By Zlata Vuksanović-Macura and Dragana Miljanović
A team of 22 DASH team members from eight partner institutions from Denmark, Portugal, and Germany conducted secondments in Serbia, from April to December 2024. In the organization of the DASH partners from Serbia – the Geographical Institute “Jovan Cvijićˮ SANU (GIJCSANU), the City Housing Agency of Čačak (CHAC), and the Association of Urban Planners of Serbia (SUPA) – numerous project activities were realized. The DASH team members participated in joint work and thematic meetings and informative sessions, had insightful presentations and productive discussions, and visited social housing complexes in Belgrade, Čačak, Novi Sad, and Leskovac. Additional activities were realized with organizations outside the DASH consortium, such as the Center for New Cooperative Housing from Belgrade and Association CK13 from Novi Sad.
Two larger groups of DASH team members conducted secondments during August and November 2024. In August, a group of 17 researchers and practitioners from the Institute of Social Sciences University of Lisbon (ISC U-Lisbon) and Cooperativa Integral Minga Crl (Montemor-o-Novo) from Portugal, the University of Stuttgart, the Universitätsstadt Tübingen, and the Association for Innovative Forms of Housing and Living INWOLE (Potsdam) from Germany, conducted secondments in Serbia.
Between August 5 and 16, 2024, the Geographical Institute “Jovan Cvijićˮ SANU hosted a series of thematic meetings. These gatherings involved members of the DASH team who were seconded in Serbia, alongside the representatives from three partner organizations within the country. The meetings took place in the Society of Engineers of Serbia’s hall, which was made available by both the Geographical Institute and the SUPA for this purpose. The primary focus of these discussions was the preparation and finalization of national reports pertaining to Work Package 3, specifically addressing housing demands and needs, as well as the future of local housing markets (WP 3: Housing demands/housing needs: Future of local housing markets). The draft national reports on housing markets prepared by the teams from Denmark, Germany, Portugal, and Serbia—including localized reports for the secondary cities of Aalborg, Tübingen, and Čačak—were subjected to comprehensive analysis and further development. The outcomes from these analytical sessions facilitated the finalization of the national and local reports, which have now been published under the title “Social Housing Opportunities and Challenges: Perspectives from Denmark, Germany, Portugal, and Serbia.” The DASH members also deliberated on the progression of Work Package 4: External cross-evaluation, adhering to the previously established guidelines outlined by Aalborg University. Furthermore, several researchers (Alda, Marco, Els, and Zlata) engaged in discussions regarding the formulation of a methodology for assessing housing needs, drawing upon the experiences of the participating countries in the DASH project. Some researchers have worked on comparative studies; for instance, Zlata and Sónia have analyzed the housing policies implemented for the Roma population in Serbia and Portugal.
The DASH team members had the opportunity to visit several social housing projects in Čačak. The City Housing Agency of Čačak and the Geographical Institute “Jovan Cvijić” SANU organized the visit on August 15, 2024. Under the professional guidance of Brankica Jelić, the director of the City Housing Agency, the team visited three locations of social housing complexes—Košutnjak, Obrež, and Ljubić Kej—within the Čačak area. These facilities were developed as part of social housing initiatives aimed at supporting vulnerable populations, including refugees from ex-Yugoslavia, socially disadvantaged groups, persons with disabilities, and members of the Roma community. The City Housing Agency of Čačak manages these residential buildings, which were established through a collaborative effort involving the state, local government, and international donors. The DASH representatives from Portugal and Germany emphasized the significance of this visit for a deeper understanding of the state of social housing in Serbia. They also appreciated the opportunity to talk with tenants and hear their experiences and the advantages and obstacles they face as tenants of social housing apartments. The DASH team also met with representatives of the Čačak local authorities. Read more here.
The members of the DASH team were engaged in a fruitful exchange of experiences regarding the establishment of housing cooperatives in Portugal and Serbia during an event held at the Centre for New Cooperative Housing in Belgrade on August 8, 2024. The presentation, delivered by Filipa Cabrita, Joana Filipa, Inês Santos, and Jorge Gonçalves from Cooperativa Integral Minga Crl (Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal), delineated their experiences in the development of housing cooperatives. Representatives from the Centre for New Cooperative Housing (Belgrade, Serbia) highlighted their innovative initiatives in promoting contemporary housing cooperatives within Belgrade and the broader Serbian context. The discussion underscored the significance of housing cooperatives in transforming existing housing practices and emphasized the significance of cross-national experience exchange. The session was moderated by Zlata Vuksanović-Macura from GIJCSANU. Read more here.
Two DASH team members from Cooperativa Integral Minga Crl, Joana Filipa and Inês Santos, made a visit to Leskovac, organized by Ivana Momić from SUPA. Their visit included an exploration of the Roma settlement Slavko Zlatanović. This engagement aimed to investigate an innovative participatory methodology for urban planning developed by Zlata Vuksanović-Macura from GIJCSANU. This methodology emphasizes the active involvement of marginalized ethnic minorities, specifically the Roma community, in the processes of formulating and adopting land-use plans for informal settlements within Serbia. Read more here.
On August 17, 2024, the DASH team members participated in an organized visit to Novi Sad, facilitated by the Association of Urban Planners of Serbia (SUPA) in collaboration with Petar Atanacković, who was on secondment in Serbia then. During this informative city tour, Petar Atanacković, a historian affiliated with INWOLE, and Aleksandar Jevtić, an urban planner affiliated with SUPA, provided the DASH team with insights into the historical context and urban development of Novi Sad. Additionally, the itinerary included visits and discussions at the CK13 Association. Read more here.
Secondments of the new DASH partner – Braga Municipality
The next larger group undertaking secondments in Serbia comprised eight members of the DASH team from the Department of Urban and Spatial Planning at the Municipality of Braga. They stayed in Serbia in November 2024. During the Braga team’s secondment, a series of thematic meetings were organized, during which experiences from the two countries were exchanged. To familiarize them with the Serbian context, Zlata Vuksanović-Macura delivered a presentation on “Social housing in Serbia” on November 5 at GIJCSANU. The other DASH team members from GIJCSANU, Dejan Doljak and Dragana Miljanovic, also attended the meetings. On November 8, the team members from Braga and Zlata from GIJCSANU visited the 33rd Urban Planner Exhibition. Urban Planner Exhibition is an annual event organized by the Association of Urban Planners of Serbia, and this year, it was held in Bijeljina, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the exhibition, DASH team members from Braga gained insights into the annual production of urban plans from the region.
A part of the Braga team’s secondment in Serbia was the visit to Novi Sad, conducted on 12 November 2024. This visit was organized by the Association of Urban Planners of Serbia in collaboration with the Geographical Institute “Jovan Cvijić” SANU. Members of the DASH team, under the guidance of Aleksandar Jevtić from SUPA, explored several social housing complexes within the Novi Sad area, notably the largest complex located in the Jugovićevo settlement, which accommodates members of the security forces. Additionally, a visit to the Urban and Spatial Planning Institute of Vojvodina was facilitated, where DASH team members met with the assistant director and urban planner, Vladimir Pihler. This interaction provided insights into the urban and spatial planning framework in Serbia. It enabled the team to become familiar with various planning documents developed by the Institute for specific municipalities in Vojvodina.
On November 13 and 14, the GIJCSANU hosted a series of working meetings involving the DASH team members from Braga, GIJCSANU, and Sónia Alves from the ICS U-Lisbon. The first day of the meetings focused on housing policies and included three informative lectures: Sónia Alves presented “The Governance of Affordable Housing through Inclusionary Housing Tools: Comparative Cases from England and Denmark versus Portugal”; Zlata Vuksanović-Macura delivered a presentation entitled “Social Housing in Serbia: Housing Policy and Practice”; and Inês Calor explored “Spatial Planning and Housing Policy in the Municipality of Braga.” During the discussions, the Braga team members contributed insights and critiques regarding the Serbian social housing system. On the second day, the Braga team presented recent advancements in social housing and spatial development within the Braga Municipality. This day was also dedicated to collaborative efforts to finalize a national and local report for Portugal within WP3, guided by Sónia Alves.
Individual secondments
Several researchers and practitioners, including Sónia Alves, Rike Borg Sundstrup, Petar Atanacković, and José Antonio Ferreira, conducted individual secondments in Serbia between April and December 2024.
Sónia Alves frоm ICS U-Lisbon conducted secondments in Serbia in several stages. As mentioned above, Sónia was engaged in various activities, delivered presentations, and participated in thematic meetings and field visits. The secondments were also opportunities for her to develop fundamental research on several housing and planning issues, and the outcome of this work has already been published in several top peer-reviewed journals. See publications here.
During April and May 2024, Rikke Borg Sundstrup, PhD student at Aalborg University in Copenhagen, realized her one-month secondment in Serbia. In talks with Zlata from GIJCSANU, Rike had the opportunity to learn more about the state of social housing in Serbia as well as issues related to the housing of the Roma population. Together with Zlata and Sónia, Rikke visited Čačak, where she learned more about existing housing initiatives and the provision of social housing. The City Housing Agency of Čačak, organized a visit to social housing buildings at three locations in the city (Košutnjak, Braće Gudurića Street, and Obrež). Rikke and Sónia also had an opportunity to talk with the tenants about their experiences living in social housing. Furthermore, Rike presented her research on “Tenure-Mixed Neighborhoods“, a part of her PhD studies at Aalborg University. The presentation took place on May 17, 2024, at the GIJCSANU. Attendees included Sónia Alves, the members of the DASH team from Serbia, and the researchers from the GIJCSANU. Read more here.
Petar Atanacković from INWOLA was on one month secondment in Serbia during November and December 2024. His visit focused on joint work with Sónia and Zlata. Their collaborative work compares the historical trajectories of housing policies in Germany, Portugal, and Serbia.
José Antonio Ferreira, a member of the DASH team affiliated with the public entity Domus Social EM of the Municipality of Porto, Portugal, conducted a secondment in Serbia in December 2024. José delivered a presentation at the GIJCSANU entitled “Better Porto For All”. In it, he outlined various initiatives to enhance social housing in multiple locations within the Municipality of Porto. The presentation included a discussion on diverse housing modalities and the broader activities undertaken by the housing organization. The lecture was attended by Sónia Alves and the members of the DASH team from three Serbian institutions, who engaged actively in the subsequent discourse. In Belgrade, under the expert guidance of Zlata from GIJCSANU, José conducted site visits to various housing developments, including the former public housing stock from the socialist era, as well as newly established social housing complexes in New Belgrade. He also discussed with Marko Filipović from GIJCSANU about the demographic trends in Serbia. Additionally, José visited Novi Sad, where, guided by Aleksandar from SUPA, he explored social housing initiatives in that city. Furthermore, during his stay in Čačak, José participated in a multi-day exchange of experiences with the staff of the City Housing Agency, during which he visited social housing facilities with the assistance of Brankica from CHA Čačak.
*-*-*-*-*
From April to December 2024, secondments in Serbia were conducted by:
Denmark: Rikke Borg Sundstrup (Build – Department of the built environment at Aalborg University)
Germany: Els Keunen (Department of International Urbanism at the University of Stuttgart), Hanna Blank and Petar Atanacković (INWOLE), Julia Hartmann (Universitätsstadt Tübingen)
Portugal: Sónia Alves, Alda Azevedo, Marco Allegra, and Pedro Moura (ICS U-Lisbon), Filipa Cabrita, Joana Filipa, Inês Santos, and Jorge Gonçalves (Cooperativa Integral Minga Crl, Montemor-o-Novo), Inês Calor, Antonio Zamith Rosas, Rita Freire, Miguel Mesquita, Ana Paula Silva, Nuno Casimiro, Filipa Leite, and Nuno Jacob (Braga Municipality), José António Ferreira (Domus Social EM, Porto)
In Serbia, the DASH team members were hosted by Zlata Vuksanović-Macura (GIJCSANU), Brankica Jelić (CHAC), Aleksandra Jevtić (SUPA), Dejan Doljak (GIJCSANU), Dragana Miljanović (GIJCSANU), Ivana Momić (SUPA), and Dejan Živković (CHAC).
You can read more about all the displayed DASH activities in Serbia, in the period from April to December 2024, on the web portal: https://www.dashousing.eu/
