Educating the youngest members of Montenegrin society about sustainable use of water

From October to December 2015, as part of the project “SWAM – Sustainable WAter use in Black Sea Basin in Montenegro”, NGO “North Land” from Berane organised 16 lectures for students from Primary Schools in Gusinje, Andrijevica, Berane and Rožaja, as well as 2 lectures for children from Kindergarten “Radmila Nedić’’ in Berane, in order to raise their awareness on the importance of water conservation.
 
The urgent need for a water conservation campaign in Montenegro aimed at citizens of all ages is best illustrated by the facts that in this country up to 30% of fresh water supplies are lost due to leakage in water systems in rural and urban areas, while in some major cities, losses can run as high as 40% to 70%; and about 90% of sewage and 70% of industrial waste is discharged into water/rivers without any treatment, often polluting the usable water supply.

Considering that almost 500 Primary School and Kindergarten-age children participated in these lectures, the project will hopefully contribute to a more responsible and sustainable management of water resources in this region and in whole of Montenegro in the future.

A brochure containing practical tips on rational water usage was also produced and distributed during implementation of all project activities and will serve as a resource for future education activities.   

Funds for the implementation of the SWAM project were provided by the ETNAR project through its sub-granting scheme, which is itself funded by the European Union.

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to water conservation in the Montenegrin part of the Black Sea Basin, through implementation of various educational activities in the municipalities of Berane, Andrijevica, Rožaje and Gusinje in north-eastern Montenegro.