Youth Empowerment in Green Energy (YEGE)

Kosovo still generates over 90% of its electricity from coal, a dependency reflected in the EU’s continued assessment of the country as being at an early stage of environmental and climate alignment, including in the 2025 Progress Report. The country adopted its first voluntary Nationally Determined Contribution only in March 2025, and secondary legislation under the 2023 Law on Climate Change remains pending. These conditions reflect broader structural challenges: limited institutional capacity at both central and municipal levels, insufficient funding for environmental frameworks, and climate change topics that are not yet systematically integrated into formal school curricula. Survey data from Kosovo's youth population illustrates a related gap at the community level. Although 48% of young people view environmental issues as serious and 66% worry about air pollution, overall understanding of climate change and the green transition remains limited. High-school Eco Clubs have little impact beyond their own schools, and youth are largely absent from municipal energy and climate planning. Environmental reporting is also constrained by limited specialist expertise and financial pressures on local media. These factors suggest that Kosovo’s progress toward EU accession commitments and its own climate and energy goals would benefit from targeted investment in climate literacy, institutional engagement, and structured youth participation across education, governance, and media.

The overall aim of the YEGE project is to enhance climate action and green energy transition by empowering and mobilizing youth and environmental journalists in targeted Kosovar municipalities and with relevant ministries.

The YEGE project is built around three outcome areas:

The first strengthens capacity by training 300 Eco Club members, 30 biology and ecology teachers, 10 environmental journalists, 10 municipal officials, and 10 ministry officials in climate change, green energy, and environmental reporting, drawing on youth-focused climate-learning modules from the previous YENI project and the Climate Fresk methodology – an internationally used interactive workshop method that helps participants understand the science of climate change and can easily be adapted to the needs of youth.

The second focuses on institutional engagement, supporting the creation of a Youth Component for Municipal Energy and Climate Plans in all 10 target municipalities and facilitating structured dialogue between youth, school leadership, and officials at municipal and ministry levels.

The third supports practical implementation through 20 small-scale green projects in high schools and through the Dervish Rozhaja Environmental Award Competition across all 30 Eco Clubs. The project engages the Ministries of Economy, Education, and Environment, the Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency, the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, and Municipal Education Directorates, with formal cooperation agreements in all 10 municipalities providing the implementation framework.