Press Release – Skopje, 9 May 2025: Today many classrooms across North Macedonia moved outdoors as more than 20,000 primary and secondary school students and over 1,000 teachers joined the nationwide clean-up initiative, Generalka Weekend. Together they participated in practical experiments and workshops to promote environment protection and climate change awareness.

Through eco lessons and clean-up activities, students turned environmental action into hands-on education. In addition to the clean-up activities, participating schools were invited to select from over 130 ready-made activities—designed with video tutorials and teacher-friendly guides—developed by the Bureau for Development of Education with support from UNICEF and Sweden.

In the elementary school “Lazo Angelovski” the director of the Bureau for Development of Education Milka Trimcevska, UNICEF Representative Lesley Miller and the Mayor of Aerodrom Dejan Miteski joined the school activities.

“Today we’ve seen that when educators actively engage students and bring learning to life through real-world action, schools become powerful drivers of change. These experiences help children build knowledge and skills they need to care for their environment and contribute meaningfully to their communities,” said Lesley Miller, UNICEF Representative.

“Integrating environmental protection into everyday learning is essential for preparing students to become informed and responsible citizens. Through this initiative, we are promoting ecological awareness and civic responsibility among children and adolescents,” said Milka Trimcevska, director of the Bureau for Development of Education.

“Supporting environmental initiatives has always been important to our municipality, so it’s a real pleasure to see this year’s main event taking place at a school in our community. We’re proud to be part of something that encourages young people to engage with and care for the environment’” said the Mayor of Aerodrom Dejan Miteski.

The Eco class activity is part of a broader UNICEF programme, funded by Sweden, that aims to support integration of environmental education into the formal curriculum and support the Government of North Macedonia to modernize and green the education system. Through this programme, new curricula and textbooks for grades 1 to 8 now embed environmental and climate change education across subjects. Over 7,000 teachers have received training and resources to bring these topics to life in the classroom.

“The Generalka Weekend is organized for the fifth time, starting from 2021. Every second weekend of May, we clean our country from the waste of the past and recycle it into a green future for us and the generations to come. This year, clean-up is being carried out at 600 locations in cooperation with all municipalities in the country”, said Gordana Sofija from Man and Mountain.

Generalka Weekend is a partnership between public institutions and civil society, combining civic engagement with experiential learning—empowering children and young people to become agents of change in their communities and beyond.

Media contacts

Suzie Pappas Capovska
Tel: (02) 3231-244
Email: [email protected]

Irina Ivanovska
Tel: (02) 3231-172
Email: [email protected]

About UNICEF

UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, works to protect the rights of every child, everywhere, especially the most disadvantaged children and in the toughest places to reach. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we do whatever it takes to help children survive, thrive, and fulfil their potential. 

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