Montenegro to establish €30 million Centre of Excellence
For the first time, Montenegro has successfully applied under the Horizon Europe „Teaming for Excellence“ call and secured a European grant to establish the Centre of Excellence for Advanced Environmental Monitoring and Nature-Based Solutions in Protected Areas of Montenegro - CENNA.
The project implementation agreement was signed today, with the total project value amounting to €30 million. Of this amount, €15 million represents a European Union grant, while the remaining €15 million will be provided through co-financing by the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation, i.e. the Government of Montenegro.
The project coordinator is the University of Montenegro, which will implement the project in cooperation with leading European institutions - the University of Antwerp and Aarhus University. National project partners are the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation and the National Parks of Montenegro.
- The establishment of the CENNA Centre represents a significant step towards positioning Montenegro on the international scientific and research map. The particular importance of the project lies in the fact that, thanks to the CENNA project alone, Montenegro will attract more EU funding for science and innovation than it has received in total since 2007, i.e. over almost two decades - the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation stated.
Minister of Education, Science and Innovation Anđela Jakšić-Stojanović said that support for the CENNA project represents a clear strategic commitment by the state to support ideas capable of bringing long-term improvements to the country’s scientific, educational and innovation system.
- For the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation and the Government of Montenegro, supporting the CENNA project represents a clear strategic commitment to ensuring that the state always stands behind ideas with the capacity to permanently improve the country’s scientific, educational and innovation system. The project is worth €30 million, of which €15 million is provided through a grant, while €15 million represents co-financing by the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation, i.e. the Government of Montenegro. I owe great thanks to the teams at the University of Montenegro and the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation who believed in this project and in our ability to stand shoulder to shoulder with the most developed European countries. We will now continue our work to justify the trust placed in us and maintain the same pace in the period ahead - Jakšić-Stojanović said.
Rector of the University of Montenegro Vladimir Božović stressed that CENNA demonstrates that the University of Montenegro has the knowledge, ambition and people capable of becoming part of the most advanced European scientific community.
- CENNA is one of those projects that demonstrate that the University of Montenegro has the knowledge, ambition and people capable of being part of the most advanced European scientific community. The fact that the research will be conducted in our national parks, at Lake Skadar and Durmitor, is of particular value, as these areas will become living laboratories for modern science and sustainable solutions - Božović said.
Prof. Svetlana Perović, PhD, pointed out that CENNA aims to develop a state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence for monitoring, protecting and sustainably managing natural resources, while simultaneously building long-term scientific and institutional capacities.
- CENNA is a project aimed at enabling Montenegro to develop a state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence for monitoring, protecting and sustainably managing natural resources. It is particularly important that CENNA will not simply provide equipment or support individual activities, but will build long-term scientific and institutional capacities. The project will enable more intensive knowledge exchange, researcher mobility, the development of new research ideas, and the involvement of young scientists, students and professionals in contemporary European scientific developments - Perović said.
According to Prof. Igor Radusinović, PhD, CENNA will have access to state-of-the-art research infrastructure and equipment worth approximately €15 million for the development and testing of new technologies.
- In Podgorica, this will include a central facility with modern laboratories, research and office spaces, as well as training and conference facilities. In addition to laboratory and engineering capacities, CENNA will use pilot sites at Lake Skadar and in the Durmitor area, where the solutions developed will be tested under real-world conditions. This will enable advanced sensor systems, autonomous platforms, digital tools and nature-based solutions to be tested directly in sensitive protected aquatic ecosystems - Radusinović said.
As explained by the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation, CENNA will focus on advanced environmental monitoring and the development of nature-based solutions in Montenegro’s protected areas, using state-of-the-art research infrastructure and equipment. A significant part of the project will be implemented at Lake Skadar and in the Durmitor area, where the solutions developed will be tested under real-world conditions.
- The establishment of the CENNA Centre also represents an important step in developing Montenegro’s scientific and institutional capacities, intensifying knowledge exchange and researcher mobility, and involving young scientists, students and professionals in contemporary European scientific developments. CENNA represents a foundation for Montenegro’s future development - a country that builds its strength on knowledge, responsibility, innovation and people capable of creating new value for society as a whole - the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation stated.