BGF organized the second workshop within Smarter Stoves partnership

On Tuesday, November 23rd, Balkan Green Foundation has organized the second national workshop within the Smarter Stoves regional partnership which aims to establish a public dialogue on the use of old and inefficient heating equipment in the Western Balkans region, and the impact that this phenomenon has on the environment by creating air pollution.

Present at the meeting were representatives of public institutions of Kosovo and of international organizations located in Kosovo, representatives of the civil sector, and of international economic chambers working in Kosovo.

The meeting started with a presentation from Stevan Vujasinovic, Executive Director of RES Foundation about the framework of the project, the way how the project is being implemented in the region. He also presented data arising from some of their internal research about the energy usage of households in different countries of the Western Balkans and the comparison of those data.

Edmond Çera from IDRA Consulting presented data from their research on public perception of usage stoves for heating and cooking during winter, and how the public perceives the idea of investing in eco-friendly devices that can be used for heating and cooking. The discussion continued with participants who expressed that it's crucial to act now on raising awareness about the air pollution caused by the usage of old stoves and public institutions support of households investment in devices that are eco-friendly and help on reducing energy consumption, especially during the winter season.

The conclusions from the workshop are that the public institutions need to act on raising awareness and also creating programs that stimulate investment in eco-friendly devices that would incentivize citizens to purchase those devices for heating on their homes.