Debate culture in Serbia, or the lack of it

I wrote an article on the Kyoto Protocol for the last issue of my organisation's publication. I argued that Serbia needed to sign the Protocol in order to start participating in the Clean Development Mechanism (as it is a non-Annex I party) so that carbon credits can be acquired from either unilateral, bilateral or multilateral projects directed at improving energy efficiency and carbon intensity of the country's energy sources. I also argued that the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol can bring favourable outcomes in terms of Serbia's economic growth and development, and should therefore not only be a concern of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, but also the Ministry of Mining and Energy and the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development.

My motivation was not to boast my knowledge on environmental matters, but to spark public debate on the issue. I tried to do my share by stressing the importance of synchronised and long-term economic, environmental and energy policy planning, something that hasn't resonated very far in Serbia up to now. One of the expert comments I got for my article was: “I am so disappointed, because the article contains many mistakes, but let’s keep this between us”. But I would never want to keep the mistakes a secret to my readers! And this is the point I’m getting to. Once it came down to it, the “mistakes” were pretty much differences of opinion, as well as some minor interpretations that could be seen one way or the other. Had this person written a commentary on my article, instead of "doing me a favour" by “keeping my mistakes between us”, it would have been so much more useful for policy makers and the general public! I would reply to his commentary, other people would hopefully get involved and we would have a debate! It sounds so simple, but unfortunately it seems to take a lot more than it being simple for it to happen in real life.

As my friend in NYC put it the other day, I guess you guys don't really have a culture of knowledge sharing. I, being in a quite misanthropic mood, added - there isn't much knowledge to share. This may be the case, but let's be pragmatic about it. How does one promote knowledge and information sharing in a developing country context? Especially when coupled with the Communist legacy of sharing everything but information. We need better education? Of course, but how do you generate society-wide positive externalities from improved education? How do people start worrying about other than mundane things like buying a new car? And I am not talking about the ordinary citizen, I’m referring to Serbia’s intellectual elite.