Belgrade Gets a New Mural - "Beloglavi Sup" From Recycled Material

Belgrade got a new mural, this time from the recycled material collected during the campaign “Look around. Move”, jointly implemented by the EU Delegation to Serbia and the Ministry of European Integration, in cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Mural of beloglavi sup (griffon vulture), protected species of birds in Serbia and the world, made by artist Ivan Kocić. In the future, it will decorate the building of the Elementary School “Ivan Goran Kovačić”.

The creation of a mural is part of a campaign aimed at raising awareness and launching all citizens, communities and institutions of our country to engage and become active in protecting the environment in their local communities. After the debate on June 12, as well as the trash challenge organized on June 14, this is the third event within this ecological campaign in Belgrade, while one-day tours of ecological facilities built with the support of the EU were organized in Užice, Šabac and Subotica.

The mural is the work of Ivan Kocić, but also the product of the four successfully overcome challenges on the social networks that were part of the campaign. During a month, four young influencers tried to lead by example and show that everyone can do something for the environment: to live for at least a week without plastic, to plant plants and trees and to collect the waste it is encountering (see the Instagram profiles: @uvrnuti_sotovi_, @lutajuci_putnik, @slavendoslo). Thanks to them, the material was collected, that is, waste for assemblage which is located on the wall of the Elementary School “Ivan Goran Kovačić”.

“My goal was to show the kids how to make a recyclable creative way. I hope that this is just the beginning”, says Kocić, adding that for the creation of the murals, children’s toys were also used, and with the intention of choosing a beloglavi sup, in order to show children the importance of nature and environmental protection.

Kocic is known for creating artworks from recycled materials. In order to induce citizens to activate themselves in the field of environmental protection, he symbolically created a griffon vulture that has the status of a strictly protected species in Serbia, and his survival is supported by the Society for the Protection and Study of Birds in Serbia, through numerous projects funded by the European Union.

“It’s a great pleasure for me to be here today. The fight against climate change and environmental protection are very important for Serbia on the road to join the European Union. The European Union is the leading global player in the fight against climate change”, said the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Ambassador Sem Fabrizi. He also points out that the “Look around” campaign has been launched to show what needs to be done to protect the environment and sent a call for action.

“It is especially important that the mural is set up in school so that children will have the opportunity to see a special message about nature and environmental protection,” the Ambassador concludes.

The director of elementary school “Ivan Goran Kovačić” Momir Dragaš emphasizes that the school works on environmental protection and through other projects and expressed great satisfaction that the first mural in Serbia of recycled material was made in his school. He added that the materials for the mural were brought by the pupils of elementary school “Ivan Goran Kovačić”.

A representative of the Society for the Protection and Study of Birds in Serbia, Aleksa Vukićević, presented the Ambassador Fabrizi with a book listing all types of birds in Serbia.

Within the “Look around” campaign, the Head of the EU Delegation, together with representatives of the Society for the Protection and Study of Birds in Serbia, visited the areas where the EU project “PannonEagle – Protection of Eagle Crusaders in the Pannonian Plain” is being implemented, near the Serbian Krstur. Within the framework of this project, the last breeding eagle pair eagle is being protected in Serbia. On that occasion, representative of the Society for the Study and Protection of Birds of Serbia presented the project and activities, and then the observation of birds was organized.