT – Solutions and Storytelling of Youth from the Western Balkans”, co-funded by the European Union and the Ministry of Regional Investment Development and Cooperation with NGOs. The main goal of the STORY project is to strengthen the capacities of young people and youth organisations across the Western Balkans, enabling them to understand and advocate for solutions to the environmental crisis through civic education and art, particularly literature.