On 16 September Young European Ambassadors (YEAs) joined the European Union Office in Kosovo and GIZ Kosovo who organised the Badovc/ Badovac Lake clean-up as part of this year’s EU Beach Clean-up Day. Other official partners of the clean-up were PAMKOS (the Association for Environmental Protection and Clean-up of Kosovo) and the Pastrimi Regional Waste Company. A total of more than 200 bags of litter were collected as part of the initiative. Given the high significance Badovac Lake has for the citizens of Pristina as their main drinking water supply, it was considered important to send a message about how to keep the lake litter-free while spending leisure time there.

The activities of the EU Beach Clean-Up Day continued afterwards at Europe House Kosovo, where around 30 Young European Ambassadors from the Western Balkans had a vibrant debate on environmental issues in the Western Balkans with EU environment specialists and Mrika Nikqi, a young environmentalist and influencer from Kosovo. Young European Ambassadors from all over the Western Balkans shared their personal ideas on small yet significant steps that can be taken to make a positive difference and support a clean environment. Examples included  cleaning and reducing waste in our communities, producing short awareness videos about environmental protection, and promoting alternative means of transportation.

The EU Beach Clean-Up campaign is a global initiative to protect the ocean, co-organised by the EU and the UN, together with the Smurfs. The event takes place every September around World Coastal Clean-Up Day, and is important for awareness-raising around environmental issues. In 2022, the fifth edition of the EU Beach Clean-Up campaign targets youth under the European Year of Youth umbrella. Within the overarching theme, “United against marine litter”, the next generation are working hand-in-hand with international organisations, national leaders, and NGOs to combat this problem.