The competition "Open ideas for a beautiful Montenegro" has ended.

On Thursday, May 28, the final of this year's Open Ideas for a Beautiful Montenegro competition was held in the Eco Building of the United Nations. In the first phase of the competition, as many as 279 teams applied, which competed in 5 candidate municipalities (Berane, Mojkovac, Rožaje, Šavnik and Žabljak), and in the end they reached 15 teams that entered the narrowest circle (3 finalists in each municipality).

The finalists presented innovative solutions for the use of public spaces in five Montenegrin municipalities, after which five winning ideas were selected by a joint vote of the jury and the audience via the Internet, which were awarded cash prizes in the amount of 3,000 euros each.

Introductory presentations were made by Ambassador Milorad Šćepanović, Director General for Multilateral Affairs and Regional Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Dijana Vučinić, Head of the Department for Development Projects in Urbanism and Architecture, Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, Sanja Bojanić, Head of the Department for Democratic Governance and the Sector for Economy and Environmental Protection, UNDP in Montenegro and Nikola Vulić, co-founder of the NGO DigitalizujMe.
The expert jury consisted of:
• Tamara Brajović, first adviser and head of the Department for Human Rights and Social-Humanitarian Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration
• Dijana Vučinić, head of the Department for Development Projects in Urbanism and Architecture in the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism
• Tomica Paović, advisor for development policies at the Office of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
• Nataša Đukanović, co-founder of NGO Digitalizuj.me
• The fifth, rotating, member of the jury was a representative of the municipality: Nebojša Babović, advisor to the president of the Municipality of Berana, Jelena Vučetić, project manager in the Municipality of Mojkovac, Amela Kalender, advisor to the President of the Municipality of Rožaje, Milijana Ašanin - manager of the office of the President of the Municipality of Šavnik and Gorica Vuković - head of the office of the President of the Municipality of Žabljak.

After adding the votes of the jury and the audience according to the 50/50 system, five winners for all five municipalities were obtained. In situations where the teams had an equal number of points, the vote of the jury ruled, as defined by the rules at the very beginning of the competition.

The winners of this year's Open Ideas for Montenegro competition are:
• For the municipality of Berane - the NGO URBAR team with the project "inhalation"
• For the municipality of Mojkovac - the Arhi3MK team with the project "Adventure Park 1916"
• For the municipality of Rožaje - the Galanz team with the project "Historical and Cultural Center of Ganić Kula"
• For the Municipality of Šavnik - ROSSA CANNIN's team with the "WILD ROSE" project
• For the municipality of Žabljak – team Žabljak 2015 with the project "Tourist Recreational Center Žabljak"

The municipality of Rožaje received an excellent project solution for arranging the space around the local museum, "Kula Ganića". This solution will contribute to the quality arrangement of the location, the promotion of Rožaj's cultural heritage, the development of tourism and the reduction of unemployment through the employment of young people and people with disabilities.

Written by: Amela Kalender