The national manifestation May, the Month of Mathematics in 2012 would not ever commenced had it not been for the direct cooperation with the Mathematical Institute of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The initial steps were taken in the summer of 2011 when the delegation of MI SANU visited the Centre for the Promotion of Science at the initiative of external associate Pavle Blagojević. In Berlin Mr Blagojević worked with the famous mathematician Günter Ziegler, known for his popularisation and engagement to open mathematics to the wider community. The culmination of Ziegler's work in this field occurred while he was manager of the German Mathematical Society when he established the Year of Mathematics in Germany in 2008. The program that achieved great results resonated strongly around the world, and in our country became the basis for establishing May, the Month of Mathematics.

In the following years, together with the Mathematical Institute SANU, we patiently and persistently threaded a long, but never straight path to our mutual goal. Our initial idea was to significantly influence the image of mathematics by showing what it can be used for, what challenges it poses and what occupations it can provide. One of the most important roles of the May, the Month of Mathematics event was to reach an audience that shows no interest in mathematics at all, who may be afraid of it or simply avoids mathematics and considers it insufficiently lively, maybe even boring. Through open programs, through various formats, we went out into public spaces and showed that mathematics besides having many abstract layers has even more ones that are closely connected to real life situations. The mathematical explanations we tried to present were not only there to make us feel satisfied because we finally understood a theory, but to change our view of the world. During the previous ten years, May, the Month of Mathematics has taken place in a large number of locations throughout Serbia, and good mathematical vibrations swept through the audience, regardless of their formal education and age. Through various topics, we have compiled fragments of stories about one of the most influential disciplines in human history, we have seen it in the context of the modern world and we believe that we have managed to show that mathematics can often be the key to understanding reality. With highly renowned mathematicians from the country and abroad, who were part of our publications, performances, exhibitions, educational workshops, popular science lectures, concerts, scientific strolls, we showed that mathematics is all around us and that we often know it better than we think! Unique programs were created, such as the first publication, Can I Count? in 2012, visits of the winner of the Fields Medal Cedric Villani in 2013, Faces of Mathematics in 2016, Mathematical Show in 2017, dancing performance The point is something that has no parts in 2020 and mathematical strolls in 2021.

Regardless of future editions of the May, the Month of Mathematics program and further activities and opportunities to promote mathematical content, the Centre for the Promotion of Science and MI SANU have achieved an incredible result through this collaboration. With the ultimate effort of all participants, we connected mathematics with almost all aspects of our lives; it became part of our culture and architecture of the country, knowledge and everyday experience of the world around us.