Empowering Women in Loznica: Presentation of the Women’s Ethno Hub as part of the Women’s World event

On March 14, 2025, the city of Loznica hosted an inspiring event titled Women’s Ethno Hub, organized within the traditional March meetings named “Women’s World”. The event was part of the WIN awareness-raising campaign and marked the official introduction of the pilot activities to be implemented in the region.

The event was organized by the “Vuk Karadžić” Culture Center, the Association of Business Women Loznica, Kreativna vizija and the Association of Business Women in Serbia, with the support of TOGL.

The event brought together a wide range of stakeholders, including project partners, representatives from the public and private sectors, the National Employment Service, women's associations from across Serbia and neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina, and numerous local entrepreneurs.

A panel discussion moderated by Dragana Panajotović created a space for exchanging experiences and discussing the challenges and opportunities for women in the local labor market. The participants were able to hear the stories of successful entrepreneurs and the path they have been through, which was not always easy.

Women who make handicrafts and ethnic products, domestic craft or food products, organized a sales exhibition, with the idea of additionally connecting with the representatives of three large companies in Loznica, so that these products could eventually be included in the offer of corporate gifts.

The goal of the event was to inform, encourage, and motivate as many women as possible to strengthen themselves economically, actively participating in the economic life of the city.

And while their mothers, potential participants of the training and pilot project, attended the event, the children had the opportunity to socialize and have fun at a workshop called Creative Kindergarten organized for them in the hall of the Cultural Center. Considering that young women often have no one to look after their children while they are in training, one of the ideas during the planned pilot is to support them in this way and that workshops for children, a kind of ad hoc kindergarten, become a practice during the implementation of the project.

Until the end of this year, in the period from April to December 2025, women from Loznica and its surroundings, including suburban settlements and rural areas, will gather and network within the WOMEN’S ETHNO HUB. The pilot is organized within the WIN project in the territory of Loznica, to empower women and their better position, through three key social innovations:

Education for digital marketing with the use of AI tools, through the intergenerational connection of women of the middle and older generation, who produce handicrafts and domestic (ethnic) products, and young women who will support them in the promotion and better offer of these products on social networks.
Trainings on circular economy and capacity building of women, owners, or participants in family, ethnic, and tourist households and farms, for the development of rural and health tourism.
Support in establishing social enterprises.

This event not only marked a vibrant celebration of women’s achievements and potential but also set the stage for impactful, long-term change through WIN’s commitment to inclusive and sustainable development in peripheral industrial regions.

For more details and upcoming activities in Loznica, follow updates on the websites and social media channels of ABW Serbia, TOGL, and ABW Kreativna Vizija.