Belgrade, 13 September 2020

In Serbia, the ConnectGREEN project has so far achieved a fairly large media coverage, primarily thanks to the recognition of the importance of the protection of large carnivores in the Carpathian region in Serbia by the National Television of Serbia (RTS), especially by the Editorial Board of the Environmental Program and the EDUGLOBAL TV show.

In the scientific TV show EDUGLOBAL, on Sunday, September 13, Mrs. Marina Nenković-Riznić presented conclusions of the ConnectGREEN Second National Workshop, dedicated to the Strategy on the Identification, Preservation, and Management of Ecological Corridors in the Carpathian Countries. The workshop was held virtually in Belgrade, Serbia, via the ZOOM platform on 15 April 2020 due to the COVID-19 restrictions. The main goal of the Workshop was to determine competencies and recommendations for the implementation of the Strategy.

The National Workshop

The national audience was informed about the results of the ConnectGREEN Project so far which were presented by team members from the Institute of Architecture and Urban & Spatial Planning of Serbia. The results referred not only to the participation in the development of guiding documents at the project level, but also to the practical implementation of project results in defining conditions for building green bridges and urban plans for infrastructure corridors, which are being implemented within the Institute of Architecture and Urban & Spatial planning of Serbia. Colleagues from National Park Djerdap presented the results on the allocation and identification of eco-corridors in the National Park, while a WWF representative spoke about the importance of the regional protection of large carnivores.

Twenty representatives of relevant stakeholders in Serbia took part in the Workshop; including representatives of four ministries of the Republic of Serbia (Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management and Ministry for European Integration), public companies, regional and provincial institutes and agencies (Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia, Serbian Environmental Protection Agency, Public Company for Forest Management “Vojvodinašume”, Urban and Spatial Planning Institute of Vojvodina, PE “Đerdap National Park”, and Ski Resorts of Serbia), and other interest groups (WWF Adria; Balkan Green Energy News).

The audience was also introduced to the fact that the Workshop was organized on the proposed draft Strategy in the field of objectives and activities, responsibilities for the adoption and implementation of the Strategy, cross-border cooperation and GIS and spatial planning. A lively and very fruitful discussion ensued which raised a number of questions, but also provided many answers to the topics and problems contained in the strategy, which was presented in details during the EDUGLOBAL scientific programme.

Mrs. Marina Nenkovic Riznic concluded that the Workshop gave great results that helped the overall project in more seriously structuring of the Strategy, pointed out the regional and national specifics for its implementation, all with the help of the Workshop participants. She also emphasized that with this, Serbian partners have covered almost all levels of decision-making in the Republic of Serbia and thus adequately present the results of the project so far.