STALNA KONFERENCIJA GRADOVA I OPSTINA

Their core work

The Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities is the national association of local governments in Serbia, representing cities and municipalities on policy, governance, and capacity building. In EU projects, they act as a bridge between European research initiatives and Serbian local authorities, helping translate project outcomes into municipal-level implementation. Their work focuses on building local capacity for energy transition and sustainable tourism, ensuring that EU-funded innovations reach the communities that need them most.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 work (2015–2019) was firmly rooted in energy — building municipal capacity for energy performance contracting and promoting bioenergy at the village level. From 2021 onward, they pivoted toward cultural heritage and sustainable tourism through Be.CULTOUR, introducing human-centred design and open innovation approaches. This shift suggests a broadening from pure energy governance toward a wider sustainable local development agenda.

Moving from energy-focused capacity building toward integrated sustainable development combining cultural heritage, tourism, and community-driven innovation.

How they like to work

SCTM exclusively participates as a partner, never as coordinator — consistent with their role as a national municipal association representing an EU candidate country. With 30 unique partners across 16 countries from just 3 projects, they join large, diverse consortia rather than small focused teams. This makes them a reliable implementation partner who can mobilize local government networks across Serbia for piloting and dissemination.

Despite only 3 projects, they have built a broad network of 30 partners spanning 16 countries, indicating participation in large pan-European consortia with wide geographic coverage. Their network likely includes other municipal associations, energy agencies, and research institutions across both EU member states and candidate countries.

What sets them apart

As Serbia's national association of local governments, SCTM offers something few partners can: direct access to an entire country's network of municipalities for piloting, testing, and implementing EU project results at the local level. For any consortium needing to demonstrate impact in Western Balkan candidate countries, SCTM is a natural and credible entry point. Their combination of energy governance experience and emerging cultural tourism work makes them versatile for projects targeting sustainable local development.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Be.CULTOUR
  Largest funding (EUR 202,500) and a strategic pivot into cultural tourism with human-centred innovation, signaling a new organizational direction.
• BioVill
  Most thematically rich project — combined bioenergy, public acceptance, and community-level deployment, directly aligned with SCTM's municipal mandate.