4th Meeting of the Green Club of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH

Supporting the work of the Green Club of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), GIZ ORF-EE partner – School of Political Studies from BiH, in collaboration with the GIZ Open Regional Fund for SEE-Energy Efficiency (ORF-EE), organized from 14 to 15 December the 4^th Meeting of the Green Club of BiH.

The meeting took place on the Sarajevo Olympic mountain of Bjelašnica and brought together Parliamentarians – members of the Club, representatives of the School of Political Studies and the GIZ ORF-EE.

MPs met to discuss various pressing topics in the fields of energy efficiency, climate and environment. The meeting also featured a presentation of ongoing ORF-EE projects on energy efficiency, climate and sustainable urban mobility, held by Dubravka Bošnjak, ORF-EE Project Manager.

Saša Magazinović, Chair of the Green Club of BiH welcomed all participants of the meeting and thanked the GIZ ORF-EE for the support. He introduced the meeting agenda and invited to an active discussion, among others, targeting various energy efficiency measures.

Bošnjak welcomed all participants in her introductory speech, giving insight into the work and structure of ORF-EE in South-East Europe (SEE), referring to the implementation of various ORF-EE projects. She also used the opportunity to stress the need for urgent introduction of sustainable urban mobility measures in BiH and the region of SEE.

“The percentage of people living in urban areas in SEE is significantly increasing. In Macedonia, for example it is expected that almost 80% of the population will live in cities by 2020. Our research has shown that mobility is a hot topic in the region and requires great attention. Therefore, the German government decided to invest 3.5 mil. Euros in the implementation of the ORF-EE project concerning sustainable urban mobility. The goal is to create cities for people, not vehicles and to improve the quality of life in SEE, ” Bošnjak highlighted.

The meeting also featured a presentation by the GIZ ORF-EE engaged Expert, Aljaž Plevnik from the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia. He spoke about transportation issues and lack of integrated urban planning in the region. He also introduced the need for development of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs), as EU recommended instruments for integrated urban area planning.

According to the EU definition, SUMPs are strategic plans that take into account integration, participation and evaluation principles, aiming to secure quality of life in cities.

MP Dijana Zelenika, used the opportunity to add that “when developing SUMPs and planning for effective public awareness raising measures, health aspects need to also be included as these are pivotal, but also represent great motivational factors.”

One of the conclusions of the Green Club Meeting was that sustainable urban mobility planning needs more attention in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that it should replace traditional city transport planning.