Water is a basic condition for the life of people, plants and animals, and an indispensable source for the economy, so the preservation of water resources is an important topic that concerns us all. Between March 8 and 10, 2017, a five-member team of members of the Laz Rural Development Association took part in the introductory meeting of the project entitled H2O – Networking of cities and involvement of citizens in the protection of water resources in Europe.
The project takes place within the framework of the Europe for Citizens program, which is co-financed by the EU, to promote a greater role of citizens in the development of the Union. Since water knows no borders, the handling of water resources in one country affects water resources in neighboring countries, so cooperation between European countries is important. In addition to the LAZ association, the applicant of the project, the municipality of Ruma (Serbia), invited the Municipality of Rezlo (Bulgaria), the city quarter Prague 9 (Czech Republic), the Municipality of Našice (Croatia) and the social enterprise Human Innovation Group Nonprofit to participate. (Hungary).
During the two-year duration of the project, each participating organization, in its place of operation, will organize a meeting of all partners where, among other things, good practices of preserving water resources, measures to ensure drinking water and the presentation of the transfer of European water directives to the local level will be presented, among other things. In the municipality of Rumi, they presented a good practice of how to use water resources in tourism, such an example is the archaeological site Gomolava, which is located next to the main watercourse of Ruma, the Sava River, and how to deal with an environmentally protected water area, on the example of a bar cod. The municipal department for water supply and the department for quality checks and drinking water standards were also presented.
In this way, the exchange of good practices, knowledge and the possibility of cooperation between project partners takes place, and in addition, participation in European projects enables greater recognition of our place, the municipality and the country, which is why such and similar projects are more than welcome. The arrival of project partners to Slovenia will take place in June 2018. In 2015, the LAZ Association was also the organizer of the Europe for Citizens project entitled Democratic responsibility and civic participation in Europe, where 14 European countries participated.