The “Sunny Schools in the Western Balkans” initiative has been implemented in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, North Macedonia, and Kosovo since 2023, with the support of the Open Society Foundations – Western Balkans and the Open Society Foundations – Serbia.
The initiative seeks to empower critical stakeholders, including public schools, local governments, and communities, by enhancing their capabilities to manage the generation of clean and renewable energy through photovoltaic technology. Installing solar panels on school rooftops enables schools to generate their required electricity, thereby achieving climate resilience and energy neutrality. Furthermore, through an agreement with the local government, the initiative permits schools to allocate the savings accrued from their annual electricity expenditures to address other school requirements. Simultaneously, the school acquires a highly fascinating “living laboratory” that will benefit teachers and pupils throughout the learning process, thereby increasing awareness and understanding among the entire school community about renewable energy sources and the importance of the energy transition.
The initiative comprises three components: research, investment, and education. SeConS Development Initiative Group is in charge of the research component. In order to ascertain the impact of solar panel investment on changes in educational outcomes, school autonomy, and the engagement of all participants and stakeholders in the educational process, the research will compare the data obtained through two or three waves of research. The first objective is to ascertain knowledge and trust in innovative and green energy, renewable energy sources, and solar energy production. The research encompasses pupils, teachers, and parents from selected schools.
In the first phase, the city of Valjevo was chosen to execute the initiative. The preliminary research was conducted in October 2023 across 12 designated elementary schools (six experimental and six control). Solar panels were installed in the six experimental schools, and educational workshops were conducted for pupils, teachers, and parents, focusing on environmental protection, green transition, and energy management. The second phase of the research commenced immediately following the installation of the panels and the training sessions (in March 2024), while the final research is scheduled to start after a designated operational term for the solar power plants at these schools (spring 2025).
The Belgrade Open School is responsible for the educational part of the initiative (https://www.bos.rs/rs/aktuelni-projekti/18/1265/zelena-generacija_-skole-ukljucene-u-klimatsku-akciju-.html), while the installation of the solar panels was carried out by the company Telefon inzenjering (https://telefon-inzenjering.co.rs/projekti/solarne-elektrane-ukupne-snage-135kwp-na-sest-osnovnih-skola-na-podrucju-grada-valjeva/).
Beginning in 2024, the project’s second phase saw Kragujevac become the second city in Serbia to introduce the “Sunny Schools in the Western Balkans”. The first wave of research was conducted in 12 primary schools in Kragujevac (with six of them being experimental and the other six being control) in accordance with the same principle as in Valjevo. The investment component, which involved the installation of solar panels on the rooftops of experimental schools, was implemented following the initial wave of research in October 2024. Subsequently, the educational component, which involved workshops and mentoring sessions with pupils, teachers, and parents regarding renewable and green energy subjects, was implemented. The subsequent wave of research in Kragujevac schools is scheduled for October 2025.