Resilient Tourism Vision

A Climate-Smart Future for the Olympic Mountains

July 15, 2025

Strengthening the resilience of the tourism sector to climate change was at the center of a meeting between representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, the Olympic Center Bjelašnica and Igman (ZOI’84), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The discussion focused on the challenges and opportunities posed by climate change for the Olympic mountains of Bjelašnica, Igman, and Jahorina—key tourism and natural assets of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Held on Bjelašnica, the meeting marked a continuation of the strategic dialogue between UNDP and key institutional partners aimed at jointly defining pathways for the sustainable development of mountain tourism. It follows a previous roundtable organized in 2024 on Jahorina, which opened space for cross-sector dialogue between policymakers, infrastructure managers, and climate experts.

Stasa — Staša Košarac, ministar vanjske trgovine i ekonomskih odnosa Bosne i Hercegovine

Nevena Šarenac

Participants included Staša Košarac, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH; leadership of KJP ZOI’84 Admir Bukva, Vedad Kasumagić, and Adnan Hadžialić; and Renaud Meyer, UNDP Resident Representative in BiH, alongside other UNDP representatives. Discussions addressed the alignment of climate policies with tourism sector priorities, particularly in the context of developing Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Third Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0). UNDP emphasized the importance of completing technical analyses and strategic documents that will serve as a foundation for effective climate adaptation and mitigation planning. The need to better integrate the development plans of ZOI’84 and Jahorina into the national climate policy framework was also highlighted.

Renaud Meyer, resident representative of the UNDP in BiH

Nevena Šarenac

Particular emphasis was placed on the development of year-round tourism offerings to reduce dependence on the winter season and increase the economic resilience of local communities. In this context, discussions covered specific initiatives to enhance the sustainability and attractiveness of the Olympic mountains, including the establishment of educational hiking trails to raise visitor awareness on climate and environmental issues, the installation of a modern meteorological station for improved climate monitoring and risk management, the digitalization of ZOI’84 operations for more efficient resource management, and improving the energy efficiency of mountain infrastructure.

Representatives of ZOI 84

Nevena Šarenac

This dialogue represents an important step toward strengthening intersectoral cooperation and confirms the commitment of institutions to act jointly in addressing climate challenges through coordinated and concrete actions. UNDP will continue to support these efforts as part of its broader mission to accelerate the green transition in Bosnia and Herzegovina.