ND members of Serbia are regularly sharing experiences on the most recent topics in global urban development, in more or less formal events and gatherings. One of such happened at the Urban Planning Institute of Belgrade in January 2017, where the process of preparation and the conclusions from the UN HABITAT III conference were shared among the members of ISOCARP and planners from the biggest planning institution in Serbia. Serbia is making its initial steps towards elaboration of the first national urban policy in line with New Urban Agenda. Topics such as smart cities, resilience, climate change, urban economy, informal settlements, urban renewal, cultural heritage and others are going to be treated in the outcome document which is going to be prepared through the wide participation of diverse stakeholders.

Republic of Serbia prepared its national report for the 2016 Habitat III conference and its ISOCARP members were present at both European conference in Prague and the global one in Quito. Dr. Siniša Trkulja, from the Sector for Spatial and Urban Planning, Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, reported after the conference that some comments sent during the drafting of New Urban Agenda from Serbia were taken into account. 

Steps towards effective implementation of New Urban Agenda are strengthened through the presence at the 26th Governing Council of UN Habitat, since Serbia is one of the 58 countries of the international body governing the UN Program for Human Settlements.  The International Guidelines for Urban and Territorial Planning, International Guidelines on Decentralization and Basic Services for All, Agenda of European Union and other documents have been used in the national context.

Dr. Ranka Gajić, Assistant professor on Urbanism at Faculty of Traffic and Transport – University of Belgrade, is organising IX Scientific-professional Conference with International Participation on behalf of the Society of Engineers of Belgrade, and editing the proceedings book “Traffic and infrastructure systems, natural resources and ecological aspects of environmental protection”.  The Conference starts on May 26, 2017 in Belgrade, Serbia.

Serbia is also strongly focusing on Smart City Strategies. The City of Belgrade has been evaluating and reviewing its Development Strategy (CBDS, 2011) and preparing the implementation Action Plan until 2021. One of the insights was the city sectoral approach and the need for integral SMART strategy, announced for the forthcoming period. Within the team of experts, Dr. Žaklina Gligorijević from the Urban Planning Institute of Belgrade was engaged in CBDS evaluation, the promotion and implementation of Smart City strategies and education about achievements of similar size cities and various national activities in European states. She presented the Belgrade strategy goals and AP achievements at the thematic event “Economy and entrepreneurship in the Danube region” in Novi Sad (Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, Austrian Senate of Economy, European Economic Danube Forum and Southeast European Cooperative Initiative, SECI), gathering smart projects and initiatives within the Region. She participated as the keynote speaker on behalf of the host city Belgrade in the World Bank-Austria Urban Partnership Program, City to City Dialogue, in November 2016, and in the World Bank Netherlands SMART CITIES Study Tour, in May 2017. Within the international group of experts and policy makers, she had a chance to learn from the best Dutch examples and practices and get the inspiration for broader communication, sharing and internationalization of the local knowledge and achievements. The Key word of all the events and the Tour was COLLABORATION, between sectors, administrative levels, professionals, academia and businesses, for the betterment of our cities and the quality of life. She is going to upgrade her strategic and city planning skills and knowledge in the 2^nd TOD Technical Deep Dive Seminar in the World Bank Tokyo Development Learning Centre (TDLC, May 29 to June 2, 2017).

Prof. Dr. Eva Vaništa Lazarević, a member of ISOCARP Scientific Committee, has attended several events: from Erasmus academic exchange at Gdansk Faculty of Technology with Prof. Piotr Lorens and the Sopot Faculty of Applied Sciences, to Workshop in Abu Dhabi (May 14-18), where she was a Team Leader for training young professionals from Urban Council of Abu Dhabi. As the founder and Director, she has been organizing annual International Scientific Conference “Places and Technologies”, planned to be held in Sarajevo, Bosnia in June 2017 (www.placesandtechnologies2017.ba).   She has been also overviewing a process of editing the best papers from this Conference to be published this year in “Energy and Buildings” Edition and “Cambridge Scholar Publishing – https://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy-and-buildings/ and www.cambridgescholars.com/. Together with her students she will attend the Lusafona Portugal Summer School with Prof. Pedro Ressano Garcia, also a member of ISOCARP in June. In Abu Dhabi she took the opportunity to visit Faculty of Abu Dhabi, where she tried to establish academic cooperation, through an introduction of another ISOCARP’s member in Abu Dhabi, Anamika Mishra. 

Dr. Aleksandra Stupar, Associate Professor at the University of Belgrade – Faculty of Architecture, participated at the II International Conference ‘Urban e-Planning’ (Lisbon, 2017) and her papers will be delivered at the conferences Places and Technologies (Sarajevo, 2017) and SB-LAB 2017 – International Conference on Advances on Sustainable Cities and Buildings Development (Porto, 2017), where she is also a member of the Scientific Committee. All three events have been endorsed by ISOCARP.

It is worth mentioning that ISOCARP ND supported the initiative brought by MIKSER, non-profit organisation and the young professional Milena Zindović in enhancing the aspect of gender in urban planning, urban design, and architecture. The group of proven, experienced female architects gathered together and established the Association of Female Architects (ZAD, http://www.zad.rs/) in aim to make visible impressive achievements of the women in Serbian history of architecture, promote higher values and social responsibility in architectural design, emphasize the gender topic in design and planning, following the best European practices, and to support and mentor young architects in their first steps into predominantly masculine Global world of architecture. There were several ISOCARP members active in Organizing Committee, Managing Board, and our current President is Prof. Dr. Eva Vaništa Lazarević, distinguished member of the ISOCARP society.

Finally, Dr. Tatjana Mrdjenović is organising and ISOCARP is supporting the “Balkan Patterns In Urbanism & Architecture: Challenges” within the Balkan Architectural Bienalle (BAB) in December 19-22, 2017 in Belgrade.