“ Municipality of Gracanica, opulent with antique and medieval treasures and natural beauty – modern environment with developed economy and infrastructure where everyone enjoys the same rights and freedoms” is the final vision statement drafted by a group of citizens and professional planners who participated in a 4-day workshop to draft  a common vision for the Municipality of Gracanica.

The outcome of the workshop was presented to a wider audience on February 3rd, 2011 in restaurant Ognjiste, offering the possibility to each citizen of Gracanica to present and  introduce new ideas for the future development of this new municipality. Visioning workshops was a starting point for the development of  the Municipal Development Plan and the Urban Development Plan, which when implemented would direct Future investments in the municipality and its urban centre. 

In the opening speech, Mayor of Gracanica, Bojan Stojanović, thanked all contributors, UN-HABITAT, ICO, and Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (MESP), for their support to the visioning workshop, especially saying: the vision  is a start  for the future development of Gracanica.  We are building a democratic society, where the Municipality needs to work for the benefit of its citizens. We are trying to improve Gracanica and turn it into a developed city with better social welfare for all citizens.”

The Head of Municipal Spatial Planning Support Programme in Kosovo (MuSPP), implemented by UN-HABITAT and funded by Sida, Krystyna Galezia said that the visioning workshop is the initial stage in drafting municipal plans.

“For many years, UN-HABITAT was the leading organization in this process, including all the actors such as businesses, civil society organizations, citizens and all others interested in the process. Visioning workshops contributed to the capacity building of the Municipal staff, stimulated ideas for capital investment projects and inspired establishment of NGOs”  Mrs. Galezia said, adding that Gracanica is the tenth municipality to go through the process of envisioning, and that this is only the beginning of our collaboration.

Christopher Rowan from the ICO, Agim Radoniqi from MESP and Besa Luzha from FES contributed with speeches also. 

The Multimedia presentation followed with the presentations of working groups for Natural and Cultural Heritage, Infrastructure and Mobility, Economic Development and in Social Services and Housing. 

“Gracanica Monastery – the World Treasure and our pearl” was the final joint motto of the visioning workshop of Gracanica drafted by civil society representatives.

The whole report on the visioning workshop in Gracanica is available and can be found under the section Publications/UN-HABITAT publications/reports.

The visioning workshop for Gracanica was organised jointly by UN-HABITAT/ Municipal Spatial Planning Support Programme, International Civilian Office(ICO), Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Cultural Heritage without Borders (CHwB),) with the support of the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning. It took place in Ohrid/Macedonia in November 2010.