FIRST PARTICIPATIVE FORUM HELD

On Saturday, November 6, we organized an experimental participative forum in which citizens contrasted their opinions and sought common solutions. The topic of the first participatory forum was the PDR for the pedestrian-cycling bridge connecting New Belgrade and Ada Ciganlija.

In addition to citizens and experts, relevant representatives of institutions were also invited to participate in the public discussion on the proposed plan (commissioner and developer of the plan, plan maker, city planner), but they all refused to talk to the citizens. Despite the formal commitment to participation, our institutions and authorities are structurally closed to it.

According to the existing regulations, citizens in the process of adopting urban plans have the right to express their opinion on the plan and to propose possible changes in two instances - early public review (where the developer presents the concept of the plan) and public review with a public session (where the draft plan is presented and at the session, he discusses objections and arguments for their adoption or rejection). In addition to the fact that in such a procedure the influence of citizens is reduced to a mere statement about an already proposed idea, informing citizens about the plans is insufficient, and their objections are often rejected without adequate explanation.

The collective of the Ministry of Space strongly believes that citizens have the right and capacity to, with adequate information and through discussion with interested parties, shape their neighborhoods and their city. We started participatory forums based on the example of civil assemblies that are already institutionalized in some countries, and in Serbia they were realized for the first time in the organization of the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory in 2020. The assemblies themselves are structured as a series of discussions between citizens, experts and representatives of institutions, with the assumption that all of them bearers of different interests, but also of relevant knowledge, in order to eventually formulate and agree on possible common positions and proposals through a series of discussions. On the trail of that model, with the idea of ​​systematically influencing the development of participation in the adoption, specifically, of planning documents and opening up new opportunities for more meaningful participation of citizens, we launched participatory forums.

The topic of the first forum was the Detailed Regulation Plan for the construction of a pedestrian-cycling link between Omladinskih brigada Street and Ada Ciganlija, with a bridge over the Sava River, in the city municipalities of Novi Belgrade and Čukarica, which was presented at an early public inspection from June 15 to 29, 2020. . year. The plan envisages the construction of a pedestrian and bicycle bridge, the construction of additional parking facilities on the Novobeograd side and the sports hall on the Čukarica side. Citizens from Blocks 70, 70A and 45, organized within various initiatives, have already reacted to the plan through objections at the early public inspection, as well as through actions outside of it.

With the aim of bringing together all interested parties and jointly discussing and devising well-argued proposals for changes to the plan that would be presented for public inspection, we invited the members of the initiatives to participate in the participatory forum. Joint action Block 70 and 70A, For our quay, citizens from block 45 and members of the association Streets for cyclists, as well as experts in the field of traffic and urban planning. Invitations to participate in the forum were also sent to government representatives - to city planner Marko Stojčić (also chairman of the Commission for Plans), representatives of the Secretariat for Urban Planning and Construction Affairs of Belgrade (plan maker), representatives of the Urban Institute (plan maker), representatives of the Directorate for Building Land and Construction of Belgrade, the president of the municipality of New Belgrade. All representatives of the institutions refused to participate, except for two representatives of the Department for Construction and Communal Affairs of the Municipality of New Belgrade.

We believe that this kind of reaction of representatives of institutions and decision-makers in the process of developing a model for greater involvement of citizens in shaping the city is exactly opposed to the idea of ​​public interest that they formally represent. Opening institutions for public discussions for citizens about plans that directly affect their lives should be one of the key steps in the democratization of the entire society.

Thank you to all the citizens who, despite the disinterest of the institutions, participated!

The implementation of Participatory Forums is financially supported by the European Union. #EUzaTEBE