In the words of Petar Nešković: Dedication of young people around our podcast is most inspiring
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Petar Nešković (27) is the coordinator of the Youth Office in Bajina Basta municipality, Western Serbia, where he initiated over 100 different actions for the local community and participated in over 20 youth sector projects. Within the project "Peer Mentoring Program for the Promotion of Human Rights, Gender Equality and the Enhancement of Youth Participation in Serbia“, implemented by UN Women and UNFPA in Serbia, Neskovic and his fellow colleagues at Youth Office of Bajina Basta have created a podcast entitled Baš Naš (in English: Truly Ours) aimed to aimplify voices of young women and men in the municipality with special focus on gender issues.
The aim of the Youth Office's work is to improve the position of young people in Bajina Bašta. Following the National Youth Strategy in the Republic of Serbia, we decided to tailor our activities to be aligned with the Strategy. Following some research and focus groups conducted with young people in the local community in 2023, we decided to focus on the field of informing young people which turned out to be quite poor. As traditional media are neither suitable nor interesting to younger audience, we decided to establish a portal the Bajina Bašta info corner for young people, within which we will record the Baš Naš podcast.
When selecting topics for the podacst, we also follow the goals of the Youth Strategy, as well as current youth-related news. Additionally, we consult with young people who can suggest guests or topics they would like us to cover at any given time. When selecting guests, we ensure that they are young experts in the field we are addressing and that they are local residents, primarily to maintain the podcast's local informative character. So, the biggest challenge is definitely selecting the right guest - someone who is knowledgeable, from the local community, young, and willing to present the topic to young people in the most suitable way.
The main goal of the podcast is to inform young people about topics that are not adequately presented in traditional media but also to promote the local community and young people who are successful locally. I would like young people to follow the good examples set by the podcast's guests and to become interested in topics that are actually useful and serious, unlike 90% of the content that is presented to them otherwise.
Undoubtedly, the most inspiring aspect is the dedication of young people who have developed the entire concept of the podcast, who are preparing all episodes, including guests, topics, and recording. It is noteworthy that these are young activists who think about their community in a way that is not so common nowadays, and I am confident that they will have successful careers. What I hope for is that they will spend it in our local community - Bajina Bašta.
In five years time, I would like the podcast to become a media outlet that will be part of the daily lives of all young people in Bajina Bašta, and that it will be managed at an even higher level exclusively by local young people.
This initiative was implemented as part of the project "Peer Mentoring Program for the Promotion of Human Rights, Gender Equality and the Enhancement of Youth Participation in Serbia", supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Italy, jointly implemented by UN Women and UNFPA Serbia in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and Youth of the Republic of Serbia.