April 25, 2018 - The Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC) Board of Director’s regular annual meeting began today in Kotor. In the words of Denis Ricard, the Secretary-General of the Governing Body of OWHC, which brings together 304 cities around the world, this is the first meeting attended by representatives of cities from all continents. The meeting is specific as well because it is the first time there will be a working session with mayors who are not members of the Board of Directors.
The Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC) was established in 1993 in Quebec. The primary goal of the organization is to exchange experiences and to design measures to overcome the problems and challenges that are common to all UNESCO cities.
For the margins of the two-day meeting, the mayor of Kotor, Vladimir Jokić, organized a meeting of UNESCO representatives of the region's cities. "To additionally underline today's gathering, we’ve invited the mayors of Dubrovnik, Ohrid, and Mostar. Today at 17.30, we will hold a joint meeting with the OWHC Board of Directors, which will precede the signing of the Memorandum of Friendship of our four cities. This will further strengthen Kotor's position in the region, along with other cities recognized as part of the World Heritage," said Jokić, adding that cooperation between UNESCO cities is exceptionally significant and has the power to overcome the potential problems in communication between states.
"The cities that connect the common heritage meet here. Here are the cities that represent the memory of the world. Kotor, as one of the cities that is recognized as such, contributes to this communication, which is indispensable." By hosting the OWHC Board of Directors meeting, and facilitating consultations with experts from around the world to representatives of UNESCO cities from the region, Kotor continues to prove its dedication to the preservation of Kotor's status on the UNESCO list. It also demonstrates the efforts to bring solutions that will provide the quality of life to Kotor’s citizens.
The signing of the Charter of Friendship of Kotor, Dubrovnik, Ohrid, and Mostar is scheduled for 17.00 at Grgurina – the Maritime Museum of Montenegro and will be followed by the working session mentioned above with the OWHC Board of Directors. The Secretary-General, Denis Ricard, thanked the hospitality and initiative of the mayor of Kotor for the gathering which is used for counseling and to exchange experiences with UNESCO town mayors from the region, pointing out that this was not a previous practice during the regular annual meetings of the OWHC Board of Directors.
Before the afternoon session, the Kotor Municipality has arranged a tour of the Bay of Kotor for guests from all around the world to get acquainted with the area, recommended for the enrollment of the World Heritage List, and above all, for its cultural landscape - a combination of natural and anthropogenic factors.
The mayor of Kotor, in his introductory address, took the opportunity to let his guests know that Kotor already has a double entry on the World Heritage List. Beside the fact the Kotor Area was entitled by UNESCO in 1979, last year its fortification was recognized as a part of the Venetian defense walls together with five other towns along the Adriatic. Kotor is expecting the third entry now - Montenegro applied the Bokelian Navy Kotor for the Representative UNESCO list.
