On September 13, 2018 in the Tourist Information Center "Ponikva" a workshop was held on the topic "Creating a vision for Osogovo - future protected area". The workshop was realized in cooperation with the Macedonian Ecological Society, within the framework of the Program for Nature Conservation in Macedonia supported by the Swiss Confederation.

This workshop is part of the process for the establishment of new protected areas in the Bregalnica region, which is conducted with the application of a participatory approach. The goal was to inform stakeholders at the local level about the activities related to the process of proclaiming Osogovo as a future protected area and creating a common vision of the local population for the Osogovo region.

The workshop was opened by the Mayor of the Municipality of Kocani and President of the Council for Development of the East Planning Region, Mr. Nikolco Ilijev, whose presence at the workshop confirmed the support for the proclamation of Osogovo for the protected area of the mayors from the entire region.

The workshop was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning, PE Macedonian Forests, representatives from the affected local self-governments and representatives of citizens' associations from the municipalities of Probistip, Kocani and Makedonska Kamenica.