UDEG Maps the Field

The KRIOT project, Krivaja is our treasure, started where the problem is easiest to see: on the bank. In March 2026 a team of six set out from Trokut towards Maoča. Plastic, aluminium and other materials are separated right away, for proper recycling and disposal.

Before that, drones had filmed the sites where waste was found, so every team knew where it was heading. By 25 April, in 35 working days, 55 kilometres of river were cleaned and 600 bags of waste collected.

The aim is more than a clean bank. It is to show that river waste can be solved with little money and good organisation. As our own post says, the project includes no funds from any BiH budget.

Advocacy starts with data. Across 16 local communities of Zavidovići, UDEG used GIS to map illegal dumps. Sites along the M-17.1 main road, the Krivaja and roads R-466 and R-467 were photographed, georeferenced and entered into a register.

In March 2026 drones filmed the places where waste was found. The footage showed the scale of the problem and helped decide what to clean first. We invite residents to report sites we missed.

The map now lists 78 sites, 43 of them remediated. On that basis we call for waste to be managed properly, so that it stops being created.

A cleanup solves one day, and the children who grow up by the river decide everything after. That is why UDEG works with schools: Litter No More ran educational workshops in schools, and every school and kindergarten in town took part in Zavidovići bez smeća.

In March 2026 UDEG met four schools in BiH interested in the River Saver School Network, a European network from more than 20 countries where young people learn to protect rivers through hands-on work. Dr. Safet Kubat, BiH's representative in the network, made the link.

A public civic activism campaign gathered 18 messages for the riverbanks, among them "Be the voice of the Krivaja, she cannot shout!" The ones with the most likes go on information boards. An outdoor summer classroom is also planned.

KRIOT has been a shared effort from the start: a consortium of UDEG and the Municipality of Olovo, with the Rivers of BiH movement "Budi promjena" and more than 50 stakeholders from the Krivaja basin. Teams work in three municipalities: Zavidovići, Maglaj and Olovo. The project is indirectly supported by EU funds through DALIA Rivers Revived.

The same path runs backwards. Litter No More was supported by the Swiss Embassy in BiH, and in Zavidovići bez smeća in 2023 kindergartens, schools, citizen activists, NGOs and the Rivers of BiH movement worked together: 440 people, more than 21 tonnes of waste.

On 23 October 2026 more than 300 people gathered and about 5 tonnes were removed. The post thanks pupils and teachers of four primary schools, activists who have cleaned the river for two months, friends from ETH Zurich and JKP Bioštica staff. "It was more than a cleanup. It was a celebration of people, solidarity and hope."