‘Project 33 – Increasing Capacities of Cultural Institutions in Novi Sad for Strategic Planning’, as a step towards implementing the strategy of cultural development of the City of Novi Sad, enabled public cultural institutions in the City to make long-term plans for their public action. The longest, most thorough and in terms of the number of institutions it encompasses, the most extensive endeavour in the field of strategic planning was implemented in Novi Sad, making this the only city in the region where almost all cultural institutions have adopted five-year development plans. Novi Sad thus confirmed the role of the cultural centre of the region and once again showed why it is the holder of the prestigious title of the European Capital of Culture.
During the months of implementation of the project, close cooperation was achieved among the management and all employees in cultural institutions, the City Administration for Culture, the Provincial Secretariat for Culture, Public Information and Relations with Religious Communities, the ‘Novi Sad 2021 – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation and the project organizers. Višnja Kisić, PhD, and Goran Tomka, PhD, representatives of the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy and Management at the University of Arts in Belgrade, were moderators of the ‘Project 33’. In addition to cultural institutions, several hundred employees and managers in the field of culture of the City of Novi Sad, dozens of experts on cultural policy issues from Serbia and abroad, as well as decision-makers, participated in the strategic activities.
The aim of the ‘Project 33’ is to encourage active social action of cultural institutions, which includes knowledge and motivation to analyse their own environment, understand their position and initiate positive social changes. Strategic planning has also enabled professional development, learning and improvement of the way cultural institutions see themselves, their environment and their role in it. Employees become the main bearers of the process of long-term planning in their institutions, and ‘Project 33’ provided them with professional education and support.
The bilingual publication of the ‘Novi Sad 2021 – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation on ‘Project 33’ collects strategic plans of cultural institutions in the City of Novi Sad and describes the concept, phases and goals of this important project, and is a kind of document on programmes, measures and initiatives provided by cultural institutions in Novi Sad.
