Centre for Civic Education (CCE) proudly highlights that the project “YOUTH 4smart CETINJE: from Idea to Smart and Sustainable Solution” of the non-governmental organisation Montenegrin Scientific and Technological Hub KNOWLEDGE – EPISTEME has received the prestigious WSIS Champion Prize award, granted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
CCE supported this project through the programme “SYNERGY Montenegro – strengthening youth networks and empowering resilient groups and young people in Montenegro”, recognising its potential to connect young people, modern technologies, sustainable development and the needs of the local community. We previously highlighted this initiative as a success story, and this international recognition further confirms the value of investing in the ideas of young people and the organisations working with them.
Through the Youth 4Smart Cetinje project, the first IoT public network in Montenegro was established, laying the foundations for the development of the #SmartCity concept in Cetinje. A system for monitoring the fill levels of waste disposal containers was also developed, demonstrating how digital solutions can respond to the concrete needs of the local community. An important contribution to the implementation of the project was also made by the Royal Capital Cetinje, Municipal Services Ltd Cetinje and the American Corner Cetinje, as collaborators, and Active Centre from Cetinje, as partners.
“It gives me immense satisfaction that our research and innovation project has received global recognition – the WSIS Champion Prize 2026, awarded by the world’s oldest international organisation and the United Nations’ leading organisation for digital technologies, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU),” states Dr Ivan Martinović, who leads the NGO epiSTEMe Hub.
The value of this project lies in placing technological innovations at the service of the public interest, demonstrating that digital solutions can improve quality of life, contribute to environmental protection and encourage the development of more sustainable local policies. At the same time, the project confirms that young people are not merely users of existing programmes, but creators of change who, through their knowledge, energy and ideas, can actively contribute to the modernisation of their community.
“The ranking of the Youth4Smart Cetinje project among the five best projects in the world in the e-environment category represents strong confirmation that local initiatives, this time from the Royal Capital of Montenegro, can achieve global impact and recognition. The award-winning project is an integral part of the innovative Cetinje Smart City concept, which not only involves the application of smart technologies in the Royal Capital, but also the creation of a comprehensive ecosystem that will attract researchers from Montenegro and around the world, and enable them to develop systems tailored to the real needs of citizens,” explains Dr Martinović.
CCE emphasises the importance of greater and merit-based investment in young people, as well as the broader significance of support programmes for civil society, because it is precisely such support that delivers visible results and creates opportunities for the international promotion of the knowledge, creativity and innovativeness of young people, as demonstrated by the success of the project of the non-governmental organisation epiSTEMe.
“The fact that the system we developed has gained global recognition, and that Montenegro is the only country from the former Yugoslavia whose project has been awarded, should serve as a clear and unequivocal signal to institutions that the time has come for the development of innovative digital solutions to be recognised as one of the strategic priorities of our country, and for that recognition to be confirmed through concrete measures and decisive support,” states Dr Ivan Martinović.
The SYNERGY Montenegro programme is implemented by CCE, in partnership with the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) and the NGO Multimedijal Montenegro, in cooperation with the Ministry of Sports and Youth, with financial support from the European Union and co-financing from the Ministry of Regional-Investment Development and Cooperation with Non-Governmental Organisations.
Nikola Đurašević, Programme Associate