CARBON OFFSETTING INITATIVE

Keep it Green, supported by EULEX,  launched the “Carbon Offsetting Initiative Through Tree Planting” campaign, a project which aims to populate environmentally vulnerable areas with pine trees. The first mapped venue, where thousands of trees are being planted is the land of Kosovo Energy Corporation in Obiliq, near the coal ash dump. Thank you to the EULEX Head of Mission Lars-Gunnar Wigemark,  the EULEX team, Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure, Obiliq Municipality, the Staff of Kosovo`s Presidency, Kosovo Forestry Agency, and Kosovo Energy Corporation for joining us in the launching event. With Kosovo losing one hectare of forest per day, stopping illegal deforestation, mapping environmentally vulnerable areas, and increasing forestation projects is an urgent must-do task! This project is funded by EULEX and implemented by Keep It Green.

How can educating young people be the answer to Kosovo`s environmental issues? While it is true that these youngsters are not going to eliminate pollution this afternoon, it is also true that they are the KEY to any long-term solutions society may hope to enact!

Environmental Activism Camp, within the scope of three days,  gave a group of young people the opportunity to develop their understanding of the environment and the skills they need to bring that into the civic realm, thus ensuring that they are ready to face the generational environmental challenges they face.

Yesterday's sessions included discussions on the climate change from the perspective of Western Balkans and a simulation of an environmental problem/solution facilitated by Ergi Bregasi from Qendra EDEN , sessions on the environmental leadership, sustainability campaigning & advocating,  individual contributions and spreading the word for habitat protecion delivered by Çlirim Sheremeti from 4-H Kosova . While today, the participants drafted their own civic actions for environmental issue mitigation under the mentoring of Gresë Koca and Guxim Klinaku from Keep It Green. 

A BIG THANK YOU to all the participants for their dedication to the program, to the wonderful facilitators and to KIG`s tireless volunteers who ensured that everything went smoothly. And it`s a wrap!

This event is funded by European Endownment for Democracy and implemented by Keep It Green.

“Law on the environmentally endangered zone of Obiliq and its surroundings” (below referred as Law No. 05 / L-044), was voted in the parliament and came into force in 2016, but since then it has encountered stagnation in implementation. This Law guarantees the Obiliq citizens economic, social, health, cultural and environmental benefits. However, due to the lack of sufficient public discussion on the content of the Law; most of the inhabitants of Obiliq are not aware of its content, despite the fact that this law touches their lives directly. 

This program, implemented by Keep It Green, builds a bridge between a law, the institutions responsible for implementing it, and the community whose interest it is to know and cherish the rights that this law provides. The project helped to narrow the gap of information in the community through a series of info-sessions/meeting with citizens where they got informed in detail about all the aspects of the policies under this law. The local community was directly involved in this project where they had the chance to discuss and debate about the rights and responsibilities that come from this law.   In the other side, civil society organizations operating in the area were informed of the latest developments of the Law and the stage that it is in, through a conference where present were local decision-makers and representatives of institutions responsible for the implementation.

This project is very beneficial in the aspect that it advocates for the implementation of the Law No. 05 / L-044 and it will contribute to preventing law-breaking. The reason why knowing this law is important is because it allows and empowers civil society to protect their rights, and it also will allow them to make sure that they are acting lawfully at all times.

Solar Camp is an outdoor, creative and awareness-raising program implemented by Keep It Green. The location of the program is a campsite fully powered by solar energy panels where youngsters have the chance to learn more about renewable energy, energy security and zero-waste camping while experiencing a unique lifestyle in nature/tents. The key specific objectives of this action are; to increase the awareness and understanding of the concept of renewable energy in Kosovo, to provide in-depth information about solar energy (how it works and its benefits), to introduce the participants with easy practical methods how they individually can

use solar energy in their everyday life, and finally, to encourage eco-friendly outdoor camping with minimum waste and powered by clean energy. 

The audience of this program were 30 youngsters coming from all around Kosovo, while facilitators were qualified trainers from the fields of business and teaching. Through Solar Camp, we appeal to the youngest citizens as we believe, affecting their learning and behavior, it is possible to touch different grounds and make a lasting impact.

“Ricikleta” program started turning its wheels with the first riders being students of “Ibrahim Rugova” school in the village of Mazgit!
50 students participated in the interactive Ricikleta workshop where they learned what 3R-reducing, reusing and recycling is, and tips&tricks how to practice it in daily basis.
Moreover, they engaged in making some wonderful creations all made out of recycled materials!
A special thank you to the curious new environmentalists, and to “Ibrahim Rugova" - Mazgit school for the great cooperation.
RICIKLETA is an EU funded project managed by the European Union Office in Kosovo and implemented by Balkan Green Foundation and INDEP.

Green Art Fest is an annual arts festival which brings together hundreds of youngsters to help grow an environmentally responsible community by empowering them to be changemakers in their own communities. The festival is located in Obiliq, one of the most polluted areas in Southern Europe according to the World Bank, thus emphasizing the hazardous environmental problems which Kosovo faces.  GAF consists of painting and photography contests, film screenings, outdoor activities and it encourages creative youngsters to use their art as an advocacy form for a sustainable environment. The aim of Green Art Fest is to advocate and impact change for the better in the community by utilizing art as a method. The festival annually hosts over 25 painters who create and showcase their painting artwork during the event, exhibits creative photographs submitted from all around Kosovo and screens short films produced locally. 

The theme in which young artists from three fields of art will express

themselves is different with each edition: Air Pollution (Life among powerplants) in 2017, Hello Tomorrow (empowering changemaker initiatives) in 2018 and Plastikophobia in 2019. 

Each year, the festival produces hundreds of pieces of art (paintings, photos, and films)

advocating for different energy sustainability solution which are available to the public during three days of the festival in the venue in Obiliq and are later exhibited and shared online in theform of art campaigns.

With world population over 7 billion and growing, the amount of freshwater remains 2.5 percent and people around the world survive with less than 7 liters of clean water per day. Can you imagine that?

We did. That is why we discussed and designed simple tips of how each of us can contribute to reducing the unnecessary waste of water as we go on with our daily life. Stay tuned in our page in the upcoming days and keep an eye for stickers around the city with good practices that are meant to encourage responsible use of water.

This is an American Corner Pristina project that comes in cooperation with Keep It Green NGO.