On Wednesday, 27 July 2011, the 21^st session of the National Council for Sustainable Development was held. The session had the following agenda:

Reports on the Council’s work between two sessions – repors presented by the coordinators of the Working Group and the Council’s Secretary (representative of Expeditio):

a)  A report on the work of the Council’s Working Group for Sustainable Consumption and Production in the process of reviewing the Draft Law on Construction Products

b) A report on the establishment of the Council’s  Working Group for the Sustainability of Space in Montenegro

c) A report on the preparations for the participation of Montenegro in the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 2012

Representative of our organization, Biljana Gligoric, participated in the 3^rd training for schools organized within the project EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE WESTERN BALKANS - Capacity Building and Support to Schools. The training was held on Zlatibor, from 29 June untill 1 July 2011. The training included the following topics: an analysis of the situation, problem analysis (the problem tree), the tree of goals, etc.

The project Education for Sustainable Development in the Western Balkans has been implemeted since April 2009. The aim of the project is to provide support to schools and communities to work jointly towards sustainable development. It is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and its total value is EUR 3,807,000.00.

Once renowned for their strict government-controlled spatial planning, many former communist cities in the Western Balkans have been transformed by feverish and uncontrolled urban growth. How can new cultures of spatial planning be created in a region where not only residents but even architects and urban planners can feel excluded from spatial developments? In collaboration with POLIS University, Co-PLAN, EXPEDITIO and ASA, the NAI is organising a Debate on Tour to Tirana, Podgorica and Sarajevo from 4 to 6 July 2011 to address these issues.

In January 2011, the non-governmental organizations Green Home and Expeditio started to implement the project entitled “Monitoring of Implementation of Principles of Sustainable Spatial Development and Environmental Protection in Spatial Planning Documents of Montenegro”. The Project was supported by the Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI), representative office in Podgorica. One of activities implemented within this project is the workshop entitled “Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection in Spatial Planning Documents of Montenegro” in which the project and results obtained by implementation of project-related activities will be presented.

The representative of Expeditio, Aleksandra Kapetanovic, attended the 4th International Course on the Conservation of Modern Architecture (MARC 2011) – “Metamorphosis – Understanding and Managing Changes” held in Helsinki, Finland, from 28 May until 23 June 2011.

Group of graduate students from the University of Pennsylvania (USA), as part of a summer course on the protection and valorization of cultural heritage, visited our organization in late May 2011. Within collaboration program between the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Pennsylvania, the Municipality of Kotor and the Faculty of Architecture in Podgorica, students this year are staying in Kotor for the second time. Group is led by Prof. Michele Lamprakos while in their curricula in Montenegro participates doc.dr. Elijah Lalošević, professor of the Faculty of Architecture in Podgorica.

U podnožju planine Kozjak, na krajnjen jugu Srbije, u blizini granične linije sa Makedonijom, nalazi se čuveni srpski manastir Sveti Prohor Pčinjski. Čuven zbog svoje duge i burne prošlosti, zbog značenja koje je imao, a i danas ima, u narodu. Uz sve to, manastir Svetog Prohora neodoljivo privlači svojom živopisnom okolinom. Smešten je u kanjonu gornjeg toka reke Pčinje, jedne od najdužih i vodama najbogatijih pritoka Vardara, okružen stoletnim šumama, u ambijentu planinskog zatišja, svežeg gorskog vazduha i lepote kakva se ne može sresti na urbanim prostorima.

Autor putopisa: Dragiša Spremo, Banja Luka