At the end of 2010, Expeditio was approved a grant for the implementation of the project “EKOPlan - Monitoring the application of the principles of sustainable spatial development and environmental protection in the spatial planning documents in Montenegro”. The project will be conducted in partnership with the NGO Green Home from Podgorica.

The project aims to encourage the application of the principles of sustainable spatial development and environmental protection in the spatial planning documents in Montenegro, through analysing and monitoring terms of reference, plans, projects and planning legistative, as well as through researching the level of law enforcement and its impact on the citizens. The amount of the grant is € 27,390.00. The project will be implemented during 2011.

The donor is: Foundation Open Society Institute - Representative Office Montenegro (FOSI ROM)

EXPEDITIO has started with the implementation of a new project entitled “Revival of City Squares in Balkan Cities”, which will be conducted in partnership with the organizations Co-PLAN and U-Polis from Albania and the Coalition for Sustainable Development form Macedonia.  

As its overall goal, the project “Revival of City Squares in Balkan Cities” aims to contribute to the revival of city squares as viable public places that foster cultural identity and promote diversity through enforcement of public policies and active community participation. The action intends to achieve two major specific objectives: to promote national and regional policy discourse on how city squares can be transformed into pulsating community places and develop a platform for transforming open public spaces into vibrant places that serve community needs.

As the final result, the project should provide policy makers and local officials with tools on how to carry out city square transformation process collaborating with the community.

Project activities

The main activities envisaged with the project are designed to create an overall framework that encompasses elements of systematic approach:

• Examination and analyses of the current use of city squares in 4 cities: Tirana, Durres, Kotor and Skopje and an assessment of potentials for their transformation, through a Survey and a Comparative analysis
• Three Regional workshops for students and young professionals, including architects, spatial planners, artists, etc., one in each of the partners’ counties.
• Consultative process on validation and support of guidelines with the key stakeholders (including public officials, segments of civil society and citizens) through meetings and round tables
• Elaboration of a set of viable guidelines on city square transformation
• Development of local policy documents on city square transformation
• Mapping and networking with organizations/actors that operate nationally or/and in the Balkan region
• Dissemination of practices and knowledge gained in pushing actions forward for the transformation of city squares, through

-Local websites on revival of city squares
-Project/event pages on interactive social platforms
-Project E-newsletters
-Articles in the Forum A+P
-Publication “Roadmap for Liveable Cities”
-Regional Closing Conference

The lead partner of the project is Co-PLAN, Institute for Habitat Development from Tirana, Albania |www.co-plan.org| while other partners are: the Coalition for Sustainable Development (CSD) from Skoplje, Macedonia; EXPEDITIO from Kotor, Montenegro andPolis University (International School of Architecture and Urban Development Policies from Tirana, Albania www.universitetipolis.org|.

EXPEDITIO has started with the implementation of the project “Civil Society Engagement in community building through the understanding, development, management and preservation of the built cultural heritage of the Western Balkans - CSEinHeritage”, in cooperation with the European and Westen Balkan organizations.

The project is implemented within the IPA 2009 – Civil Society Facility – Multi-beneficiary Programmes "Support to partnership Actions between Cultural Organisations launched by the European Commission – the Directorate General for Enlargement.

The Commission for allocation of revenue from games of chance has made a decision on the distribution of funds in 2010. Based on this decision, our organization has been granted funds for the implementation of the project "Kotor for Children".

Gender and Space - Gender mainstreaming of spatial planning processes in Montenegro

In Montenegro, mainstreaming a gender perspective into plans and programmes at all levels is a legal obligation, which is not sufficiently implemented. The intention of the project “Gender and Space” is to encourage gender mainstreaming of the spatial development planning processes in Montenegro.

The project aims to increase awareness of the principles of gender mainstreaming among the actors involved in the processes of spatial planning in Montenegro.