Inspired to stimulate grass-root innovative approaches to addressing the waste management issue, the UNDP Accelerator Lab in Bosnia and Herzegovina announced an Innovation Challenge for clean neighbourhoods to make  communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina cleaner and reduce waste.

UNDP evaluated the ideas received through the challenge and selected the ones that not only only introduce recycling, cleaning and composting within communities, but also raise awareness on waste reduction, alter local lifestyles and mindsets regarding how we create, consume and dispose of waste.

The initiatives selected for implementation in the next six months are the following:

1. MZ Kruševo Brdo, Kotor Varoš – The Vrbanja river does not need our garbage

Increasingly frequent floods and high waters are bringing large amounts of wood waste to cities. In addition to polluting the banks of rivers, this waste also causes great damage to bridges and roads downstream. The local community of Kruševo Brdo will implement a project for cleaning wood biowaste from the upper course of the river Vrbanja and the tributary of Kruševica. Cleaning of this waste will reduce the accumulation of waste in the lower course of the river, on bathing areas and near bridges and will create a precondition for the development of tourism, and the preservation of natural and cultural values ​​of this area.

2. Gradiška Development Agency - Play green

The Gradiška Development Agency will offer citizens an innovative mobile application for disposing of PET packaging. Partnership with representatives of the public and civil sector, as well as the initiation of corporate volunteering and the introduction of gamification will make it easier for various target groups to adopt acceptable patterns of behavior on environmental protection.

3. NGO fea, Sarajevo - Green Pioneer Valley

This project of the Initiative for Forestry and Environment - fea focuses on the Sarajevo neighbourhood of Pionirska dolina, where a composting site will be built and an auction of used objects will be organized, as well as thematic events and trainings for the neighborhood.

4. NGO AREA, Banja Luka - Zeleni Lauš

a citizen group of the Laus neighborhood in Banja Luka  will contribute to the improvement of waste management system and changes in the behavior of this local community through separate collection of electronic waste, composting of bio-waste and workshops for reuse of discarded materials.

5. NGO 3P, Zenica - Our waste, our obligation

The project aims to develop awareness of responsible waste management through promotion, education and concrete practical workshops and eco-actions in five local communities in Zenica, and the development of an innovative web platform for mapping illegal landfills in the city of Zenica.

We hope that these initiatives can be a powerful source of inspiration for future system efforts towards zero-waste society, as well as contribute to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals through localised actions. These solutions will also inform the UNDP Accelerator Lab’s future experimentation in this field.

If you want to join us in a platform for zero-waste communities, contact us here: acclab.ba@undp.onmicrosoft.com