Svetski dan reka: Plavo srce Kraljeva – Reke spajaju ljude, ljudi se udružuju za reke!

*English below

​Inicijativa Pravo na vodu, organizacija za političku ekologiju Polekol sa prijateljima iz grupe Sačuvajmo planinske reke Kraljeva organizovali su dvodnevni događaj 26. i 27. septembra povodom Svetskog dana reka u Kraljevu u okviru kampanje Spasimo plavo srce Evrope.

Tokom prvog dana, na pitomoj obali reke Ibar pred stotinak posetilaca, prikazan je film Plavo srce, održana diskusija na temu problema gradnje i planiranja mini hidroelektrana, posebno u području Kraljeva. Prvo veče je završeno uz mnogobrojnu publiku nastupom niške muzičke atrakcije, grupe Stereo banana poznatoj po podršci borbi za životnu sredinu.​ ​

Na teritoriji Kraljeva, na planinama Goč i Golija, nalaze se reke i potoci izuzetne lepote i važnosti za očuvanje biodiverziteta Srbije i cele Evrope. Nažalost, na istim vodotokovima planirana je gradnja čak 52 male hidroelektrane od kojih je 10 već uspelo da se izgradi i naruši ekosistem reka i okoline. Specifičnost ovih reka je da nisu u gusto naseljenim mestima te da nema dovoljno stanovništva koje bi moglo na vreme alarmirati ili čak fizički sprečiti izgradnju MHE.

Učesnice tribine, Bojana Minović iz inicijative Sačuvajmo planinske reke Kraljeva, Ljubica Vukčević iz Regulatornog instituta za obnovljivu energiju i životnu sredinu RERI i Nataša Milivojević iz Ekološkog pokreta Rzav i Svetske organizacije za zaštitu prirode diskutovale su o uticaju MHE na prirodne resurse, položaj lokalnih zajednica i pozvale kako na pravnu tako i na direktnu akciju.

Milivojević je istakla da prema istraživanju koje je sproveo WWF Adria, ne postoji ni ekonomska niti socijalna opravdanost izgradnje i subvencionisanja MHE, da su propuštena mnoga preventivna hidro biološka istraživanja, te da nije uzet u obzir javni interes. Advokatica Ljubica Vukčević pozvala je sve aktiviste da prate i što ranije prijavljuju kršenje pravnih procedura za izdavanje dozvola, jer je u slučaju MHE daleko bolje pravno sprečiti nego lečiti. Minović je dala sliku stanja ugroženih reka Kraljevačkog kraja i obećala da se „neće mrdnuti iz Kraljeva“ sve dok reke nisu slobodne. Sve govornice su se složile da su za odbranu reka, dok čekamo adekvatan odgovor države koji bi bio u interesu javnosti, ključni aktivni građani koji će pratiti kakvi se projekti planiraju u njihovim lokalnim sredinama i udružiti se u cilju zaštite životne sredine i očuvanja prirodnih resursa koji pripadaju svima nama.

Drugog dana održan je inicijalni sastanak i osnovana mreža „Žene za reke“. Mreža je okupila aktivistkinje iz raznih krajeva Srbije. Pozvane su žene iz Pirotskog okruga, Arilja, Kraljeva, Beograda, Novog Sada, Šapca, Užica, Niša i razgovarale su o tome na koji način bi mreža solidarnosti i razmene znanja mogla da doprinese položaju žena u ekološkoj borbi.

Dvodnevni događaj završen je sastankom aktivista i aktivistkinja i prezentacijom istraživača PolEkol-a Saše Petrovića „Uvod u pravednu energetsku tranziciju“ sa osvrtom na primenu koncepta u Evropskoj Uniji i korisnim mehanizmima za Srbiju. Usledila je diskusija sa učesnicima na kojoj su postavljena važna pitanja iz ove oblasti, kao što su: kako pristupiti savezništvima i sa kim u eri devastiranih sindikata, kako odbraniti obnovljive izvore energije od negativnog imidža koji su im nanele MHE, da li nam je potrebna drugačija vrsta političkih organizacija koje bi zaista zastupale sveobuhvatnu socio-ekološku transformaciju.

World Rivers Day: Blue Heart of Kraljevo –
​Rivers connect people, people unite for the rivers!

The initiative Right To Water, the organization for political ecology PolEkol, together with friends from Save the Mountain Rivers of Kraljevo organized a two-day event on 26th and 27th of September, celebrating World Rivers Day in Kraljevo, as a part of the Save the Blue Heart of Europe campaign.

During the first day, at the beach bank of the river Ibar the documentary film Blue Heart was shown, following the discussion on the problems of construction and planning of small hydro power plants, especially in the area of ​​Kraljevo. About a hundred people went to a few hundreds as the first evening ended with the live music performance starring Stereo Banana group from Niš, famous for supporting environmental struggles and the anti-dam movement.

On the territory of Kraljevo, on the mountains of Goč and Golija, there are rivers and streams of exceptional beauty and importance for the preservation of the biodiversity of Serbia and the entire of Europe. Unfortunately, the construction of as many as 52 small hydro power plants is planned on these watercourses, 10 of which have already managed to be built and disrupt the ecosystem of rivers and the surrounding area. The specificity of these rivers is that they are not in densely populated places, therefore there are not enough people that could alert on time about building activities, and even less likely to physically prevent the construction of SHPPs.

Participants in the discussion, Bojana Minović from the initiative Save the Mountain Rivers of Kraljevo, Ljubica Vukčević from the Regulatory Institute for Renewable Energy and Environment (RERI) and Natasa Milivojević from the Environmental Movement Rzav and the World Wildlife Fund Adria (WWF) discussed the impact of SHPP on natural resources, local communities and encouraged for both legal and direct action. Milivojevic pointed out that according to the research conducted by WWF Adria, there is no economic or social justification for the construction and subsidizing of SHPPs, that many preventive hydro-biological researches have been missed, and that the public interest has not been taken into account. Lawyer Ljubica Vukčević invited all activists to monitor and report violations of legal procedures for issuing permits as soon as possible, because in the case of SHPPs, it is far better to legally prevent than to treat consequences. Minović painted a picture of the condition of the endangered rivers of the Kraljevo region and promised that “they will not go from Kraljevo” until the rivers are all free. All speakers agreed that a crucial point for the defense of rivers, while waiting for an adequate response from the state that would be in the public interest, are active citizens who will monitor what projects are planned in their local communities and are united to protect the environment and conserve natural resources. that belong to all of us.

On the second day, an initial meeting for the “Women for Rivers” network was organized. The meeting gathered activists from various parts of Serbia. Women from the Pirot district, Arilje, Kraljevo, Belgrade, Novi Sad, Sabac, Uzice, Nis participated and discussed how a network of solidarity and knowledge exchange could contribute to the position of women in the environmental struggle.
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The two-day event ended with a meeting with activists and a presentation by PolEcol researcher Saša Petrović “Introduction to a Just Energy Transition” with a review of the application of the concept in the European Union and useful mechanisms for Serbia. This was followed by a discussion with participants in which important questions were asked from this area, such as: how to join alliances and with whom in the era of devastated workers unions, how to defend renewable energy sources from the negative image caused by SHPP, whether we need a different the kind of political organizations that could truly advocate for a comprehensive socio-environmental transformation.