Odavno sam nešto obećao, ima tome evo već godina i nešto, i evo došlo je vreme da obećanje i ispunim, govoreći o mestu u kome sam proveo godinu dana. Razlog zašto se ranije nisam oglasio jeste da najpre nisam poznavao stvari dovoljno, a kada sam ih upoznao, već je bilo kasno, jer sam izgubio svaki kritički stav i sopstvenu objektivnost. Isto kao što pišući i govoreći o Beogradu, u kome sam rođen i odrastao, ne mogu da budem objektivan, tako ni o Bratislavi, u kojoj sam proveo godinu dana, ne mogu da budem objektivan. Nadam se da cu uspeti da zadržim ipak neki stepen pristojnosti i da će ovaj moj putopis uspeti da vas natera da razmislite o tome da posetite ovaj grad, koji, generalno gledano, i nije predaleko od ovih naših krajeva...

On 23 December 2009, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the Ministry for Spatial Planning and Environment and non-governmental organizations. On that occasion, a Working Group responsible for concrete application of the signed document was formed.

On December 11, 2009, a constitutive session of the National Council for Sustainable Development in new composition was held, which is the result of the implemented reforms of the Council. The newly formed Council has 23 members who represent different social structures - government, local governments, business community, NGOs, academic sector and independent experts. The President of the Council is Prime Minister Milo Đukanović.

The session discussed a draft of the Second annual report on the implementation of the National strategy of sustainable development of Montenegro, which presented activities implemented by the relevant departments, provided a general evaluation of the sustainability of the development of Montenegro and gave recommendations for further implementation of the Strategy. It was concluded that it was necessary to improve the methodology of monitoring the implementation of the National strategy of sustainable development, to begin the revision of the Action Plan and Strategy in the coming period and to strengthen the system of sustainable development indicators. The draft report was adopted and it will be sent to the Government for consideration, together with comments and conclusions agreed by the Council.

At the session, the Council's Rules of Procedure was adopted, which precisely defines the responsibilities and the rules of operation of the Council. The Rules of Procedure stipulates that the Council sessions should be convened at least three times a year and that the continuity of its wours should be ensured through establishment and operation of working groups for specific areas, which would improve the efficiency of the Council's work.

The work of the Office for Sustainable Development for the year 2009 was also presented at the session. It was proposed that the first regular session of the Council should be held as early as mid January next year, at which a plan of the Council's work for 2010 should be determined.

EXPEDITIO representative is a member of the National Council for Sustainable Development.

Dear SEE Heritage friends, we are preparing a new SEE calendar for 2010, similar to the one we made last year. We think that it was a good and nice PR material for our Network, and that it will be good to have it this year, as well.

Last week, on November 27, 2009, a representative of EXPEDITIO participated in the conference titled ''Youth Participation in Montenegro - Challenges and Opportunities'', which was held in the Assembly Hall of the Municipality of Kotor, in Bizanti Palace in the Old Town. The conference is a part of the campaign on youth participation, which is conducted within the project ''Social Empowerment of Young People''. The project is implemented in partnership between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Media of Montenegro and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and was financially supported by the Italian Government.

On November 29, 2009, EXPEDITIO representatives organized a presentation about the activities of NGOs in Montenegro for the students of architecture and urban planning from the Polis University of Tirana and conservation students from the University of Gothenburg. The presentation was held in the Assembly Hall of the Municipality of Kotor in Bizanti Palace.

You can read Expeditio comments on "Draft of the Law on voluntary work" here . Comments were delivered to NGO ADP Zid from Podgorica on November 23, 2009.

EXPEDITIO representative participated in the workshop "Implementation of the European Landscape Convention in Montenegro – Landscape and Spatial / Urban Planning", organized by the Ministry for Spatial Planning and Environment of Montenegro and GTZ and held in Podgorica on November 16 and 17, 2009.

Through exchanging experiences of the implementation of the European Landscape Convention at regional and European levels , the workshop aimed at reviewing three key policies: protection, management and planning, and also two special measures for the implementation of this Convention: training-education and awareness raising.

We would like to ask all of you who live in the Prokletije area or you who know, visit or love this area to help us by completing a QUESTIONNAIRE on cultural heritage of the area.

The questionnaire is part of the "Assessment of Cultural Heritage in the Prokletije Area " conducted by EXPEDITIO. EXPEDITIO was commissioned by SNV – the Natherlands Development Organisation to conduct the assessment in the period September-December 2009 . The assessment is implemented within the project "Protection and enhancement of rural communities and their traditional landscape by strengthening environmental management in the trans-boundary protected areas of the Dinaric mountain range" which is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and implemented by IUCN, WWF and SNV. Additional information about the project can be found here.

On Friday, 6^th of November 2009, Adrienne Blattel, our volunteer from Canada, presented the country from which she's coming. The presentation was held at EXPEDITIO premises in Kotor.

The assessment of cultural heritage in the area of Prokletije is implemented within the project "Protection and enhancement of rural communities and their traditional landscape by strengthening environmental management in the trans-boundary protected areas of the Dinaric mountain range" which is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and implemented by IUCN, WWF and SNV.

In its 2009 programme the Architekturzentrum Wien focuses on the Balkans. After the very successful exhibition about Bogdan Bogdanović the Architekturzentrum Wien shows "Balkanology. New Architecture And Urban Phenomena in Southeast Europe". In the accompanying programme, the 17. Wiener Architektur Kongress will also deal with this topic.

Expeditio has had a new volunteer from Canada, Adrienne Blattel, since September 4, 2009. Adrienne works for an organisation called the Quebec-Labrador Foundation (QLF) as the Associate Director of their Northern Gulf Culture and Heritage Program. Adrienne will be with us for 3 months and will assist with programs related to cultural heritage. Adrienne is thrilled to be discovering Kotor and Montenegro for the first time, and is already greatly enjoying her time learning from Expeditio's experiences. For more information about QLF and Adrienne, please consult: www.qlf.org

Dear friends, we are currently working on a new website for Expeditio. We will need a few more days to complete preparation and testing of the site, so please be patient if not all of the features have been configured. We hope you will like the new site. Thank you.

EXPEDITIO - Center for Sustainable Spatial Development is socially engaged practice active in the field of architecture and urban planning since 1997. It is NGO based in Kotor (Montenegro), founded by six students of architecture at the University of Belgrade. EXPEDITIO has implemented more than 100 projects and activities addressing various issues of sustainable spatial development, such as: urban and rural planning and management, cultural heritage and landscape, sustainable cities, public spaces, green/energy efficient architecture etc.

Enclosed you can read Expeditio's semi-annual report on our work accomplished between February and August 2009. To read the report, which is in pdf format, please click here (pfd)

The Austrian organization proHolz Steiermark from Graz organized, in cooperation with Expeditio, an expert excursion “Eco-houses in Styria” for Montenegrin construction firms and professionals in the fields of architecture and construction (architects, civil and mechanical engineers, etc.). More information here (pdf)

Contact:
Klemen Klemenak
Holzcluster Steiermark GmbH
Reininghausstraße 13a
8020 Graz

Tel.: +43(0316)58 78 50-21
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.holzcluster-steiermark.at

On 4 August 2009, representatives of Expeditio and the company ETG Engineering from Podgorica had a meeting in the Municipality of Tivat with the representatives of the local government and the public institutions on the territory of Tivat.

Brošura pod nazivom “Gradimo održivo!” sadrži 34 strane o principima i primjerima održivog građenja. Publikaciju je realizovala Nataša Ilinčić, arhitekta, saradnica EXPEDITIO u slopu rada sektora za održivu arhitekturu i dizajn EXPEDITIO2.

Materijal predstavljen na sajtu www.gradovi.cg.yu, sada je dostupan i na engleskom jeziku. Sajt je dio istoimene kampanje koju je EXPEDITIO organizovao tokom 2004. godine pod pokroviteljstvom UNDP-a. Iako je kampanja završena juna 2004. godine, kroz izložbe i putem web sajta nastavljamo sa promovisanjem ove teme.

Pocetkom 2005. odobren nam je projekat- kampanja “Kuća - prijatelj životne sredine” od strane Evropske agencije za rekonstrukciju sa sedistem u Podgorici. Osnovni cilj projekta je smanjenje štetnog uticaja izgrađene strukture na kvalitet životne sredine u Crnoj Gori. Ciljne grupe u projektu su - sekretarijati za urbanizam u lokalnim samoupravama, nevladine organizacija, djeca i mladi, predstavnici medija, mladi stručnjaci i šira javnost Crne Gore.