[Edin Zahirovic]

Association Centre for Development and Support (CRP) has 17 years of operation. CRP identifies and resolves problems related to environmental protection, economic development and human rights. We believe that energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources are the best responses to environment protection, sustainable development and achievement of better quality of life. CRP assists and develops capacities of the following target groups:
• B&H and Western Balkans authorities at different levels (primarily local /municipal and cantonal, as well as entity and national levels);
• Business sector (SMEs operating in various sectors);
• Non-governmental organizations and other civil society constituents;
• Citizens and their communities.
We are a group of committed professionals and enthusiasts, with respectable knowledge and skills in energy efficiency, use of renewable energy sources, environment protection, climate changes and sustainable development, primarily including:
• Development, design and implementation of local, regional and cross-border projects;
• Creation of comprehensive energy efficiency studies for public and other sectors;
• Training and advising individuals, institutions and companies;
• Producing cost-benefit and other economic /finance analyses,
• Mobilizing, consulting and motivating citizens to actively participate in environmental decision-making;
• Conducting economic and social development analyses;
• Creation of planning documents: Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs) for municipalities, cities and cantons; Action plans for energy-efficiency increase in public lightning systems; Environmental Action Plans for municipalities, cities, cantons, entities; Integrated development strategies for municipalities, cities, cantons, entities;
• Increasing technical and organizational capacity of and technical assistance to government bodies at all governance levels, business companies, financial institutions, and other development actors;
• Energy-auditing of buildings and energy certification; Development of Energy Audit Elaborates including cost-benefit analysis of recommended EE-measures;
• Integrated analysis of energy efficiency measures and defining best possible solutions based on combination of environmental, financial and technical factors;
• Use of European knowledge, policies and practices in the mentioned sectors.
We gather and expand the network of experts, associates and like-minded persons in order to mutually multiply the effect of our work and respond in a quality manner to the growing environmental needs. We are capable to quickly and in quality manner respond to the demands of citizens, all structures of authority, commercial companies, finance institutions and other international and local organizations who need to improve their quality of life, achieve energy, economic and development objectives utilizing the mentioned knowledge and skills, thus contributing to the environment protection.
CRP currently employs 15 highly educated and skilled employees. At the same time, through inter-sectoral EFEKT network for environmentally friendly energy CRP administers and continuously expands strong network of experts and consultants in different sectors of relevant expertise from the whole Bosnia and Herzegovina and neighboring countries.
The key competences of CRP staff and members cover the following fields:
• Rich experience in development and implementation of programs and projects in spheres of environmental management and protection with emphasis on energy efficiency, climate change, renewable energy sources, and public participation in environmental matters; with rights-based approach as overall-programming’ cross-cutting issue;
• Extensive knowledge in environmental management and protection (energy efficiency, renewable energies with emphasis on solar, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, sustainable water management);
• Adult education;
• Strengthening capacity of governmental sector (primarily local authorities at municipal and cantonal levels), business sector (SMEs, entrepreneurs, agricultural cooperatives, individual farmers), and non-governmental sector (associations of producers, local development organizations), and other development stakeholders;
• Work with regional and local authorities, and other stakeholder groups in the field of strategic planning and local development;
• Extensive practical knowledge of the current socio-economic environment at grassroots level;
• Planning and implementation of local economic development measures in the field of increasing competitiveness of target groups by promoting entrepreneurship and improving the client/beneficiary skills and access to resources, and facilitating business and market linkages in relevant value chains;
• Extensive knowledge in Social Development (social inclusion and employment of marginalized target groups – youth, persons with disabilities, adult education, health care, legal issues related to employment of marginalized target groups, etc.);
• Project-cycle management: proven capacity to develop, manage, implement, monitor & evaluate large-scale projects, due to their comprehensive experience gained while working with both CRP and Mercy Corps. They have created, managed and implemented large and complex grants funded by the European Commission (IPA, EIDHR, CARDS, OBNOVA, DG1, ECHO), USAID, UNDP, USA Department for Agriculture, UNHCR, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, BPRM, GTZ, US Embassy in BiH, BiH government, and many others;
• Fundraising and proposal writing: This includes in-depth knowledge on strategies, standards and working procedures of the EC and other international donors, built through many years of fundraising and project implementation practice;
• Creation and application of comprehensive monitoring & evaluation systems and practice;
• Coordination and Cooperation with different stakeholders’ groups: CRP members and staff have been intensively learning from experience of wide variety of stakeholders, through formal and informal partnerships, open communication and good working relationships with all the project actors;
• Managing public participation processes in coordination with governmental institutions:
• Developing and delivering public awareness raising campaigns and education programs;
• Cross-border and regional cooperation and networking.

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