Peer Visit of the Be Ready Pilot Project in Niš, Serbia

On September 22–23, 2025, the Be Ready Team in Niš, Serbia, hosted a peer visit with project partners from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU, Austria) and the Sustainable Development Agency (SDA, Bulgaria), the project’s lead partner.

To set the context the visit opened with a presentation and public debate on the city’s Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan. A representative of CeS.TRA provided a detailed introduction to the strategy and its key components. City officials then highlighted several ongoing projects addressing climate change and sustainability. The University of Niš’s Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture showcased its “sandbox workshop,” where participants used Urban Heat Island (UHI) assessment results to co-design proposals for potential pilot sites.

Day two shifted the spotlight to Niš’s Be Ready pilot actions:

Greening King Milan Square with vertical planting and climate-resilient trees.
Planting cherry trees outside the Puppet Theatre.
Rolling out an online platform for tree mapping and donations, linked to the city’s utility company Mediana.

A dynamic discussion followed, focusing on long-term maintenance, sustainability, and the potential impact of these pilots. The group then visited the pilot sites, examining practical challenges and opportunities—particularly those linked to introducing UHI mitigation measures within Niš’s historically protected city centre.

The program included visiting the Science Technology Park Niš as well, where start-up City and Me presented its mobile app designed to boost public engagement in sustainability initiatives. Data protection, interactive surveys, and strategies to win over different stakeholders sparked animated conversation.

The visit wrapped up with an open session to consolidate lessons learned and set the next steps for collaboration.

Photos: Municipality of Niš