Environment campaign in Serbia

An OSCE-sponsored media campaign in Serbia aims to raise public awareness of key environmental problems and ways of solving them, as part of a wider debate on the protection of the environment.

"What air do we breathe?"

A colour advertisement showing a child suffering from asthma asks: "What air do we breathe?"
A postcard is entitled "Greetings from Serbia" with a photo of an unofficial waste dump on the streets of Belgrade.

These are just some of the elements of a media campaign launched by the OSCE in Serbia in December 2001 with the aim of making the public aware of the need to address environmental problems.

The campaign, under the theme "Pollution demands a solution", focuses on the various ways pollution can manifest itself and how it affects our lives everyday.

Simple message, serious issue

The messages are direct and simple. "What do we drink?", "What do we eat?" are the questions people see in newspapers throughout Serbia. The campaign also uses billboard advertisements, TV spots, radio jingles and postcards in order to reach the widest possible audience.

Rather than cause panic, the messages contain a a certain degree of humour and irony. The postcard with the waste dump reads "a monument to an unknown hero". The advertisements inform the public about how the introduction of new technologies, legislation and control standards can contribute to reducing pollution.

The campaign also aims to make people aware of simple ways they can contribute themselves to a better environment: using water rationally, not dumping garbage into rivers.

Part of a larger effort
The campaign is the first step in an effort to start a public debate on the draft environmental law, prepared by the Serbian Directorate for Environmental Protection with the support of the OSCE Mission to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and other international bodies.

The ultimate aim of the project is the adoption of the law and the establishment of an environment ministry.

In January 2002, the draft law will be submitted to all 160 municipalities in Serbia. A digest of the law will also be included in daily newspapers throughout the country, in order to encourage the people of Serbia to participate in the discussion.

"The OSCE Mission attaches great importance to the issue of a clean and safe environment for everybody and, at the same time, to involving the people of this country in our work as much as possible," said Ambassador Stefano Sannino, Head of the OSCE Mission to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

"That is why we encourage everyone to look out for the digest of the draft law in newspapers and to use the opportunity to give their comments to legal experts," he added.

Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Norway have contributed to the financing of the media campaign.