On April 3, RES Foundation, in cooperation with the Regional Development Agency Zlatibor, held the last lecture for women from rural areas on the topics of energy efficiency in households, energy poverty, energy communities and the use of solar energy.
The lecture in Brodarevo (municipality of Prijepolje) followed similar lectures held in Priboj, Čajetina and Arilje, thus completing the activity aimed at this target group. This time we spoke with members of the association “Expanzija” and other connected associations of women from Prijepolje. After four visits to the region and conversations we conducted with over 100 women who live and work in rural areas, we concluded that the rural population is in an unequal position compared to the inhabitants of urban areas due to many reasons (physical distance, lack of information, instability in the supply of electricity, poorer infrastructure important for daily life, weak traffic connections, etc.). We also witnessed the extraordinary energy of women, already united around different aspects of their lives (economic empowerment, health care, preservation of folk traditions and folklore, etc.), but also enviable knowledge and understanding of energy issues. Therefore, it is not difficult to imagine the formation of the first future energy communities in western Serbia precisely around women’s associations and initiatives.
In Brodarevo, it was heard that the houses there “have a soul” and that energy efficiency is not necessary for them, but for efficiency, one should still turn to public calls for subsidies, which the municipality of Prijepolje very successfully announces and implements every year.
The lectures were organized as part of the project “Improving the use of sustainable energy in the Zlatibor region”, which is financed by the German Organization for International Cooperation (GIZ) by order of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development – BMZ), and which is implemented by the Regional Development Agency Zlatibor and RES Foundation.
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