Montenegro – Cetinje to have Management Plan by 2009

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Media of Montenegro started up activities for preparation of a management Plan for the city of Cetinje, with support of the Trust Fund for Cultural Heritage in SEE

Cetinje, old capital of the former Kingdom of Montenegro, and the surrounding area can be considered as the cradle of Montenegrin culture, centre of the country's history, and home to some of the most valuable examples of Montenegrin cultural heritage.

Nestled on a small karst plain, surrounded by mountains including Mt. Lovcen, the Black Mountain from which Montenegro gets its name, Cetinje hosts numerous buildings and palaces of the highest cultural and historical value, as well as the country's most important museum collection, conserved within the five seats composing the Montenegrin National Museums. Further evidences of the cultural, historical, political, and religious importance of Cetinje are spread over the city area, integrated into a unique physical and natural environment.

With the objective to ensure a better and more effective safeguarding, protection, and promotion of this heritage, in November 2008 the Montenegrin Ministry of Culture, Sports and Media has initiated activities for the preparation of the "Cetinje Management Plan". The document will be defined through a participatory approach led by the Ministry and ensuring the active involvement of all relevant stakeholders, institutional as well as from the civil society, at both national and local level. Preparatory activities will include the gathering and evaluation of data from strategic national documents, as well as ad-hoc analysis, consultations, studies and surveys. The Plan will also be in compliance with relevant international standards, with special reference to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention of 1972 and to the related UNESCO guidelines for management of cultural heritage sites.

Upon approval by the Government, the Plan will become a legally binding document, thus implying that all future planning instruments for the area of Cetinje as well as other relevant legal acts involving the local natural and cultural heritage, be they adopted by national or local authorities, are to be in full compliance with the recommendations, guidelines, and contents of the Plan.

The activity, co-financed by the Government of Montenegro, is supported by the Trust Fund for Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe, as part of the operational follow-up activities of the annual Ministerial conference on cultural heritage in SEE.

The Management Plan is envisaged to be completed by June 2009.