The Republic of Serbia has committed to aligning with the European Green Deal’s key elements by endorsing the Green Agenda for the Western Balkan (GAWB) at the Summit in Sofia in 2020, and subsequently the GAWB Action Plan, at the Brdo Summit in October 2021. Since then, the Republic of Serbia initiated the process of decarbonization of the economy and industry and started preparing measures to promote just green transition (JGT). Adopted is the Law on Climate Change prepared by the Ministry of Environment, as well as the set of new laws in the field of energy, including the first Law on Renewable Energy Sources and the new Law on Energy Efficiency and the Rational Use of Energy.

In addition to the above-mentioned policies (which were adopted in 2021), when it comes to the pillar of Decarbonization (Climate, Energy & Mobility), Serbia adopted other, also very important policies at the national level such as the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan for the period 2021-2030 with a vision until 2050 (INECP), the Law on the Spatial Plan of the Republic of Serbia, Draft of the Spatial Plan of the Republic of Serbia 2021-2035 (in procedure), the Long term building renovation strategy Republic of Serbia 2050, the Sustainable Urban Development Strategy of the Republic of Serbia until 2030, the Climate Strategy & Action Plan of the Republic of Serbia and the Strategy for Development of the Energy Sector of the Republic of Serbia until 2025 with projections until 2030. The Ministry of Mining and Energy is in the process of developing two important documents that would enable implementation of the green transition in a just way – Energy development Strategy and Integrated National Plan for Energy and Climate Up Until 2050.

Adopted national policies that are under other four pillars of the GAWB are The Law on Waste Management, The Law on Packaging and Packaging Waste, Waste Management Program of the Republic of Serbia for the period 2022-2031 and Industrial Policy Strategy of the Republic of Serbia from 2021 to 2030 (Circular economy), The Law on Environmental Protection (which basically covers all pillars of GT), Air Protection Law, The Law on Waters, The Law on Soil Protection (Depollution), The Law on Nature Protection, National strategy for sustainable use of natural resources and goods and Biodiversity Strategy of the Republic of Serbia (Biodiversity), Law on Agriculture and Rural Development and The Law on planning and construction (Sustainable Food Systems and Rural Areas). In general, the decarbonization pillar went the furthest in terms of applying the postulates of the JGT.

The adoption of these laws and policies in previous years initiated a series of activities and projects related to JGT. Nationally important are EU for Green Agenda in Serbia, advancing medium and long-term adaptation planning in the Republic of Serbia, ALTERENERGY – Energy sustainability for Adriatic small communities (projects), Roadmap for circular economy in Serbia, Initiative for a Just Green Transition and Decarbonization in Serbia, ECO SYSTEM Programme, Zero Waste Municipalities (initiatives and practices), etc.

The current overview of the policies that concern the JGT in Serbia consists mainly of the national level, but there are examples of policies on the regional and local one too. Significant regional policies and practices are related to the administrative areas of the City of Belgrade and the autonomous region of Vojvodina (Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan for the City of Belgrade – SECAP, Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan for the City of Belgrade, Green City Action Plan for the City of Belgrade, AP Vojvodina Environmental Protection Program for the Period 2016-2025 etc.) while local activities and policies are mostly concentrated in larger and better developed municipalities and cities (Novi Sad, Niš, Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Subotica etc.).

The situation in terms of activities, practices and policies in the research territory, the city of Kragujevac (more specifically, the urban settlement of Kragujevac) is better than in most local governments in Serbia. In the previous decade, the city of Kragujevac adopted a number of documents/policies at the local level that are important or directly related to the JGT, such as: Spatial Plan of the City of Kragujevac, Local Waste Management Plan of the City of Kragujevac, Program of Local Economic Development of the City of Kragujevac, Strategy of integral urban development of the central city zone – Kragujevac 2030, etc.

The main problem in Kragujevac is that most of these documents have expired or their validity period will expire soon. The preparation and adoption of new policies, for which there is a desire in the local self-government (for some of them the initiative has already been launched), represents an excellent opportunity to incorporate the JGT principles into them and thus create a model/example for other local governments in Serbia.

The research case of UB-GEF within the GreenFORCE will focus on the first pillar of the Green Agenda for the WB (cleaning energy sources & protecting the climate), especially on the aspect of just transition in the sector of Smart and Sustainable Mobility. As Woodcock et al., 2007. stated:” sustainable mobility offers improvements in individual health as well as a cleaner and healthier environment”. So, indirectly the objectives of the case study will go in line with the pillar Depollution in a sense that the actions within the research study will try to demonstrate how the integration of the proposed solutions into innovative land-use management, urban design and planning could reduce health-related environmental burdens in inner urban zones, foster equitable access to public transport, enhance their quality and use and promote sustainable urban mobility patterns.

The social aspect of the GreenFORCE project aims to improve the attitude of the citizens towards the city they live in and towards each other, foster a sense of identity and empowerment and achieve a new social balance in the ownership and management of the city. The relationship with space is recognized through cognitive, emotional and behavioural aspects of attachment to a certain city or place of residence. Sense of place can be used as a base for comprehending the well-being since it is thought to be one of the main explanation of peoples’ tendency to stay in a given place and provides them with sense of safety and feeling of rootedness. Different dimensions of sense of place play a different role in establishing positive relation with place, and will be therefore included in our research approach.

Through a participatory approach, verification of the procedure, data and concept will be ensured, but the feeling of belonging to the idea and the final solution will be improved. Citizens are especially expected to react to the transformation of classic public city transport into ecologically sustainable ones, in the layout of stations, defining routes, etc.

The research proposal directly supports social objectives, as part of its offering in terms of improvement of urban quality of life and health. It also promotes the ‘sense of ownership’ among stakeholders involved in the participatory and decision-making processes resulting in feeling of responsibility (for the space maintenance, quality and further development) and increased social inclusion (as a result of densification of social ties, opening up of intra-group communication and the multi-faceted engagement that allows for solutions co-creation)