Sonja Dragovic (AF1E-5555-DC22)

Curriculum Vitae

Sonja Dragovic

Sonja Dragovic has an MSc in Urban Studies from the Free University of Brussels (ULB). She is a PhD researcher at the University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL), supported by the Fellowship of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. Her interests include analyzing practices of urban activism and working with local communities toward improving participatory methods, public policies, and shared spaces. She is a member of several activist and research collectives, which are based in Montenegro and Portugal and dedicated to studying the current approaches to policy and practice of urban development. Works in the areas of social sciences with emphasis on economic and social geography, architecture, and urban studies.

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Identification

Personal identification

Full name: Sonja Dragovic

Citation names

Dragovic, Sonja

Author identifiers

Ciência ID: AF1E-5555-DC22
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8835-6188

Websites

https://www.4cities.eu/author/dragovic-sonja/ (Blog)

Knowledge fields

Social Sciences - Economic and Social Geography - Urban Studies
Social Sciences - Economics and Business - Economics

Languages

Language	Speaking	Reading	Writing	Listening	Peer-review
Serbo-Croatian (Mother tongue)
English	Proficiency (C2)	Proficiency (C2)	Proficiency (C2)	Proficiency (C2)	Proficiency (C2)
Russian	Elementary (A2)	Upper intermediate (B2)	Elementary (A2)	Intermediate (B1)	Elementary (A2)
Spanish; Castilian	Intermediate (B1)	Intermediate (B1)	Elementary (A2)	Intermediate (B1)	Elementary (A2)
Portuguese	Beginner (A1)	Intermediate (B1)	Beginner (A1)	Intermediate (B1)	Beginner (A1)

Education

	Degree	Classification
2020/09 - 2024/09 Ongoing	Architecture of Contemporary Metropolitan Territories (Doutoramento) ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Portugal
2013/09/10 - 2015/09/26 Concluded	Urban Studies (Master) Major in Urban Studies Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium	Great Distinction
2007/09/01 - 2012/07/10 Concluded	Economics (Bachelor) Major in Economics Univerzitet Crne Gore Ekonomski Fakultet, Montenegro
2008/08/20 - 2009/05/09 Concluded	Economics (Bachelor) Major in Economics The University of Maine, United States

Affiliation

Others

	Category Host institution	Employer
2019/10 - Current	Researcher and editor	Architectuul Publishing Platform, Germany

2016/10 - 2020/04/30	Researcher	Expeditio - Center for Sustainable Spatial Development , Montenegro

2019/01 - 2019/12	Fellow	Future Architecture Platform, Slovenia

2016/09 - 2019/09	Program Director	NGO Biciklo.me, Montenegro

2016/07/01 - 2017/12/31	Project Coordinator	ArchCommune – Center for Architecture and Culture , Montenegro

Projects

Grant

	Designation	Funders
2019/11/01 - 2020/07/31	Sustainable Urban Mobility in High Schools in Podgorica 00095613 Researcher NGO Biciklo.me, Montenegro	Regional programme on local democracy in the Western Balkans (ReLOaD) Concluded
2018/04/01 - 2018/09/30	Better Traffic, Better City 08-5/24 Researcher NGO Biciklo.me, Montenegro	ActionSEE - Accountability, Technology and Institutional Openness Network in South East Europe Concluded
2016/07/01 - 2017/12/31	Our City, Our Stage 2016-C12 Researcher ArchCommune – Center for Architecture and Culture , Montenegro	European Cultural Foundation – ECF Concluded

Contract

	Designation	Funders
2020/12/01 - 2021/07/01	Future Ecologies FUTUREECOLOGIESMNE Researcher	British Council Montenegro Ongoing

Outputs

Publications

Book	Cukic, Iva; Timotijevic, Jovana; Dragovic, Sonja; Stojic, Bozena; Dragusha, Njomza; Rexha, Orbis; Rajic, Tatjana. Spaces of Commoning: Urban Commons in the Ex-YU Region. Belgrade, Serbia: Ministry of Space / Institute for Urban Politics. 2020. Published Dragovic, Sonja. Getting from Home to School: High School Students in Podgorica Traffic (Original title: Od kuce do skole: srednjoskolci u podgorickom saobracaju). Podgorica, Montenegro: NVO Biciklo.me. 2020. Published Dragovic, Sonja. Better Traffic, Better City (Original title: Bolji saobracaj, bolji grad). Podgorica, Montenegro: NVO Biciklo.me. 2018. Published Vujosevic, Milica; Rabrenovic, Jelena; Dragovic, Sonja. Urban Planning Approach: Public participation in planning Blok 5 in Podgorica (Original title: Pristup izradi planskog dokumenta: ucesce javnosti u planiranju Bloka 5 u Podgorici). Podgorica, Montenegro: NGO KANA / Ko ako ne arhitekt. 2017. Published • 10.5281/zenodo.1068525 Dragovic, Sonja; Sabeljic, Slobodan. Women's Chronicles (Original title: Zenske hronike). Kolasin, Montenegro: NVO Fenomeni. 2014. Published
Book chapter	Sonja Dragovic; Dragovic, Sonja. "The Volatile Policy Framework of Spatial Planning in Montenegro: Will the Centre Hold?". In Governing Territorial Development in the Western Balkans - Challenges and Prospects of Regional Cooperation, edited by Erblin Berisha; Giancarlo Cotella; Alys Solly. Springer International Publishing, 2021. In press • 10.1007/978-3-030-72124-4_7
Conference paper	Vujosevic, Milica; Dragovic, Sonja. "Cypress Revolution: The Importance of Public Participation in Urban Planning Decision-making Process in Montenegro". Paper presented in International scientific conference Environmental impact of illegal construction, poor planning and design IMPEDE 2019, Belgrade, 2019. Published Dragovic, Sonja. "From block to city, and back: post-1989 transformation of residential neighbourhoods in Podgorica". Paper presented in International Conference on Cities and Change "Three Decades of Post-socialist Transition", Darmstadt, 2019. Published Dragovic, Sonja. "When Government Takes All the Space: Centralization of Urban Planning in Montenegro". Paper presented in Third International Conference of Young Urban Researchers, Lisbon, 2018. Published
Journal article	Sonja Dragovic. "Common action: Can grassroots initiatives propel territorial governance in Montenegro?". European Spatial Research and Policy (2021): https://doi.org/10.18778/1231-1952.28.2.05. 10.18778/1231-1952.28.2.05 Carolina Neto Henriques; Sonja Dragovic; Christine Auer; Irina Gomes; Henriques, Carolina; Dragovic, Sonja; Gomes, Irina; Auer, Christine. "The Territorial Agenda 2030: Towards a common language? A review of a conceptual framework". Europa XXI 38 (2020): 157-174. https://doi.org/10.7163/Eu21.2020.38.8. Accepted • 10.7163/Eu21.2020.38.8 Dragovic, Sonja. "Tailors Turned Activists: Surviving the Demise of the Croatian Textile Industry". Intersections 2 1 (2016): 32-53. http://dx.doi.org/10.17356/ieejsp.v2i1.146. Open access • Published • 10.17356/ieejsp.v2i1.146
Magazine article	Dragovic, Sonja. "What Fundamentals? Revisiting Treasures in Disguise: The Ominous Ruins of Montenegrin Modernism", Architectuul, 2021, https://blog.architectuul.com/post/642897738107895808/what-fundamentals-revisiting-treasures-in?. Dragovic, Sonja. "Saving Hotel Podgorica: Who, if not Architects?", Architectuul, 2020, https://blog.architectuul.com/post/635912889909264384/saving-hotel-podgorica-who-if-not-architects. Dragovic, Sonja. "Everything Could Always be Different: Women of IBA 1984/87", Architectuul, 2020, https://blog.architectuul.com/post/611819314199314432/working-title-women-of-iba-198487. Dragovic, Sonja. "Agriculture and Architecture: Saving Spaceship Earth", Architectuul, 2020, https://blog.architectuul.com/post/190435855747/agriculture-and-architecture-saving-spaceship. Dragovic, Sonja. "Women Who Built Yugoslavia", Architectuul, 2019, https://blog.architectuul.com/post/184123642247/women-who-built-yugoslavia.
Newspaper article	Dragovic, Sonja. "Space to Talk (Original title: Prostor je za razgovor!)", Vijesti, 2019, https://www.vijesti.me/vijesti/drustvo/prostor-je-za-razgovor.
Online resource	Dragovic, Sonja. Jan Gehl in Podgorica: A City's Best Protection is its Citizens. 2018. https://www.4cities.eu/jan-gehl-in-podgorica-a-citys-best-protection-is-its-citizens/. Dragovic, Sonja. Be Realistic, Demand the Impossible! Podgorica's Blok 5. 2018. https://lefteast.org/bojovic-blok5/. Dragovic, Sonja. European cycling tradition: Rediscovering the bicycle in the struggle for a better city (Original title: Biciklisticka tradicija u Evropi: novo otkrivanje bicikla u borbi za bolji grad). 2017. http://www.cdtmn.org/2017/12/06/biciklisticka-tradicija-u-evropi-novo-otkrivanje-bicikla-u-borbi-za-bolji-grad/.
Thesis / Dissertation	Dragovic, Sonja. "Workers and Their Factories: Resilient Communities behind Ruined Localities". Master, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 2015.

Artistic / Performance

Script

Adrijana Gvozdenovic; Dragovic, Sonja; Lenka Djorojevic; Matej Stupica; Ivan Markovic; Natalija Vujosevic. Future Ecologies: Future in debris. 2021.

Other

Other output

System: Collapse (Original title: Sistem: rusenje). An entry for the 41st art salon "November 13th" in Cetinje, Montenegro. The pavilion includes a photo collage titled "System: Collapse" and a retrospective of the activities of KANA/Ko ako ne arhitekt (KANA/Who if not architect) group.. 2019. Dragovic, Sonja; Vujosevic, Milica; Rabrenovic, Jelena; Draganic, Ruzica.
Five Figures. Competition entry for architectural intervention in the Fužine Castle (Ljubljana, Slovenia), presented at the exhibition "We're Renovating!!!" at MAO Museum of Architecture and Design.. 2019. Dragovic, Sonja; Dragovic, Srdja. http://www.mao.si/Exhibition/We-re-Renovating.aspx.
KANA/Who if not architect (Original name: KANA/Ko ako ne arhitekt). Group of architects and urban researchers dedicated to studying and preservation of the modernist architectural heritage of Montenegro.. 2016. Dragovic, Sonja; Vujosevic, Milica; Rabrenovic, Jelena; Draganic, Ruzica. https://www.facebook.com/koakonearhitekt/.

Activities

Oral presentation

	Presentation title	Event name Host (Event location)
2021/07/15	'The Weight That Brings Us Together': Spomen Dom as the Space of Community Construction, Reflection, and Change	RC21 Conference: Sensing the City University of Antwerp, Belgium (Antwerp)
2020/11/20	Reaching out for a Place in the City: Urban Struggles for Public Space amid Multiple Crises	Online Open Forum: Right to the City in COVID-19 Pandemic GO2 Albania - Sustainable Urban Planning Organization (Shkodër, Albania)
2020/10/09	The Territorial Agenda 2030: Towards a common language? A review of a conceptual framework.	New Borders in Europe? Annual meeting in the Danish European Community Studies Association, 8-9 October 2020. Centre for Border Region Studies, Department of Political Science and Public Management, in Alsion in Sønderborg, SDU (Sønderborg, Denmark)
2019/09/20	"The Weight that Brings us Together": Spomen Dom in Kolasin as the Space of Community Construction, Reflection, and Change	Symbolic Materiality and Atmospheres of Space in Southeastern Europe Department of History, University of Hamburg (Hamburg, Germany)
2019/04/24	Whose tree is this tree: the lessons from web-based citizen participation in greening the city	4th International Conference Urban E-planning Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Lisbon (Lisbon, Portugal)
2019/02/14	The Beautiful Ruins We're Made Of	Future Architecture Creative Exchange Future Architecture Platform, Museum of Architecture and Design (Ljubljana, Slovenia)
2018/06/02	First comes the neighborhood: initial steps towards strengthening urban social movements in Podgorica, Montenegro	Urban Struggles in the Mediterranean Cities: The right to the city and the common space Unconference. School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens (Athens, Greece)
2018/03/16	Urban planning and city government: historical overview, current European practice, and comment on the new Montenegrin Law on Spatial Planning and Construction (Original title: Urbanisticko planiranje i gradska uprava: istorijski pregled, savremene evropske prakse i osvrt na novi crnogorski Zakon o planiranju prostora i izgradnji objekata)	Strengthening the rights of access to housing in Montenegro ADP-ZID (Podgorica, Montenegro)
2017/06/02	Preserving the XX century Architectural Heritage in Montenegro: A New Fight for the City	4th Heritage Forum of Central Europe: Heritage and Society International Cultural Centre (Krakow, Poland)
2017/04/25	(In)visible? Cycling as a method of transportation in Podgorica	FLUID Design Forum FLUID Design Forum (Podgorica, Montenegro)

Event organisation

	Event name Type of event (Role)	Institution / Organization
2017/09/21 - 2017/09/21	September Salon 2017: Discovering Calvino's "Invisible Cities" in Brussels. The workshop involved around 50 students and alumni of 4Cities master program in urban studies and was centered around urban exploration inspired by the city visions from Italo Calvino's "Invisible Cities". The resulting online exhibition can be seen here: http://www.4cities.eu/discovering-calvinos-invisible-cities-in-brussels-september-salon-2017-part-i/ (2017/09/21 - 2017/09/21) Workshop (Co-organisor)	4Cities Master Program in Urban Studies , Belgium

Event participation

	Activity description Type of event	Event name Institution / Organization
2019/05/30 - 2019/05/31	Workshop on the challenges of regional development in the Western Balkans, with reference to best practices deriving from EU territorial and development framework scenarios. Workshop	Challenges of Regional Development in Western Balkans – Visioning for Territorial Futures Western Balkans Network on Territorial Governance, Albania
2019/05/07 - 2019/05/07	Moderating the debate titled "Good News! Transforming People's Lives", as part of the award ceremony for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe. Participants of the debate were architects and clients of the finalist and winner works. Other	EU Mies Award Day Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Spain
2018/05/17 - 2018/05/18	Workshop to initiate the creation of Western Balkan Network on Territorial Governance Workshop	Western Balkan Network on Territorial Governance - Initiating Workshop Co-PLAN Institute for Habitat Development, Albania
2017/04/27 - 2017/04/29	Workshop on reaffirming derelict, abandoned or "in between" spaces through cultural and artistic initiatives Workshop	Modeling the public in dissonant co-spaces Jelena Šantic Foundation , Serbia
2016/11/05 - 2016/11/05	Round table on Independent Culture for Sustainable Development of Balkan Cities: Possibilities, Experiences, Proposals Round table	ACT4CITY: Independent cultural actors toward sustainable Balkan cities City Creative Network - CCN, Macedonia
2016/09/07 - 2016/09/09	Conference of the project "New Ideas For Old Buildings", focusing on the management of empty buildings as well as on actual models of co--working, -living, - existing Conference	Co-Create Conference! City Making Ruhr kitev (Kultur im Turm e.V.), Germany
2016/05/13 - 2016/05/14	ACT4CITY, a regional workshop on independent cultural actors working towards sustainable cities	ACT4CITY Expeditio - Center for Sustainable Spatial Development , Montenegro

Association member

	Society Organization name	Role
2018/07 - Current	Laboratório de Estudos Urbanos (LEU)

Other jury / evaluation

	Activity description	Institution / Organization
2019/09/23 - 2019/09/28	Workshop "Building(s) Change: Exploring the Relationship Between the Built Environment and the Community", organized over a period of five days for the students of architecture, as part of Tirana Design Week.	Universiteti POLIS, Albania

Distinctions

Award

2013	Erasmus Mundus Scholarship
2008	FORECAST Scholarship for Undergraduate Studies USAID, United States

Other distinction

2009	Dean's List Distinction The University of Maine, United States