LOCAL PLANNING INITIATIVES IN THE CULTURE OF SERBIA DURING TRANSITION (2000-2018)

Text topic: Culture and Democracy - 50 Years of the Review Kultura

Text author: Ана Стојановић

In Serbia, transition has implied a transformation of the entire social system in the spirit of democracy. On the road to developing democracy, strategic planning has been a key instrument of cultural policy. Although it used to be practiced in the self-management system, based on the method of cooperative planning, the start of transition introduced the concept of strategic planning as a complete novelty. This is why the implementation of long term planning can be observed as a new/old challenge on all levels of management. This paper deals with the implementation of strategic planning in Serbia on the local level, in the period 2000-2018. It gives a review of local strategic planning initiatives in culture and analyses their implementation on the local level. Since the start of transition, over ten years, we have had a Law on activities of public interest in the field of culture (1992) which was in conflict with the increase of autonomy of local self-governments and the processes of democratization and decentralization that started in Serbia after 2000. This incompatibility, as well as the lack of a national strategy for cultural development has also reflected on the absence of local strategical plans in the field of culture.