The Embassy of France in Serbia and its partners: Institut Veolia, Saint-Gobain, Veolia, Decathlon, Wiener Stadtische, HUOT, Fonroche lightning – BBA International, NALED, SKGO and the Delegation of the European Union, jointly awarded prizes to the winners of the “Economy” competition on Thursday 19 September 2024 at the French Embassy in Belgrade.
The “Economics” competition is designed as a platform for the exchange of knowledge and examples of good practice between French and Serbian actors involved in the programs of sustainable development of cities and municipalities in the following four areas: sustainable waste management, sustainable water management, sustainable urban mobility, energy efficiency of buildings. A special subcategory of the competition is “Green Schools”, which is intended for primary and secondary schools in Serbia.
All information about this competition is available on the website www.ekoopstina.rs
Competition takes place through the following stages:
Organizing thematic seminars from the mentioned fields in the period April-June, with the presence of French experts from the mentioned fields who come from all over France, and presenting the solutions that exist at the level of local self-governments. The invitation to attend the seminars is sent to all cities and municipalities in Serbia, a total of 156 local self-government units (LGUs).
After the seminar, cities and municipalities download questionnaires from the website www.ekoopstina.rs in the four mentioned thematic areas and fill in the data related to their LGU. The completed questionnaires are sent to the embassy, and the embassy forwards them to expert juries made up of experts and university professors, as well as representatives of the civil sector. The achieved level of development in the application of modern methods of managing sustainable cities is evaluated, as well as the potential for the realization of future planned activities and applicability in other LGUs in Serbia. One municipality and one city are awarded in each category. The award consists of a study trip for two representatives of each local government (two representatives of the municipality and two representatives of the city) who travel on a study visit to cities in France whose experts were lecturers at thematic seminars. Study visits take place from November of the current year to March of the following year.
As for the schools, they send presentations on the topic of activities in the field of environmental protection and two schools are awarded – one where the French language is taught and the other where it is not. The prize is sports equipment donated by Decathlon – a partner in the project, which equips the sports halls in both winning schools, intended for all students.
Ambassador of France, Pjer Košar in his introductory speech, he recalled the role of “Economy” as the foundation of French-Serbian cooperation in the field of sustainable development. In the past three years, the competition has enabled more than 800 civil servants from Serbia to exchange experiences with French experts, both at seminars and during study visits for laureates. He also highlighted the enthusiasm of students from different schools in Serbia who participated in the competition in the “Green School” category. The ambassador congratulated the awarded municipalities, cities and schools, and expressed his gratitude to the jury members and partners, who are key to the success of this initiative.
Head of the European Union delegation in Serbia, Ambassador Emanuele Giofre reaffirmed the joint commitment to strengthening cooperation between local governments, schools, the scientific community and institutions in order to build a sustainable future. The renewed partnership between the initiatives “Green Agenda for Serbia” and “Ekoopština” testifies to this intention, while it fully fits into the framework of the Green Deal for Europe and the ambitious “Growth Plan” for the Western Balkans, which aims to support the region in implementing environmental and economic reforms.
Sandra Dokić, State Secretary of the Ministry of Environmental Protection Republic of Serbia, emphasized the importance of this project due to the fact that environmental protection takes place and is implemented in local self-governments and that during their study visit to France, the award winners will be able to see how waste and water are managed there and apply it in their local self-government. As she added, the Ministry of Environmental Protection has prepared four laws that will soon be on the agenda of one of the next regular parliamentary sessions.
“We are proud that, for the third year in a row, we are part of the “Economics” project, because we want to build a healthier and more sustainable environment for generations to come. Saint-Gobain is committed to protecting the planet, not only through innovative solutions in construction, but also through projects like this one, in which we support the development of local governments and educate young generations about ecology, recycling and sustainability. I hope that many cities and municipalities will follow the example of this year’s winners, and we as a company will continue to contribute to improving the quality of life through similar initiatives, said Vladan Ilić, general director of Saint-Gobain for Serbia.
Contest results:
Elementary schools
“Green Schools – Francophonie” category
- Gymnasium from Zaječar, project “For Chile “, represented by director Srđan Stanojević
“Green Schools” category
- Primary School “Maršal Tito”, Padina (Kovačica), project “Alternative energy sources – biogas energy“, presented by director Ljudmila Toman
Cities and municipalities
category “Sustainable waste management”
- (municipality) : OSHINEwhich it represents Mayor Nikola Tomić
- (grad) : NOVI SAD, who they represent Andrijana Čapko, deputy director of the city administration for environmental protection i Vanja Petković, member of the City Council for Environmental Protection
“Energy efficiency” category
- (municipality): CLASHES, which they represent Mayor Miodrag Nikolić i Marija Žikić, member of the City Council for Local Economic Development
- (grad): NEW USAwho they represent Andrijana Čapko, deputy director of the city administration for environmental protection i Vanja Petković, member of the City Council for Environmental Protection
“Sustainable urban mobility” category
- (municipality): FAIRY GARDEN, which they represent Dragana Ivanović, Head of the Department for Inspection Affairs and Communal Activities and Dragan Dimitrijević, Member of the Working Group for the Development of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan
- (grad): BELGRADEwho they represent Bojan Bovan, Secretary in the Secretariat for Transport, Svetlana Stevanović, Head of the Traffic Planning Department, i Ognjen Petar Todorović, Head of the Department for the Improvement of Urban Mobility
category “Sustainable water management”
- (municipality) : MAJDANPEKwhich it represents Mayor Dragan Popović
- (grad) : LESKOVACwhom he represents Mayor Goran Cvetanović
E2 portal
Source: www.e2.rs
