SEE HERITAGE MEETING, 8TH-10TH OF FEBRUARY 2008, KOTOR

The SEE heritage network, a network of NGOs dealing with cultural heritage protection in Southeast Europe had its fourth network meeting. This time the meeting was organised by NGO EXPEDITIO and NGO NOTAR, and was held in Kotor, Montenegro from 8th to 10th of February, with support from the Partnership beyond Borders of the Open Society Institute, through the support of the Foundation Open Society Institute – Representative Office Montenegro.
The aim of the meeting was the regular network meeting as well as the public debate that resulted with an appeal “Stop the indifference towards the devastation of SEE heritage” that aimed at the local and national governments of: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo/a, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

The following organisations were present at the meeting in Kotor:
From Albania:
- Albanian National Trust
- Butrint Foundation / ICAA
- MJAFT! Foundation
From Bosnia and Herzegovina:
- Foundation Cultural Heritage without Borders
- NGO Mozaik – Foundation for Community Development from Bosnia and Herzegovina
From Kosovo:
- EC MA Ndryshe
From Macedonia:
- Foundation Open Society – FOSSIM
From Serbia:
- Association for Cultural Heritage Rehabilitation (ARCH)
- Civil association SUBURBIM
- Europa Nostra Serbia
From Montenegro:
- EXPEDITIO
- Notar
- Projektor

For the first time two new organisations from Croatia attended the meeting: Pro Torpedo from Rijeka, and Society of Friends of Cultural Heritage of Split, from Split.
At the meeting of SEE heritage network in Kotor the members used the first day of the meeting for discussions on questions concerning the work of the network, such as possibilities of extending the network with new members, finalisation of the common web page, that will be launched soon, and the issues concerning the strategic planning of the Network’s development in the next four years.

Beside the working part of the agenda, the workshop on “Devastation of Cultural Heritage” was also organised, as this is the main problem of not only Montenegro, but other countries of South East Europe as well. The first part of the Workshop was the visit to the most endangered sites in Boka Kotorska bay, which was followed by the presentations on cultural heritage devastation in the specific countries.

As a conclusion of the Workshop a joint Appeal was made in order to address the issues of irresponsible attitude towards cultural heritage destruction in South East Europe. This appeal will be sent to the addresses of local and national authorities of the countries, where the member NGOs are coming from.

The last day of the Workshop, in the City Council premises in Kotor (Bizanti Palace), the press conference was held, where the results of the meeting were presented and the public appeal was presented. Following this, two presentations about cultural heritage of Albania and Azerbaijan were held. Two representatives from NGO sector from Azerbaijan were present during the meeting as the guests of the network.