Ognjen RadišićDear Ms. Marangoni and Mr. Galeski,
I am reaching out on behalf of the City of Teslić (Bosnia and Herzegovina) to express our interest in exploring potential collaboration under the upcoming 8th Interreg Euro-MED Open Call on Thematic Projects under the Mission “Promoting Green Living Areas.”
The City of Teslić is a municipality in north-central Bosnia and Herzegovina with approximately 38,000 inhabitants and a distinctive territorial profile, comprising a relatively dense urban centre and numerous rural settlements dispersed across a mountainous landscape. This spatial structure creates disproportionate pressure on the urban core, with particularly pronounced effects during the summer period, when car-oriented street design, urban heat-island effects, and increased tourist and diaspora flows contribute to climate-related health risks and reduced quality of public space, particularly for vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, senior citizens, children and youth.
In response, the municipality has already undertaken initial urban greening measures as a first step towards creating a healthier and more climate-resilient urban environment. These efforts are intended to be complemented by further tactical urbanism interventions and nature-based solutions in the coming period. Moreover, the municipality is drafting a new urban design plan for the city centre that will include measures such as urban gardening and community-gathering zones.
Against this background, we see strong potential complementarity between your project concept — particularly its focus on nature-based solutions, citizen participation and inclusion — and our efforts to establish a more systemic framework for inclusive, livable and healthier public spaces.
The City of Teslić could offer three suitable pilot sites (municipally owned) for project interventions while also contributing to the dissemination and transfer of the project methodology to other local authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, thereby supporting the project’s wider capitalization potential.
The City of Teslić has extensive experience in implementing international projects in cooperation with partners such as the European Investment Bank, Czech Development Agency, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), UNDP and USAID. Furthermore, Teslić is currently a partner in the Interreg Euro-MED project WATERVILL – Innovative solutions for enhancing village water supply and addressing water scarcity in resilient rural and mountainous areas, participates in the NetZeroCities initiative as a Mission-Minded City, and is a mentee city in the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI). These experiences have further strengthened our capacity to transfer, adapt and capitalise on innovative European practices at the local level.
We would be very interested in learning more about your project concept and exploring how the City of Teslić could contribute to and benefit from a potential collaboration.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
Kind regards,
Ognjen Radišić
City of Teslić
Investors Cooperation Officer
ognjen.radisic@gradteslic.com
