With the participation of Dr. Parviz Koohafkan, founder and president of the World Agricultural Heritage Foundation and the United Nations Initiative for "Protecting and Adjusting the Management of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems", the final conference will be held in Gornja Lastva for the project "Reconstruction of the Traditional Agricultural Landscape for Sustainable Agriculture in Montenegro- AGRISCAPE & ME". The conference is scheduled for Monday, June 18 from 2.30 pm.
The AGRISCAPE & ME project aims to contribute to the development of sustainable agriculture through the promotion of the restoration, preservation, and upgrading of traditional agricultural landscapes as part of the overall cultural landscape. The project realization began in June 2017, and project activities will be completed in July 2018.
The AGRISCAPE & ME project is realized from the EU funds under the regional project "Sustainable Agriculture for a Sustainable Balkans: Strengthening the Capacities of Civil Society Organizations for Public Representation and Policy Development in the Western Balkans" implemented by the Regional Consortium of Civil Society Organizations from Albania, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro, led by the Organization for Animal Health and Care - ORCA from Serbia.
The objectives of the AGRISCAPE & ME project are to strengthen the capacities of civil society organizations involved in cultural heritage, landscape and agriculture and to create a platform for relevant actors in the fields of agriculture, cultural heritage, landscape and planning, which will contribute to the improvement of the legal and institutional framework for the protection, planning and management of traditional agricultural landscape in order to develop sustainable agriculture in Montenegro. The project is realized by the EXPEDITIO Center for Sustainable Spatial Development, Cultural Association NAPREDAK Gornja Lastva, and the Boka Olive Society. The co-worker of the project is the Network for Rural Development of Montenegro.
Project partners and associates will present the results of a series of activities at the final conference, with a focus on the “Recommendations for Improving the Framework for Protection, Planning and Reconstruction of Traditional Agricultural Landscapes in Montenegro”, as well as a pilot project “Identification, Analysis and Recommendations for the Reconstruction of Traditional Agricultural Landscapes in Gornja Lastva”, which represents the methodology for determining the former way of land use as a basis for its future use. The importance and treatment of agricultural landscapes in Montenegro will be addressed by representatives of the competent ministries: the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism.
The guest of the conference, Dr. Koohafkan, who spent a decade of work at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Among other things, he is the author of several books on agricultural heritage systems. He will present the concept of globally important agricultural heritage systems (GIAHS) and talk about examples of good practice and the importance of preserving agricultural landscapes on a global scale.
The conference will also present activities in the field of exploration and reconstruction of the vernacular heritage and rural areas of Konavle, about which the architect Anita Trojanović from Konavle will speak.
For all interested, transportation to Gornja Lastva was provided. The bus departs at 14:00 in front of the Main Post Office in Tivat.
