Expeditio news for the March 2012 can be read here.

“Earth Hour 2012” will be organized worldwide on Saturday, 31 March 2012, from 8.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. At this hour, citizens worldwide will turn off their lights for one hour to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change. In Montenegro, the event will be organized by the NGO Green Home from Podgorica, in cooperation with partners from different Montenegrin towns. Expeditio supports the action. We invite all the citizens, institutions, households and businesses to participate in the event by turning off their lights, contributing in that way to protecting our planet.

Akcija "Sat za planetu" organizuje se i ove godine širom svijeta. U subotu 23. marta 2013. godine sa početkom u 20.30h, građani/ke naše planete koji žele da doprinesu zaštiti životne sredine, ugasiće svjetla na 60 minuta. Expeditio podržava akciju i ove godine. Pozivamo i sve građane/ke, institucije, preduzeća i sve zainteresovane, da se pridružie inicijativi i na taj način doprinesu očuvanju naše planete.

Action "Earth Hour" is organized this year around the world. On Saturday, March 29th, 2014, starting at 20.30h, citizens of our planet who want to contribute to environmental protection, will turn off the lights for 60 minutes. Expeditio also supports this action. We invite all citizens, institutions, businesses companies and all interested parties to join the initiative and thus contribute to the preservation of our planet. 

Radio Free Europe’s Diary for the last week was written by the architect Biljana Gligorić, programme director at Expeditio, Centre for Sustainable Development in Kotor. The diary can be listen to and read here.

EXPEDITIO representative, Biljana Gligorić, participated in the National Conference for secondary school students focusing on the European integration process, organized within the project “Enjoying European Values for Young People”. The conference was held in Budva from 23^rd to 26^th March 2012. In addition to being a visiting lecturer at the panel discussing the topics of environmental protection and sustainable development, Biljana moderated a working group treating the same subjects. The conference was organized by the NGO Juventas from Podgorica, in cooperation with the project partners. Additional information on Juventas can be found here.

The Balkan Xpedition begins soon within the CORNERS project. The Xpedition will include 30 artists and researchers from seven European countries who are exploring the outer regions and coasts of Europe in search of stories and inspiration for their new work.  This joint venture “across the hilly Balkans” begins in Zagreb on 15 April 2012 and ends in Rijeka on 29 April 2012.

EXPEDITIO representative participated in the training “Managing EU-funded Projects”, which was held in Bečići, on 09-11 March and 16-18 March 2012.

On 20 February 2012, portal PCNEN, published an interview with Biljana Gligoric, programme director of Expeditio. The interview is a part of series of interviews with different persons evolving around the same topic. Interviews of all the interviewed persons can be found here. You can read Biljana’s interview here.

Radio Free Europe’s Diary for the last week was written by the architect Biljana Gligorić, programme director at Expeditio, Centre for Sustainable Development in Kotor.

A broadcast on Expeditio was aired on the National television (RTCG) on Tuesday, 13 March 2012, within the programme “NGO Sector”.

NGO Expeditio from Kotor gives its full support to the Civil Protest that will be held on 18 March 2012 in Podgorica. We believe this is an opportunity to express not only our support to the requirements stated by the protest organizers, but also a general dissatisfaction with the situation in Montenegro.

Dear friends, if you are interested to see the latest news of Expeditio click here. If you wish to receive our e-newsletters, please subscribe in “Join Our Mailing List” section, found in the right-hand column of our website.

This photo shows a beautiful entrance to the Kotor area, just after one passes the tunnel. However, instead of this breath taking view soon we will have a petrol station and a two-floor building (currently under construction). It is important to note that five petrol stations already exist in the immediate vicinity, within 5 km distance.

If you wish to get information about Expeditio major projects and activities realized in 2011, please click here

Expeditio representative, as member of NCSD (National Council for Sustainable Development), attended the 23rd session of this body, held on Januarz 27th. At this session, the Council has supported the current process of preparing and setting Montenegro for Third World Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio + 20) and discussed in detail the concept of green economy as one of the two key themes of the Summit. The Council has assessed that Montenegro has great potential for the application of the green economy, especially in the sectors of energy, tourism and agriculture, which in the context of preparations for the Rio +20 Summit should be seen as part of the coupling topics such as increasing employment, the preservation of natural capital, effective use of resources and the fight against climate changes.

In accordance with the newly adopted guidelines for future work, the Council has adopted the work plan for the 2012. In addition to the work on preparing the platform for Rio +20, the main topics the Council will deal with in this year, are  the revision of the National Strategy of Sustainable Development as main document for the development of Montenegro, encouraging dialogue on key issues of sustainable development, supporting stronger application of standards of sustainable development at the local and the level of involvement in the assessment of overall capacity for sustainable development. The Council will have to determine, at the next session, the Award for Sustainable Development, which will be awarded to the most responsable for the promotion of sustainable development as well as indicate the negative examples in the application of this concept.

Members discussed the role and mandate of the Council for the next period and agreed that the Council should focus its work on the consideration of strategic issues and the development of guidelines for specific areas of sustainable development, but also to serve as a reference point for government departments and other stakeholders and members of society in solving the dilemma in choosing approaches and defining priority development policies and projects. Special attention is that in the future the Council strengthen its role in the public dialogue on sustainable development and, thus, contribute to a general-public consensus on this concept.

Dragi prijatelji/ce,

Sa žaljenjem Vas obavještavamo da je došlo do otkazivanja prezentacije Kulturna strategije Istre - Iskustva izrade i implementacije, koja je bila zakazana za 26. januar 2012. godine u Kotoru.

The second round table within the project "The Cultural Circle of Cetinje " was held on Wednesday, 21 December, in the Art Research Centre in Cetinje. "The Cultural Circle of Cetinje" is a project of cooperation between the Faculties of Arts in Cetinje – Faculty of Drama, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music Academy. The Project was conceptualised based on the modern programmes organised throughout Europe, and is aimed at the inclusion of the academic community in the consideration of cultural phenomena and issues of environment where it is implemented. Within the Project, discussions with university professors, representatives of cultural institutions, non-governmental sector and renowned artists from Montenegro and the region will be organised in Cetinje.

Dear friends, nearing the end of 2012, we want to briefly remind you of the most important projects and activities Expeditio implemented over the last 12 months. We wish you all the best for the coming 2013 and thank you cordially for taking interest in our work! Yours Expeditio

The meeting of the Board for Energy Efficiency and Environmental Protection, with the representative of EXPEDITIO as its member, was held on 15 December. The Ministry of Economy presented the activities carried out in the field of energy efficiency. The Deputy Minister of Economy, Ms. Dragica Sekulic, presented the 2012 plan and the progress of the ongoing projects. It was agreed that a larger number of educational activities in this field should be organised next year, as well as to try to encourage a larger number of enterprises to be involved in the ongoing projects which are financed from different credit lines.

Witnin the framework of a regional initiative “Public Dialogue on the Sustainable Use of Energy in Southeast Europe” a panel discussion entitled “Examples of Good Practice in the Field of Energy Efficiency” was held at the “Podgorica” hotel in Podgorica on December 13, 2011.

The meeting of organisations “Abart” from Mostar, “Blok” and “Kontraakcija” from Zagreb and “Expeditio” from Kotor was held in Dubrovnik from 25 to 27 November 2011 on the initiative of the Art Workshop Lazareti which is launching the project dealing with the issue of urban memory.

Within the public hearing about the draft Law on the Protection of the Natural and Cultural-Historical Area of Kotor, EXPEDITIO submitted the comments and objections to the draft Law to the Ministry of Culture.

Additionally, EXPEDITIO submitted objections to the following plans which were subject to the public hearing in the first half of November to the municipality Kotor, Secretariat for Urban Planning, Construction and Residential-Public Utility Affairs:

• Objections to the draft Amendment to the Detailed Urban Plan of Orahovac and Drazin vrt

• Objections to the draft Local Location Study of Glavati-Prcanj

• Objections to the draft Detailed Urban Plan of Prcanj.

The Conference entitled “Discussions on the Future of the Environmental State – toward the third World Summit on Sustainable Development Rio+20” was held in Podgorica on 18 December. The Conference was organised by the National Council for Sustainable Development. The representative of EXPEDITIO attended the Conference acting as the Deputy President of the National Council for Sustainable Development.

The representative of EXPEDITIO was appointed as the member of the municipal Consultancy Group in charge of the development of the Strategic Plan of the Municipality Kotor. The deadline for the development of the Strategic Plan is 6 February 2012.

The conference about “Energy-Development-Democracy: Shaping New Energy Future in South East Europe” was held in Belgrade from 17 to 19 October 2011 in the National Assembly of Serbia. The conference was organised within the Initiative on the Establishment of Public Dialogue about Sustainable Use of Energy in South East Europe (“the Initiative”) which was launched by the members of the Network of Schools of Political Studies in south East Europe which act under the patronage of the Council of Europe, supported by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), International Visegrad Fund and Electricity Company of Serbia.

The conference was attended by the representative of our Organisation, as a member of the delegation of Montenegro.

For more information about this project see: http://www.publicdialogue-energy.com/

On Thursday, 17 November 2011, the informative meeting concerning IV invitation to SEE projects was held in the hotel “City”, Podgorica. The representative of EXPEDITIO took part in the presentation.

On Thursday, 3 November 2011, at the bookshop Karver in Podgorica, BIFC  (Balkan Incentive Fund for Culture) was presented and the workshop on networks and networking was held, organised by the regional office of BIFC from Slovenia. The representative of Expeditio was also present at the workshops.

On Tuesday, 25 October 2011, in Herceg Novi, a meeting between the representatives of the Agency for Construction and Development of Herceg Novi and Expeditio was held. The purpose of the meeting was the possibility of cooperation on EU projects in accordance with the plans of the Agency and capacities of our organisation.

The representative of EXPEDITIO was invited to make a presentation during the SEENET Summer School entitled Reconciling Tourism Opportunities with the Process of Local Sustainable Development, organized in Skadar, Albania, in the period from 9 to 15 October 2011.

The Summer School is a partnership project entitled ’SEENET’, financed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the local government in the Balkans. For more information about the project visit http://www.see-net.org/.

The representative of EXPEDITIO participated at the conference „FACING THE PAST / CREATING THE FUTURE - the role of culture in reintegration of the Western Balkans”, organized in Sarajevo by the Open Society Fund-Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period from 29 September to 2 October 2011.

The representative of Expeditio, Biljana Gligorić, was appointed the member of Municipal Consultative Group for drawing up of the Strategic Plan for the development of Kotor municipality in the period of 2012-2018.

The consultative group is comprised of public institutions representatives at the local and government level and NGO sector.

At recently announced competition for architectural and interior design solution for the Montenegro Pavilion during „EXPO2015 Milan“, the team EXPEDITIO achitects won the first prize. The announcer of the Competition is AD Adriatic Fair in cooperation with Montenegro Faculty of Architecture and the Association of Architects of Montenegro. The works are displayed until 24 September 2011, 10-19h at the Presentation Hall of Adriatic Fair.

The representative of our organization, Biljana Gligorić, in the capacity of Vice President of the Energy Efficiency Board within the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro, was the moderator of the plenary session entitled: Green industry, energy and sustainable development.

The plenary session took place within the Business Forum of Montenegro and the Republic of Slovenia held on 5 September 2011 in the Maestral hotel in Pržno and was participated by more than 250 Montenegrin and Slovene businessmen and the respective Presidents of Montenegro Filip Vujanović and of Slovenia Danilo Tirk, PhD, and some of the ministers of the two governments. This represents a new contribution to good relations between the two states, as concluded at the biggest economic meeting organized in Montenegro.

More about this event >>>

Between 11 and 22 July 2011, a regional training for NGOs, entitled “Young Leaders for Sustainable Future”, was held in the Solar Academy, Šolta, Croatia. The training was organized by the Croatian NGO Green Action - Friends of the Earth. The training was part of the project “Networking and capacity building of environmental NGOs in order to increase energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources in South East Europe” funded by the European Commission.

The aim of this regional training was to provide young volunteers and NGO representatives with basic information on sustainable energy and transport, as well as to encourage them to get involved and be active in this field.

"We have lost control over the space" /”The space of Montenegro deserves surgical precision in spatial planning rather than coarse and oversized structures that will permanently damage it. This, of course, does not mean that we should refuse larger interventions; it just means that we should consider them carefully and in a professional way. The state should re-examine the vision of spatial development of Montenegro, raise the reputation, capabilities and expertise of the spatial planning system, and prevent corruption and pressure on planners. Only then can we expect to do spatial development planning, instead of merely sketching squares", Gligorić said ...

The complete article can be read here >>>

Expeditio representative had a presentation during the Summer School of Architecture, Bac 2011 - "Sustainable development of protected cultural monuments: the Church of St. Paul complex with a monastery of nuns of Notre Dame and the old orphanage in Bac-revitalization project through Vizitor center " which was organized by a non-governmental association Group of Architects. 

Expeditio representative had a presentation "Role of civil society in the field of protection of cultural heritage" and "Application of traditional crafts in the reconstruction of cultural monuments and volunteer work camps of restoration".

More information about the Summer School of Architecture in Bac can see on the website:

Grupe Arhitekata. 

Expeditio representative participated in a summer school of the Balkan Express network, which was held on the island of Cres in Croatia from 23 to 31 July 2011. The network is a platform for the exchange and cooperation of cultural actors in the Balkan area. During the summer school, participants from Slovnia, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Belgium and Montenegro had an opportunity to talk about future joint projects, challenges of the cultural sector and sustainability of the network.

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