Belgrade, 6 October

In Serbia, UN-HABITAT SIRP Programme together with its local partners has organized a series of events to mark the World Habitat Day 2006. The month long activities began on 15 September and ended on 10 October.

The activities include children drawing competitions organized by UN-HABITAT and its partners during the month of September on the theme “My neighborhood, in my eyes, under my feet and in my dreams” in Belgrade, Kraljevo, Cacak, Pancevo, Nis and Valjevo, together with Local Authorities, Municipal Housing Agencies, Local Elementary Schools and the Belgrade Association of Architects. Children participating to the drawing competitions have been called to think about their neighbourhood, what they like about it, what they would like to see in it, and to think about their new neighbours, future tenants of the housing units which will be delivered in each municipality by the SIRP Programme, financed by the Government of Italy. Through their drawings, children have expressed their welcome to their new friends, as a first step towards successful integration in their new community.

UN-HABITAT, the Faculty of Architecture of Belgrade and the Belgrade Association of Architects have held architecture workshops and city walks with secondary school children and students of architecture focused on the theme “Belgrade, a city magnet of hope”, in which students were called to develop multimedia projects on their own city and living environment.

During the first week of October, UN-HABITAT Belgrade and the Association of Architects of Belgrade have planned the one-week long programme of activities including a series of talks stimulating active debate on social housing and territorial development of cities in Serbia, and which saw the participation of professionals and practitioners in the field of urban planning and architecture, social housing experts, professors and students, representatives of the central government and local authorities.

The programme saw its conclusion on Friday October 6th. In the evening, the exhibition “World Habitat Day 2006 in Serbian Cities, magnets of hope”, organized jointly by UN-HABITAT and the Belgrade Association of Architects, was opened by the Minister for Capital Investments Mr. Velimir Ilic, the Counselor of the Italian Embassy in Belgrade Mr. Lo Cascio and the Head of UN-HABITAT in Belgrade Ms. Ligia Ramirez.
The participation of all award winning students, their families and school teachers from SIRP Municipalities, namely Valjevo, Kraljevo, Nis, Cacak and Pancevo, and from Belgrade, has been enthusiastic and the presence of the mayors of selected Local Self Governments, representatives of Municipal Housing Agencies, professors of the Belgrade Faculty of Architecture, professionals in the field of architecture, urban planning and development has demonstrated the appreciation and support to the young people who are active players in shaping the future of their cities and neighborhoods.

The exhibition has displayed the works that have been selected and awarded the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes of children drawing competitions organized by UN-HABITAT and its partners during the month of September.
A special multimedia section has been dedicated to the works produced by the students of the III Gymnasium of Belgrade during a two day workshop held by UN-HABITAT and professors of the Faculty of Architecture on the topic of “Belgrade – a city magnet of hope”.

A specially appointed jury formed by the Minister for Capital Investments Mr. Ilic, the Italian Embassy in Belgrade Mr. Lo Cascio, Head of LTU Cooperazione Italiana Ms. Anna Zambrano, the President of the Belgrade Association of Architects Ms. Jelena Jovanovic-Vojvodic, and representatives from each Municipality, has awarded the special first prize “best among the best drawing” to  Maja Vranjkovic from Pancevo Elementary School and the first prize “best among the best multimedia work” to Irena Ristic and Bojana Ristic from the III Belgrade Gymnasium.

Download full PROGRAMME of WHD activities held in September and October:

PROGRAMME of WHD in English [110KB]

PROGRAMME of WHD in Serbian [130KB]


Download LEAFLET with Poster and Programme:

LEAFLET in English [4.4MB]

LEAFLET in Serbian [4.3MB]

[ Go to the ‘WORLD HABITAT DAY 2006 in Serbia’ PHOTOGALLERY]

[Download the VIDEO CLIP on the Drawing Competitions in Valjevo, Cacak, Pancevo, Kraljevo, Nis]
(coming soon)