The 13th Biennial International Conference on Criminal Justice and Security in Central and Eastern Europe 2021 is being held online this year due to the pandemic. At its opening on the 13th of September, Dr. Zvekic in his opening statement pointed out the contribution by Global Initiative to this years conference, as well as its main goal and mission. Dr. Zvekic emphasised the importance the topic of this years conference, “Perspectives of Rural Safety, Security and Rural Criminology", for its importance in understanding of the geography, dynamics and networking of organised crime.
At the opening day, Head of Balkan Criminology, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anna-Maria Getoš Kalac participated at a roundtable discussing the important and always relevant topic of publishing in international social science journals and challenges that lie within, with a specific focus on the issue of funding. The roundtable was additionally enriched by presentations given by Prof. Dr. Gorazd Meško in regards to most common issues between editors and authors and Director of Academic Engagement in GI, Mr. John Collins.
Additionally, the Balkan Criminology team has participated at the conference with two presentations at the Violence in the Balkans – Rural perspectives panel. While Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anna-Maria Getoš Kalac and Ms. Dalia Pribisalić presented the rural perspective of the Balkan Homicide Study data, highlighting the differences (and lack thereof) between the rural and urban area homicide characteristics, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Andra-Roxana Trandafir together with Dr. Reana Bezić presented the results of the same study, with a focus on the data gathered in Romania.
