The “Štampar Makarije” Primary School in Podgorica is finalizing the “Outdoor Green Classroom – Eco Gumno” project, whose implementation was made possible by the Montenegrin Electricity Distribution System as part of the “Energy Underlined in Green” competition. As the third-place project in the competition, the school “Štampar Makarije” was given a financial grant that provided the impetus to improve part of the school grounds that had not been used adequately.
– Thanks to CEDIS, our Eco Gumno is in the final stage of implementation, to the delight of the pupils and staff. We have all contributed, through both ideas and work, which makes us even more pleased, as this is a joint project involving all of us. The school community and the Parents’ Council recognized the problem of the neglected school grounds, as well as their great potential, a long time ago. This gave rise to the idea of further improving the grounds by building and equipping an outdoor classroom to be called Eco Gumno. The classroom is designed as a space in the shape of a traditional Montenegrin threshing floor, with a concrete base for seating in the central area and wooden seats installed on it. A concrete table will be placed in the centre to be used for demonstrations during outdoor lessons. The space will be arranged to accommodate up to 30 participants at a time for teaching, said Rajna Tomović Ivanović, biology teacher and Eco-Schools project coordinator at “Štampar Makarije” Primary School.
Tomović adds that building an outdoor classroom will also partly address the lack of space at the school, which is overcrowded, for extracurricular activities and clubs, while also encouraging children to spend more time outdoors.
In addition to building the threshing floor itself, Tomović adds that the project also includes plans to purchase and plant new woody plants to further enhance the space and provide pleasant shade during outdoor lessons. The planting activity will be organized as part of an environmental workshop marking Earth Day on 21 April.
By way of reminder, the Montenegrin Electricity Distribution System, in cooperation with the Institute for Education of Montenegro, which implements the International “Eco-Schools” Programme, announced a competition on 20 September for an environmental protection project entitled “Energy Underlined in Green”. Educational institutions implementing the International “Eco-Schools” Programme, i.e. those holding the international “Green Flag” award, as well as institutions that had applied to pilot the programme, were eligible to participate.
In the year marking the 30th anniversary of the Declaration proclaiming Montenegro an ecological state, CEDIS aims to support this commitment through the “Energy Underlined in Green” project. As a responsible company, CEDIS seeks to incorporate its environmental protection strategy—one of today’s greatest challenges—into its business planning process, so that managing environmental impacts is an integral part of the Company’s operations.
The “Energy Underlined in Green” project aims to raise awareness among pupils, teachers and the community about the importance of the environment. By implementing projects, educational institutions enable pupils to take part in solving problems and contribute to improving the environment at a level where tangible results can be seen.
The partners in the “Energy Underlined in Green” Project are the Association for Environmental Consulting in Montenegro (ECOM) and the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), which implement the “Eco-Schools” Programme in Montenegro together with the Institute for Education.
