The annual regional meeting of the network CIVINET Slovenia-Croatia-SEE was held in Šibenik
The 8th annual general assembly of the network CIVINET Slovenia-Croatia-SEE and the round table “Measures for sustainable urban mobility in touristic destinations” were held in Šibenik, on June 18, 2021. The meeting, which was held in a hybrid form, was attended by about 50 participants from Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia. The meeting was organized by ODRAZ-Sustainable Community Development as the secretariat of the Network, in cooperation with the City of Šibenik. The day before, in the area of the Barone Fortress, meetings of the Governing board, Political Committee and newly established Academic Committee of the Network and the were held.
On behalf of the Mayor of Šibenik Željko Burić, Petar Mišura, Head of the Administrative Department for Economy, Entrepreneurship and Development of Šibenik, addressed the audience, emphasizing in his speech that the City of Šibenik invests a lot of effort in mobility, promoting itself as a sustainable and touristic city.
As one of the key projects of the city, he mentioned the project of integrated mobility in the city of Šibenik, within which the underground garage and logistics center “Poljana” was built, a project nominated for the most successful architectural achievement for 2020.
The official program of the Assembly began with the presentation of the report on the work of the network in 2020, which was presented by Marko Stančec from ODRAZ (Network Secretariat), emphasizing that the Network currently has 195 members and is still the most active CIVINET network in Europe. Then, the director of ODRAZ, Lidija Pavić-Rogošić, presented the plan of activities of the network in 2021, changes to the Statute and the Political Statement of the network for 2021.
In a political statement, the Political Committee emphasizes in particular:
- European Green Plan which also mentions the Western Balkans, as well as guidelines for the implementation of the Green Program for the Western Balkans accompanying the economic and investment plan
- Continuation of topics of the Network’s work related to the realization of the UN Global Sustainable Development Goals by 2030
- That, depending on the mitigation or cessation of restrictive measures in the geographical area, live meetings of Network members are organized, and if restrictions will still be at place some events will continue to be conducted remotely or in hybrid format.
- Continuation of activities in the online format, bearing in mind the good attendance of webinars as a new form of educational activities of the Network
- Promoting the Network and its activities, especially during relevant events such as European Mobility Week.
The Assembly of the CIVINET Slovenia-Croatia-SEE Network was proposed to adopt the following decisions, which were unanimously adopted:
- Action plan for 2021.
- Amendments to the Statute
- Political statement for 2021.
After the General Assembly, a round table “Measures for sustainable urban mobility in touristic destinations” was held. The round table program began with a presentation by Šime Erlić from the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds, who presented the news on cohesion policy for in Croatia and the funding plan for the programming period 2021-2027, in which significant funds are planned and for transport sector. In his presentation, he focused on the financing sustainable mobility and tourism projects.
Maja Bakran from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport joined the program online to present the new European Strategy for Sustainable and Smart Mobility.
In the following, the participants had the opportunity to listen to interesting examples of good practice in planning sustainable mobility in touristic areas, which were presented by members of the network from Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Examples were from Šibenik, Rogla and Zlatibor, and there was also talk of cycling tourism in BiH.
The project of integrated mobility in the area of the City of Šibenik, which is aimed at simultaneously solving a number of identified development challenges in the transport sector in the area of the city, was presented by Petar Mišura from the Šibenik City Administration. Aljaž Plevnik from the Urban Institute of the Republic of Slovenia presented a mobility plan for the tourist area of Rogla, where one of the most important ski resorts in Slovenia is located.
Srđan Radović from the Serbian municipality of Čajetina spoke about the challenges of developing a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan for the tourist destination Zlatibor, a well-known climatic health resort in southwestern Serbia, whose vision is to become the first ecological municipality in Serbia and the area fully adapted for people with disabilities. Among other things, the longest panoramic gondola in the world (9km) worth 13 million euros was built in Zlatibor.
During the round table, the topic of parking management in tourist destinations was presented through the example of the implementation of the European project Park4Sump, which was presented by Aljaž Plevnik.
Tihomir Dakić from the Banja Luka Center for the Environment spoke about the importance of cycling tourism in BiH, referring to the Sava Cycling Route project as a future EuroVelo route. It is a joint project of four countries connected by the Sava River from its source to its mouth from Slovenia through Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to Serbia in a total length of 945 km.
The City of Belgrade, one of the finalists of the SUMP award for 2020, presented the example of the development of urban mobility in its area with a video. Namely, at the end of 2020, the City of Belgrade adopted the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan, after a development process that lasted a year. Marko Stojčić from the City of Belgrade announced the next CIVINET event in a video message, which will be held on September 30 and October 1, 2021 in Belgrade, consisting a study trip and the 6th CIVINET Forum.
At the end of the program, a panel discussion was held on smart mobility in tourist destinations to achieve sustainable urban mobility measures, which was attended by Petar Mišura from the City of Šibenik, Goran Kos from the Institute of Tourism, Klara Danilović from the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities in Serbia, Predrag Brlek from the University North and Krešimir Dvorski from Dash City. The panel, during which seasonality was highlighted as one of the biggest problems, was moderated by Srđan Škunca from the City of Rijeka.