The Bosnian rivers fighters
For almost two decades, Bosnia and Herzegovina's river network has been affected by a proliferation of hydropower projects.
Bosnia's need to decarbonise, and to align its energy industry with EU policies, has turned one of Europe's last wild river networks into a resource to be exploited economically. However, the green side of hydropower plants and subsidies for clean energy soon led to an uncontrolled cementing of dozens of rivers, especially with 'mini power plants' of less than 10 MW.
This situation gave rise to one of the most participatory grassroots movements in the Balkans, in defence of the rivers. An inter-ethnic movement that has blocked the construction of many plants, denouncing not only their negative impact on local communities but also the widespread irregularities and corruption in the concession processes.
Watch here the video for Internazionale.
Read here the reportage for Altreconomia.
Read here the reportage for Apache magazine.
This project was realised with the support of Journalismfund.
