The Delegation of the European Union and the Embassy of France in Serbia awarded prizes to the most innovative and sustainable municipalities and schools in Serbia as part of the French-Serbian platform for cooperation on the challenges of the sustainable city “Eco-municipality”, and with the new Agreement the project becomes part of the “Green Agenda for Serbia” initiative.
The “Eco-municipality” award competition, intended for all Serbian municipalities, is designed as a platform for the exchange of knowledge and examples of goods practice between French and Serbian actors involved in the programs of sustainable development of cities and municipalities in the areas of sustainable waste management, sustainable water management, sustainable urban mobility, and energy efficiency of buildings. A special sub-category of the competition is “Green Schools”, a category intended for primary and secondary schools in Serbia, and it refers to the development of environmental awareness and civic spirit among young people. The competition rewards sustainable and innovative initiatives designed by teachers and students with the purpose of environmental protection. This is the second edition of the “Eco-municipality” competition, after the success of the competition in Poland and Bulgaria, and it aims primarily to unite the actors of sustainable development – from government representatives at the central and local level, to research centres and universities, to associations and companies.
In the “Green Schools – Francophonie” category, the award was given to the Elementary School “Karađorđe” from Velika Plana, satellite class Veliko Orašje for the project “Environmental activities implemented at school”, and in the category “Green Schools”, Elementary School “Vasa Živković” from Pančevo received the award for the project “Eco rap alphabet of Vasa’s students”.
The Municipality of Bačka Palanka and the City of Sremska Mitrovica were awarded for Sustainable waste management, while the award for Sustainable water management went to the Municipality Čajetina and the City of Novi Sad. When it comes to energy efficiency, the most sustainable city is Vranje and the most sustainable municipality is Vrnjačka banja, while Pirot and Kruševac are the winners in the Sustainable urban mobility category.
The competition took place in several stages, such as the organization of thematic seminars, which were open to a cities and municipalities, with the presence of experts from all over France, as well as the presentation of solutions that exist at the level of local self-governments. After the seminars, interested cities and municipalities applied by filling in a questionnaire, which was then evaluated by an expert jury, composed of university professors, experts, and civil society representatives. The award ceremony is the last state of the competition, Representatives of the winning municipalities will participate in a study visit to France, in areas related to their award.
The Deputy Head of the EU Delegation, Plamena Halacheva, highlighted the cooperation with the French and other embassies of EU member states, the Ministry of Environmenta Protection, the United Nations Development Program, and the European Investment Bank in the “Green Agenda for Serbia” initiative within “Team Europe”.
“Climate change and environmental degradation represent an existential threat to Europe, which we had the opportunity to see in recent months in Greece and Spain” and emphasized that in order to combat this, the European Green Deal aims to transform the continent with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy. And above all with the guarantee of the end of net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with economic growth and the use of clean energy sources throughout Europe.
The Ambassador of France, Pierre Koshar, in his opening address, recalled the mission of “Eco-municipality”, emphasizing the wealth of interactions that the project fostered between French and Serbian partners and municipalities, and praised the motivation of Serbian schools to deal with environmental topics. He expressed the hope that the project will become a pillar of French-Serbian cooperation on the topic of sustainable cities. “Since the launch of the project in May 2022, more than 650 representatives of Serbian local authorities have participated in the seminars, and in the “Green School” category, several hundred students from nearly sixty schools took part in the project,” concluded Koshar.
Finally, a new Cooperation Agreement between the Embassy of France and the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia was signed, which will enable the expansion of the “Eco-municipality” project, which becomes part of the “Green Agenda for Serbia” initiative.
In addition to the Delegation of the European Union and the Embassy of France, the partners of the “Eco-municipality” initiative are the Institute Veolia, Saint-Gobain, Veolia, Decathlon, Wiener Stadische, the National Alliance for Local Economic Development and the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities.
