May 23, 2018 - Montenegro is hosting a seven-day multimedia ecological forum - the Green Culture Forum 2018, which began on May 20 and runs until May 27th. The event organizer, NGO "Krug", in cooperation with regional partners, has organized numerous programs from different fields of science and art with clear social orientation, and a view to sustainable development and environmental protection. The Green Cultural Forum 2018 is held in 10 Montenegrin cities: Herceg Novi, Kotor, Tivat, Budva, Cetinje, Podgorica, Nikšić, Bijelo Polje, Bar, and Ulcinj (Ada Bojana).
"This is the seventh year we organized the Green Culture Forum in Montenegro. We are represented in ten Montenegrin municipalities, and we have a large number of local partners involved in this program, recognizing the importance of the content we bring within the Green Culture Forum as well as the importance of positioning Montenegro on the map of eco-aware states," says Vesna Sokolovska from NGO Krug for Total Montenegro News.
Montenegro is also defined as an ecological state by its Constitution. However, we are not witnessing processes that go in the direction of sustainable development. One of the reasons is the lack of dynamic synergies between the various decision-making structures and the civil sector, so that we can indeed become an ecological state.
"One of our goals is certainly the networking of different sectors in society in order to carry out a simpler mission that we call sustainable development. In this regard, we have identified four main areas. The first of those is the influence of culture and art on changing population awareness. Of course, the business sector and thinking of green business and empowerment of creative green businesses should be influenced. Science and education are crucial in these processes, to learn why it is important to think green. The last sector is perhaps the most significant because it provides the basis for the long-term sustainability project, because it brings philosophical review to the concrete reasons why we need to save our planet and provide information on how we respect and support each other on that path. "
The fundamental purpose and goal of the Green Culture platform is international exchange and cooperation. In this context, the Green Culture Forum 2018 in Montenegro brings eminent experts from different profiles, as well as representatives of international ecological organizations.
Green Culture Forum
"This year, we joined the formal partnership with Al Gore's organization Climate Reality Leadership and we have a full day devoted to their lecturers, which will be held on Friday at Ada Bojana. Also, in partnership with Cambridge University and Cambridge Climate Lecture Series 2018, two main panel discussion sessions will be organized in Center Ville tomorrow, with five panelists, and Montenegrin Prince Nikola Petrović Njegoš, a sustainable development expert, who will officially open this part of the conference. Today, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, we have organized a lecture by Chris Johnson, the founder of the famous English Shambala Festival, the first carbon neutral festival in England. In cooperation with the Shambala Festival we transposed their brochure about greening the festival in the Montenegrin language."
What is the highest quality of the Green Culture Forum is the fact that programs are held throughout Montenegro. "The purpose and goal of cooperation with local NGOs is to reach as many people as possible. With our local partners from the Montenegrin cities, we strive to bring new audiences every year to learn something new and offer them the information that is currently a trend in the green industry. The goal is to educate and inform as many people as possible, so that adapting to the standards of the European Union is easier, and that the citizens will be more prepared for the ecology standards Europe insists on."
Vesna Sokolovska was asked to evaluate the progress of the Montenegrin society in relation to the environment and natural heritage during the seven years since the Green Culture Forum was organized. "I am quite surprised by the number of organizations involved in environmental protection in Montenegro. What we need to do is network these organizations, which will contribute to a greater impact. Simply, organizations need to work together, for example to make an annual calendar of all eco-friendly events, activities and training, so that we can provide the availability of different programs to as many of our fellow citizens as possible," concluded Vesna Sokolovska from Krug NGO.
The Green Culture Forum 2018 lasts till Sunday, May 27. For the detailed program, visit http://greenculture.world/green-culture-7-2018/programme/
