Let’s raise awareness about environment

Marija Ristova from Kavadarci is studying in a high school, but her aim is to make her voice and actions about raising awareness to be heard. She is making a project about caring for the environment in her native town, hoping that can change things for better.

Marija was selected for the project “European Youth at the frontlines of active citizenship: A Roadmap towards a collective South-North-East-West Momentum” organized by Volunteers Centre Skopje and supported by European Commission due to Erasmus+ European Youth Together programme.

Why did you choose this particular topic for your project?
– Since I was a little girl I always cared for the environment and when I looked through the five topics that were given to us, obviously the “Environment and Sustainability” caught my attention.

What are your expectations for this project?
– When I start the project I want as many people to come and participate in it and take action together. But when I finish this project I expect people to be touched and take action as we did.

There are different ways that you could prepare your project, why did you choose this one?
– Because I plan to do this with many people, not just by myself, so as to attract attention and raise awareness. The more people taking part, the faster we get recognized.

With everything going on around us right now, do you think there will be some difficulties in your way?
– I hope not, but as the situation is with the virus I think my project will be prolonged because we won’t be able to gather in groups. Also there is a probability that some of the trees won’t grow, because I will be doing this later than I expected.

Do you have something to say to the people that want to change something but are not too confident?
– They should believe in themselves and they can join an organization or participate in a project that will help them to make their dream a reality, just as I did.

Marija Ristova