October 21

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic received the delegation from the City of Kecskemét from Hungary. The Hungarian delegation is led by Deputy Mayor Jozsef Gaal who is also the president of Bacs –Kiskun Chamber of Commerce and Industry.  “In addition to all the joint activities I would like to draw your attention to Nis Spa, from the point of view of possible cooperation, because Hungary is a country of developed spa tourism, and we can offer a lot to potential investors,” said Mayor Bulatovic. Jozsef Gaal said that there were interested Hungarian investors, ready to invest in spa tourism in Serbia and that they would be provided with the necessary documentation, and then concrete meetings were to follow. There is also a possibility of faculty-level cooperation in scientific fields, since the member of the Kecskemét delegation was Jozsef Karpati, the Head of the Cabinet of the Dean of John Neumann University in Kecskemét.

October 21

The workshop on open data and innovation was held at the Center for Innovative Entrepreneurship of Youth. Assistant Mayor Goran Milosavljevic spoke about the importance of open data in the context of the activities with which the City of Nis this year marked European Week of Local Democracy, with the desire to build standards in establishing, functioning, assessing and protecting the level of government closest to citizens and thus ensuring effective participation of the members of the local communities in deciding about things that are of concern for their everyday life. The value of opening data when it comes to quality decision-making and data-driven planning, as well as activating the vast practical, economic and creative potential of opening up a wide range of information and diverse data that the public sector collects and which in some ways has been “captured”, was highlighted. Now, this data is available in machine-readable form to citizens and the business community for the purpose of creating new opportunities for the development of the startup community, the economy and employment, as well as new values ​​through new information, analysis and services. The workshop discussed the concept of open data as well as examples of their use and good practice in Serbia and worldwide. The participants were also presented the results of the project that was implemented by the City of Nis Office for Local Economic Development and Projects in cooperation with the organization Palgo Smart within the framework of the national project Open Data – Open Opportunities. The City of Nis published a large number of data sets on the national open data portal. In the practical part of the workshop, through teamwork, new solutions to specific problems and challenges were devised based on the use of open data. The data opening in the City of Nis is supported by y the United Nations Development Program and the RS Office of Information Technology and Electronic Administration, with financial support of by the United Kingdom Good Governance Fund (GGF) and the World Bank.

October 21

Russian choir Chapel of Boys and Young Men of the Sverdlovsk State Children’s Philharmonic Orchestra from Yekaterinburg, led by artistic director, Friedrich Weisheim, held a festive concert in front of a packed hall of the National Theater in Niš. The performance of one of the most famous choirs of this type in the world was made possible by the Company NIS. Music lovers and connoisseurs, academics, students, high school and elementary students, as well as many other interested citizens, welcomed the choir with applause and enjoyed the performance of the choir who, by their performance, won the sympathies of the whole world. The concert was attended by Nis City Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur and the representatives of NIS Company. “We are very grateful for the love Serbia has for Russia, our people, music and song. Thanks to NIS Company we came to Serbia for the first time in 2016, and now we are here again and we are very happy that our choir started its second visit to Serbia in Nis, because this city has a special soul. We would like to thank everyone who came to support us and to share our energy and emotions with us,”said Natalia Podkoritova, Deputy Director of the Sverdlovsk Children’s Philharmonic. Alexei Chernikov addressed the audience on the behalf of the NIS Company. “It is a great honor and pleasure to welcome you on behalf of NIS Company, which made this concert possible. Tonight’s concert is our gift to you all. We are glad that you can attend something that none of us have the opportunity to hear every day, “Chernikov said.

October 21

A fair of NGOs dealing with youth policy and presentation of youth projects was held in the courtyard of the Officers’ Mess Building in Nis. This event was a good opportunity for youth organizations to present their activities to young people and to attract them to participate in current projects. Local self-government supports young people by supporting the work of youth associations, which is why such fairs are organized in order to achieve the highest possible level of connection between youth and associations and thus young people with local self-government. All youth associations, which received funds for the implementation of projects from the City of Niš by the Public Competition for the Financing and Co-financing of Youth Projects in 2019, announced their project activities and informed all visitors about their contents. The fair was opened by the member of Nis City Council for youth and sports, Branislav Kacar, and Assistant Mayor of the City of Nis, Marina Kostic. Visitors of the fair, as well as the representatives of fifteen associations, had the opportunity to discuss with the councilor in charge all problems with which they are faces in practice and to offer their suggestions for some new solutions and directions in which the youth sector in the City should develop in the future. The Youth Associations Fair is the final event in celebration of the European Local Democracy Week (ELDW) organized by the City of Nis Mayor’s Office and the Youth Office of the Secretariat for Youth and Sport. Since the right of citizens to participate in the conduct of public affairs at local level is enshrined in the preamble of the European Charter of Local Self-Government of 1985, and detailed in its Additional Protocol of  2009,  it  is  fundamental  for  an  established  and  functioning  local democracy  to  promote  education  for  democratic  citizenship  among young people and children. Moreover,  by   engaging  children  and  youth,  local  authorities  will understand  better  their  needs  and  will  be  able  to  develop  more targeted responses for and with the younger generation, thus building a  more inclusive  democratic  local  community.