Journalist and activist Nusreta Brunčević lives in Novi Pazar, a city with countless environmental problems. During the heating season in this city, pollution levels reach toxic air levels. In addition, the river Raška, as well as Jošanica, which flow through Novi Pazar, are polluted with garbage from households, industrial waste, sewage…

The trigger for gathering and starting a rebellion in this city, where civil protests have not happened for twenty years, was the pouring of fuel oil into the river bed, all by investors who do not really care about the quality of water on our planet.

“Citizens of Novi Pazar have been witnessing all these activities for years, decades. We didn’t gather until we saw oil in the river. It’s been a long time since the last civic gathering, and I’m sure we can do something. We got everything we asked for so far from the city there were answers and partial answers. In the sea of ​​that information we found a lot of irregularities, violations of the law and destruction of the environment. These are our advantages, because in these irregularities we see opportunities to exert pressure.

Nusreta explains to us that above all, a healthy environment in which we live is the basis for thinking about the future. She tells us that, in order to get that environment, we must work on all the things that will enable such an environment.

“You also saw when you came to Novi Pazar, what catches your eye is what the rivers are like, how much greenery there is, whether it is clean. What motivated me personally to start the fight for healthy rivers and a clean Novi Pazar is that I love this city. you know that when you love someone you want to work for what you love to be the best. We fight FOR and not against anyone or anything”

The idea that Nusreta talked about with us was the story of creating a registry of polluters in the city, so that activists would have such a database and focus attention and pressure on those who have a bad impact on the environment and therefore everything around them. He tells us that for everything it is necessary to plan in order and go towards the goal step by step.

“I am aware that such a register does not solve the problems, but it is only one step in order to have collectors in the final process. In order to reach the goal, we must take small steps, in order, and I believe that the formation of this register is the zero step, which will only lead to changes in our city. All of this is the way to achieving our goals, an intermediate step.”

Nusreta, as an advantage of the association of activists, actually leads to a more stable and therefore stronger structure, precisely because of the existence of several different perspectives, considering that all activists deal with different professional matters.

“I am a journalist by profession, my colleague Admir is an architect, Tarik, Aladdin, Ivana, we all deal with different things. None of us is closely related to ecology, but how do you start any projects like this for collectors that could save the rivers, we are for it, and we support it. We don’t have the mechanisms to write a project for the construction of collectors and thus suppress pollution, but we will press for everything to come true soon.

Nusreta ended the conversation with us with the message that the environment in which we live is the basis of our healthy life, as well as that this environment must not be destroyed, but should be gradually approached and lived in harmony with it.