On Tuesday, 10 October 2017, representatives of the ‘Novi Sad 2021 – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation presented the first progress report in Brussels. The presentation was attended by the representatives of the European Commission and external services that are engaged in cooperation with the Western Balkans, as well as Vanja Radonjić Rakić, representative of Serbia in Brussels.

Nemanja Milenković, the CEO of the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ Foundation, presented the results of the European Capital of Culture title that were achieved in year zero, as well as plans for the following period and the legacy of the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ Foundation after 2021. Dalibor Rožić, member of the City Council in charge for culture, spoke about Cultural Strategy and capacities of the city, and about financial and political support. Tamara Zelenović Vasiljević, the COO of the Foundation, presented organisation structure and work procedures, while Vuk Radulović, Head of the Department for Public Relations, spoke about evaluation, internationalisation, mobility, ECoC projects and cooperation in the Danube Region. Lazar Jovanov, Expert Associate for participative projects, showed the plans and results of the work on participation and audience development, and Darko Polić, member of the Managing Board, presented cultural infrastructure projects that will be implemented by 2021. Artistic and Programme Directors, Jovan Trkulja and Dušan Kaličanin, presented programme and artistic vision, i.e. the production of the ECoC programme. Dušan Vuković, on behalf of the Department for Communication, defined the communication channels of the mentioned projects.

The monitoring process conducted by the panel of independent experts from different areas of European cultural policies begun following the award of the title. The panel of independent experts is a group of people who have worked on previous ECoC projects. The presentation was based on the progress report of the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ project, which was previously sent in writing to the European Commission. Feedback on this report will arrive within a month, when the public will be informed in more detail about the report. The next report to the European Commission will be submitted in Brussels in 2019.