Yesterday, the Ministry of Education of the Sarajevo Canton organized the signing of contracts with associations that applied to the Public Call for funding/co-financing projects in the field of environmental protection and raising environmental awareness of children and youth under 19 in the school year 2021/2022 from the Budget of Sarajevo Canton for 2021.
As Minister Naida Hota-Muminović pointed out, the Ministry has issued this public call in order to sensitize school and the wider community to topics in the field of raising environmental awareness and environmental protection.
The Minister emphasized that through educational work we must encourage students to preserve natural resources, teach them how to properly dispose waste, that clean air and improving air quality are prerequisites for public health, and that city cleanliness and a high level of environmental consciousness are indicators of the general culture of a society.
“Preserving the capacity of natural resources and building environmental awareness are challenges facing every society, state and humanity as a whole. If we all make a little effort and change our bad daily habits, we can significantly contribute to ecological improvement and preservation of our environment“, said Minister Hota-Muminović.
According to the Minister, eight associations applied for the announced public call, which received funds in the total amount of 61,000 BAM.
The recipients of the funds thanked the Minister and said that this type of project will certainly improve the awareness of young people about environmental protection, which will lead to a better and sustainable future.
The Center for Energy, Environment and Resources (CENER 21) applied with the project “Youth Initiative for Plastic Waste Reduction”. Šejla Mahmutović, president of this Association, said that their goal was to show high school students from the Sarajevo Canton area through a set of interactive project activities that waste should not be seen as garbage, but as a resource that will be used to obtain new products.
“The ultimate goal of the project is to start thinking about young people in the context of the circular economy and the development of green entrepreneurship, so to show how they can continue to use waste to create new products. We have many examples in Sarajevo and BiH, e.g., to make recycled bags out of PVC bags“, stated Mahmutović.
The Forestry and Environment Initiative (FEA) applied with the project “Through knowledge to eco-property”. As Lejla Hukić from this organization said, the goal of the project is to strengthen environmental awareness among the youngest, in this case children aged seven to 11.
“We planned to do interactive workshops and educate the youngest on four very important aspects of our environment – air, water, soil and forests. We plan to organize workshops with mapped schools in Sarajevo Canton. The symbolic name of these workshops will be “Corner for eco geniuses”, where we will educate children in an interactive way, but also motivate them to do something in their school yards, “said Hukić.
Asja Herenda, President of the Center for Energy, Energy Efficiency and Environment (CEO) explained that they applied with the project “Youth for a Sustainable Future”, which focuses on high school students in Sarajevo Canton.
“Apart from the educational part we are planning, our idea is for young people to be proactively involved in that future and through the prize competition give their solutions on how they see that future, i.e., how they can contribute to it by using renewable energy sources, recycling,” said Herenda.
She concluded that in addition to the financial support provided by the Ministry in such projects, the fact that the Ministry recognized the problem of pollution and a sustainable future is very important.
akta.ba
