11 YEARS IN SUPPORT OF GREEN IDEAS THROUGH THE "BALKAN GREEN IDEAS" PROGRAM

11 YEARS IN SUPPORT OF GREEN IDEAS THROUGH THE "BALKAN GREEN IDEAS" PROGRAM

Thessaloniki - On September 20 - 23, Balkan Green Foundation (BGF) organized the annual regional competition "Balkan Green Ideas". This year's competition presented the eleventh (11) edition, conveying the same goal, supporting the development of small local and sustainable green ideas in the Western Balkans and Greece.

In this edition, 20 green ideas were presented to the independent jury consisting of Synthia Dodig, Andras Krolopp, Yvonne Reif and Andreas von Schoenberg. Based on the presentations and documentation provided by the teams before the competition, as in previous editions, the teams competed in one of the two categories of Balkan Green Ideas. In the "Green Concept Ideas Lot" category, the finalists competed for the prize of $5,000. While in the "Green Advanced Ideas Lot" category, the competition was held for the price of $10,000.

The winners of the 11th jubilee edition of the Balkan Green Ideas regional competition, in the Green Concept Ideas Lot category (prize of $5,000) are:

Organic Recycling Yard (Montenegro); and

Eco Solution Research (Kosovo)

The winners of the 11th jubilee edition of the Balkan Green Ideas regional competition, in the Green Advanced Ideas Lot category (prize of $10,000) are:

Insect Pilot Room (North Macedonia)

Organella - The Garden Can Do Anything (Serbia); AND

Sporos – Regeneration Institute (Greece)

As a program, Balkan Green Ideas explores the role of philanthropy in engaging local communities to create entrepreneurial ideas that use local resources and revitalize traditional disappearing production chains and community-based markets.

Balkan Green Ideas is a project of the Balkan Green Foundation, organized annually and supported institutionally by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund Western Balkans Program, and this year's edition has been co-supported by Erasmus+. Balkan Green Ideas is organized closely in cooperation with our amazing partners: Partners Albania for Change and Development from Albania, Mozaik Foundation from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Green Ideas Greece (A partnership between HumanRights360 and HIGGS) from Greece, LENS from Kosovo, Fund for Active Citizenship - fAKT from Montenegro, ARNO from North Macedonia and Trag Foundation from Serbia.