Today, a Public Forum on the Urban Area Development Strategy of the City of Smederevo was held in the Main Hall of the Smederevo Cultural Centre. Taking part in the Public Forum were members of the Working Group for Drafting the Strategy, representatives of the City of Smederevo, members of the EU PRO Plus expert team, representatives of the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia, representatives of relevant institutions and organisations from the public, private and civil sectors, and interested members of the public. The Public Forum also presented the results of the Art Competition on the theme “My city in the future”, which the EU PRO Plus team ran for seventh-grade pupils in March and April 2023 in cooperation with two primary schools in Smederevo: Primary School “Dr Jovan Cvijić” and Primary School “Sveti Sava”. During the Public Forum, all participants had the opportunity to vote for the works on display, after which prizes and certificates of appreciation were presented to the participants.
On this occasion, Martin Klauke, Head of the Project Management Section at the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia, also visited Smederevo with the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia. The Mayor of Smederevo, Jovan Beč, and Mr Klauke visited the Preschool Institution
“Naša radost” Smederevo (the “Veseli cvetovi” building) and the Smederevo Industrial Park. The energy efficiency of the “Veseli cvetovi” building was improved through a project implemented under the EU PRO programme, and lighting was installed along the Industrial Park stretch.
Those present at the Public Forum were addressed by the Mayor of Smederevo, Jovan Beč, who spoke about the importance of the Urban Area Development Strategy of the City of Smederevo. “It is my pleasure to welcome you to the City of Smederevo today for the Public Forum, which is being held as part of drafting the Urban Area Development Strategy of the City of Smederevo. At the end of 2021, the City of Smederevo applied to the call of the European Union Programme for Local Development, EU PRO Plus, to draft an Urban Area Development Strategy, with the idea of advancing the sustainable development of its territory by improving the social, economic, environmental, climate, cultural and spatial aspects of development. The process of drafting the Urban Area Development Strategy has involved a number of activities, among which I would highlight the successfully organised Thematic Round Tables on the thematic areas covered by the Strategy, held in early March 2023, and the Workshop on Defining Objectives and Measures, held on 20 April. Today’s activity, the Public Forum, aims to define the vision for the sustainable development of the urban area of the City of Smederevo, as well as the project ideas that will deliver the objectives of the Strategy,” Mayor Beč stressed, among other things, in his address to those present.
Those present were also addressed by Martin Klauke, Head of the Project Management Section at the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia, who stressed that local development is one of the important areas for the European Union, as it also represents the socio-economic and demographic development of the country. He also stressed that for many years the European Union has been implementing numerous projects in the Republic of Serbia that improve social and economic infrastructure, and that it will continue in that direction.
As a reminder, the City of Smederevo signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations Office for Project Services on 9 June 2022, when it began the process of drafting the Urban Area Development Strategy of the City of Smederevo, which is a planning document.
