Youth Cooperation for a Cleaner Environment and Sustainable Tourism
The youth are not inheriting only the planet but the obligations and heritage of previous generations to provide a safe, clean and healthy environment for themselves and for future generations. Young ...
The youth are not inheriting only the planet but the obligations and heritage of previous generations to provide a safe, clean and healthy environment for themselves and for future generations. Young people across Bosnia and Herzegovina, the wider region and European continent are becoming increasingly active and vocal in raising awareness of the need for environmental protection, proper waste disposal, energy efficiency and economic empowerment. The European Union has committed itself to making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and, as the road to that ambitious goal is long, the EU is helping countries across the continent to move closer to that goal as quickly and successfully as possible through projects, initiatives and legislative support.
Young people from the Bay of Kotor and Canton 10, through the cross-border project “YOUth Drive” are an example of successful activities to raise awareness of proper waste management and empowering legislators to act. “The activities carried out are an analysis of the situation on the ground in terms of watercourses, analysis of illegal landfills and the first station in Canton 10 and the Bay of Kotor that deals with environmental issues, producing an interactive map of illegal landfills where our citizens can report dumping. Within the project, a large number of illegal landfills have been removed and the next ones will be removed through an agreement with the local community, which has recognised this project as useful and important, ”emphasizes Lucija Kvesić, project manager.
By removing illegal landfills and raising awareness of their damaging impact on the environment, the health of citizens and the development of the region’s tourism potential, the project successfully cooperated with local communities to develop mechanisms for further successful actions against improper waste disposal. Emphasising the importance of proper storage of e-waste, three hundred and twenty bins were distributed to one hundred and sixty locations, in the seven local communities participating in the project.
While adults and local government representatives talk to experts and look for solutions, the youngest participants in the project participate in eco-workshops on recycling, cleaning actions and education on the importance of proper waste management. 192 schools are participating in the project, and education is being provided to students from the sixth to the ninth grade and high school students. Young people continue to express a desire to contribute to the protection of the environment. Upon their return to school, they will be greeted by new smart boards donated to primary schools as part of the project, in order to improve and modernise the school system and enable young people to develop their skills and abilities in step with the times.
The success of the project is evidenced by agreements on support and financing signed by the local governments of Ljubuški, Grude, Posušje and Široki Brijeg, in order to ensure joint and systematic work on solving these challenges. Through successful cooperation of non-governmental organisations and youth from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, organizing numerous activities for young people, as well as representatives of local communities and experts, the project seeks to create preconditions for improving and refining existing legislation in the field of environmental protection and waste management.
