During the past week, 960 bins for waste selection were distributed to the residents of the Local Community Kiseljak. The distribution of bins for packaging and mixed waste was realized within the activities of introducing primary selection of waste in households in the area of this community implemented by the Tuzla Community Foundation in cooperation with JKP Komunalac and the Center for Ecology and Energy. Following the practice of other communities in the city of Tuzla, which in the previous period switched to a new waste collection regime and positive reports from partners in the field, waste selection will improve waste management and enable better waste separation and thus reduce total waste taken to landfill.
Education followed by concrete activities
In that sense, according to the coordinator of the open education program at the Foundation Sabina Sinanović Ćatibušić, she is working on concrete support to citizens, and on raising awareness of Kiseljak local community residents when it comes to environmental protection:
“This is just one activity, which was preceded by holding informational meetings with locals, followed by monitoring the situation on the ground and organizing workshops on composting, in order to reduce the amount of organic waste in landfills. In addition, we will organize trainings on how to apply the principles of sustainable development in everyday life, i.e., what each of us can do to contribute to the balance and equilibrium between the needs of modern humans and nature protection.”
Locals open to cooperation
Citizens in Kiseljak are open, curious and interested in the opportunities and innovations brought to the community by the Foundation, and all activities are implemented in cooperation with citizens, who in their action plan expressed the need and desire to develop their community in a sustainable way. Ćatibušić points out that this is just one activity that should contribute to the overall picture of Kiseljak’s development. In the past period, she explains, they worked on improving the living and working conditions of collectors of secondary raw materials, renewed two sources of drinking and mineral water sources, organized various trainings in entrepreneurship, after which they awarded financial support to household income activities, especially women through various programs in the field of education as well. Most of these activities were implemented in cooperation with the Kiseljak Local Development Group, which brought together all local actors in the community. Quite a big bite in a rather underdeveloped community, the Foundation successfully coordinates, all thanks to a large number of partnerships with civil society organizations and institutions, all of which bring expertise from their field.
Acting in different fields
“We have been working in Kiseljak since 2015, and since 2019 we have been operating in the Kiseljak Social Center, which we built with the support of the City of Tuzla, the Freudenberg Foundation and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We came up with the initiative with the locals, who asked us for support in terms of new mechanisms, methods of work and financial support for the development of their community. We implement a wide range of activities, we act in the field of environmental, social and economic aspects, but if we take into account that sustainable development is the link between these three aspects, then it becomes clear that our action in this community is strategic. Seeking realistic solutions for the community to make progress includes a large number of partners, with whom we cooperate every day”, says Ćatibušić.
By building the Center and increasing the scope of its activities, the Foundation has somehow brought life to this community and the difference compared to 2015 is visible. A new approach to work, called “1 km2 of education”, which advocates the implementation of a large number of different interventions in a small geographical area to achieve long-term change, has connected all actors in society. Given that the problems are very complex and that Kiseljak is a community that has been neglected for many years, solutions are sought together by citizens, institutions and civil society organizations, which are creating a four-year action plan. In that sense, the Foundation is a cohesive element that this community previously lacked.
Inclusive work with Roma residents
It is often challenging in the Local Community Kiseljak to talk about community development in a broader context, when a large number of people live in it who do not have their basic existential needs met. The work of the Foundation here is based on inclusive development because, as Ćatibušić says, no community can develop if not all members of society are involved in the processes: “In that sense, much of our work is to improve the living conditions of Roma citizens who are an integrative part of this community and actively participate in planning and finding solutions, which are somewhat more complex here precisely because of the challenges facing the Roma population, as a minority population in our country.”
In the last 5 years, in addition to the construction of the Social Center worth about half a million BAM, the Foundation has invested almost 300,000 BAM in this community through support to citizens and initiatives. The results of the investment are thus greater when the participation of partners and the locals themselves in the initiatives implemented for the benefit of all in Kiseljak is taken into account. A holistic approach to working in this community is exactly what becomes a guarantor of sustainability and motivation for the long-term support of international donors of the Freudenberg Foundation and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation for Development (BMZ).
