Dear friends,We use this opportunity to acquaint you with some thoughts we have had in Expeditio for some time now, in connection with the provision of basic conditions for our work. g. We believe that we are not alone in facing this type of problem and that is why we are addressing you, knowing that you follow our work and hoping that you might have some interesting and constructive suggestions, or share some experiences and proposals that may be of importance for us.
For the last seven years we have rented an office for our work. When
We believe that civil society organizations, being structures that work in the public interest, should have more favorable treatment in the provision of working space, i.e. they should not be subject to the market competition dictated by the business sector.
There are some positive examples (in the region), like enabling NGOs to rent municipal spaces under privileged prices, launching transparent competitions for the allocation of spaces managed by the local goverments and public enterprises, etc. Unfortunately, these positive processes take long to reach us, i.e. there are hardly any positive examples. Even when there is a practice of assigning spaces to non-governmental organizations by the local governments, our experience is that the rules and criteria for the selection of organizations are often unclear or insufficiently transparent (it is not not clarified under what criteria some organizations obtain municipal spaces for their work). We believe that, under clear criteria for the allocation, such spaces could be used more efficiently, shared by several oragnizations, etc.
We hope that soon there will be an increase of the social awareness of how important it is that the public sector assists the sustainability of the NGO sector. We want to contribute to this process being accelerated, not only when our organization is concerned, but also the NGO sector as a whole. We are sure that the NGO sector, considering the benefits it brings to the development of the society, deserves to be more seriously supported by the public sector.
However, until this happens, Expeditio is to depend on the market logic, which makes it very difficult for us to plan our long-term sustainability. Our dream of a long time ago is to establish, in accordance with our mission, a "Regional Centre for Sustainable Spatial Development". The Centre would be housed in a modern, energy-efficient building, that could serve as an example of the type of architecture we are trying to introduce. Such a centre could become a place for providing education in the field of energy-efficient construction, cultural heritage protection and other areas that our organization deals with.
Therefore, we are considering various options:
OPTION 1: to provide a less urbanized plot on the territory of the Municipality of Kotor (where the mentioned Centre could be built). The location is not of key importance, we would be satisfied with a less attractive location.
OPTION 2: to rent a temporary office (under favorable conditions) on the territory of the Municipality of Kotor. The location is not of key importance, we would be satisfied with a less attractive location. We need an unfurnished office.
OPTION 3: to renovate some space that is in not so good condition, in exchange for its free usage for a particular period. The location is not of key importance, even some partner solutions are acceptable to us.
If you have any ideas, pieces of advice or experience in connection with any of the above topics, please let us know. Some concrete proposals for possible sites and facilities on the territory of Kotor are also welcome.
We thank you in advance.
Best regards from the
EXPEDITIO
EXPEDITIO is a non-governmental organization whose mission is to encourage sustainable spatial development in Montenegro and SEE region through activity in the fields of sustainable architecture, cultural heritage, urban planning and through projects that encourage overall development of the civil society. Expeditio was established in 1997.
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