On 22 March, the Inception workshop for the Coastal Area Management Programme (CAMP) for Montenegro and the national ICZM Strategy was held at the Podgorica Hotel in Podgorica, Montenegro. The meeting, which was organised by the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, with support of PAP/RAC, was attended by more than 70 participants including representatives of national and local authorities, as well as representatives of national institutions and civil society organisations concerned with the Montenegrin coastal zone.
CAMP Montenegro has a great opportunity as it has been designed in such a way as to support and contribute to the process of preparation of the Coastal Area Spatial Plan of Montenegro, through which it can secure practical application of some of the specific articles of the ICZM Protocol. Therefore, the central part of the meeting was devoted to the relationship between the ICZM Protocol and spatial planning. In particular, the aspects of ICZM that can contribute to the rationalisation and modernisation of the public management and spatial planning system were discussed. Among others, these relate to co-ordination, integration and participation mechanisms, development of a coastal information system (observatory), utilisation of some of the specific tools and instruments such as the carrying capacity assessment, and implementation of the coastal set-back. Also, the concept of green economy was presented and how it can contribute to the sustainable coastal development.
Even thought there are great challenges the CAMP Montenegro project is facing, in particular having in mind the global economic crisis, there is still a great support and strong belief that with a professional and committed team assembled within, the project will catalyse change toward sustainable coastal development.
