Meet Andrea Ugrinoska, a dedicated sustainability expert, who has used her knowledge and experience to benefit the work of companies and civil society, as well as governmental, and international organisations across various areas, and countries. As a NextGen participant from North Macedonia, Andrea played a crucial role at the ESG Adria Summit, bridging her expertise in ESG standards and youth engagement, and bringing them to the forefront of discussions.

With a background in psychology and international relations, Andrea has leveraged her knowledge and transitioned into the world of ESG as an auditor and consultant. Over more than a decade, her work has consistently demonstrated a deep commitment to human rights, fair labour practices in corporations of all sizes, climate change, sustainability, digitalization, youth empowerment, education, and gender equality. We are proud to have had her as a valuable participant at the Summit.

Reflecting on her experience at the ESG Adria Summit, Andrea shared the following remarks:

Participating in the ESG Adria Summit as a NextGen young sustainability leader was a rewarding experience that allowed me to engage with like-minded professionals from the Western Balkans and explore crucial issues surrounding sustainability and human rights.

I started working on ESG recently as an auditor and consultant for the private sector, after having spent some time in the NGO, government, and international organisation arena. The transition has not been an easy one, mostly due to the change in the profile of the stakeholders. Attending this summit has been very useful and timely for me. There is both agreement and disagreement on what ESG is and how to implement it exactly. There is consensus that it is much needed, but there is a lack of agreement on the exact frameworks to be used and how to go about it. The ESG Adria Summit helped me to solidify these different views by understanding how different stakeholders perceive ESG. I have learned about different initiatives the private and public sectors undertake to achieve sustainability goals and the regulations and drivers that help them do this.

At the same time, aside from the theoretical learning, which was useful, ESG Adria offered a plethora of stakeholders, all professionals within their field of work, whom it was very useful for me to get to know. I was very inspired by the representative of EXIT Festival, who had plans to sustainably export the concept outside of Serbia. This is relevant for me in North Macedonia, where we discussed how we could cooperate on driving this further together. The fact that we also got a chance to speak face to face with Mogherini and Dunja was extremely valuable, as it allowed us to understand what their approaches from two different perspectives entail, and how we can use their experiences to progress this topic further. In terms of networking, I also really appreciated the chance to build lasting connections with my fellow NextGen participants from the Western Balkans, and we are already exploring further cooperation with one of them. We were all so different in what we do, but also so similar in the final goal we want to achieve, that it was a true pleasure to be able to learn and share with all of them.

I am quite impressed that such a high-level, private sector-focused conference took a moment to recognise the role of young people in the conversation. Our societies are suffering from poor inter-generational knowledge transfer, where these spaces often mitigate such side effects by allowing us to learn from established professionals in the field and build future connections that would enable us to learn and progress further. On the flip side of the coin, decision-makers and professionals got a glimpse of the pulse of young people in today’s societies. The world we are building, the world of sustainable living, must be adapted and comprehensible to the younger generations, otherwise, they will not live by it. The most comprehensive way to do that is to allow young people to have a seat at the table in order to get their needs and opinions heard and taken into consideration. Young people see and experience the world differently than adults do, and with their knowledge of technology, they can often provide innovative solutions to complex problems by giving a fresh perspective.

I believe there are a lot of follow-up initiatives that can be organised to ensure the impact of ESG Adria is disseminated even further, keeping the topic of sustainability in mind. Multiplier events/conferences, workshops, and different actions can be just the beginning of sharing the message of the summit. Further, a panel of young professionals and activists working on sustainability can be created with an advisory role to both give advice prior to the Summit on how to make it more youth-friendly and accessible, and also in-between Summits to keep the topic alive through different actions.

I really enjoyed the opportunity and my time at the ESG Adria Summit. I would be available and interested to cooperate further with you to make this topic a reality everywhere.

The NextGen programme brought together eight young sustainability leaders from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Slovenia, and Serbia, to the ESG Adria Summit. During the three day event, these young leaders had an opportunity to not only attend the ESG Adria Summit but also to meet and learn from government officials, business leaders, and sustainability experts. NextGen participants met with prominent figures, including Federica Mogherini, Biljana Braithwaite, Dunja Mijatović, Nevena Dičić Kostić, and key representatives from Universal Capital Bank AD Podgorica, to discuss youth's role in bridging borders for sustainability and shaping a prosperous European future.

The NextGen Programme is powered by Sustineri Partners and Universal Capital Bank AD Podgorica.

More information on the NextGen initiative can be found here.