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EACEA National Policies Platform
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

9. Youth and the World

9.4 Raising awareness about global issues

Last update: 23 February 2024

Handbook for primary and secondary schools in BiH - Eco-education, which was created as part of the project "Think about nature!"

It was created for primary and secondary schools with the aim of providing support in the work of all teachers who deal with environmental protection issues or want to include environmental topics in their work. On the other hand, its practical application aims to encourage students' thinking about environmental problems and their concrete action in school and in the local community. Approaches to solving certain environmental problems are presented in an innovative and practical way.

The manual was created in ten modules, five for each type of school, with topics that are very important in the process of developing environmental awareness among children. The modules are defined in the form of preparation for the teaching unit, which in addition to basic instructions such as children's age, topic, goals and tasks of the teaching unit, methods and forms of work, learning outcomes and correlation with other subjects also contains a part created in the form of workshops that describe the implementation of a teaching unit with a time limit, which should facilitate the teaching staff's access to children when it comes to solving certain environmental problems. The author of the manual and the author of the illustrations in the manual enriched the content of the manual with original stories and illustrations that make this manual a particularly interesting text.

The goal of the manual is to encourage curiosity, the desire to learn and discover the world around us, and interest in natural and social phenomena and relationships. Its ultimate goal is to solve environmental problems through the development of critical and constructive thinking and students' responsibility towards themselves, the natural and social environment. The purpose of this manual is to enable students to acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes for a better understanding of the world around them, and to satisfy the individual interests and needs of students that go beyond the framework of regular classes. It is expected that the implementation of the proposed modules will contribute to raising students' awareness of environmental problems and readiness for responsible behavior towards it, as well as environmentally conscious behavior that should continue even after the time spent at school.

The European Mobility Week, the leading initiative of the European Union to raise awareness of sustainable urban mobility, takes place every year from 16 to 22 September with the increasing participation of cities, organizations and initiatives across Europe and the world. This European initiative promotes behavioral changes in favor of active mobility, public transport and other clean, intelligent transport solutions.

This year's theme of the European Mobility Week is "Save energy" with the slogan "Mix and move!" Why this theme, exactly? Because energy and mobility poverty are rising due to higher costs for residents and businesses across Europe. Meanwhile, operating public transport continues to be a high expense for city budgets. Reducing this expense through energy efficient transport will support affordable and sustainable transport infrastructures. Together with numerous local partners and organizations and the local administrations of eight cities in BiH, the Info Center of the European Union in BiH organizes a series of educational and recreational activities for all generations in order to highlight the importance and numerous advantages of (saving) energy. 

EU Info Centers in BiH, through activities for all citizens and a media campaign, contribute to raising awareness of the importance of caring for the environment, both among young people and among the entire population. The European Union invests constant efforts in supporting the harmonization of BiH regulations and laws in accordance with the legal acquis and best European practices in the fields of environment and energy. Support through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) as well as other programs and initiatives of the European Union supports the building of the capacity of administrations at all levels, the harmonization and development of new legal frameworks, and the strengthening of citizens' awareness of the importance of environmental protection.

The CIVITAS program in BiH is part of a global network of civic education centers administered by the Center for Civic Education in Calabasas, California. The CIVITAS school programs are the only common content of all curricula and programs in BiH, which include almost the entire school population of primary and secondary education students. All students use unique textbooks (Basics of Democracy, Democracy and Human Rights, and Citizen Project) that have editions in all three official languages.