Skopje, 9 May 2025 (MIA) – By protecting nature, we protect ourselves and national waste collection action ‘Generalka Weekend’ should become a year-round effort, said President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova during the launch of the national three-day waste clean-up campaign at the Skopje Aqueduct on Friday.
 
Stressing the importance of nature protection, she urged the authorities that the area around 2,000-year-old Skopje Aqueduct should be developed into a park.
 
She focused on the ideas of the French philosophers Rousseau and Michel Serres regarding the need for a natural contract between humanity and nature.
 
“An agreement that guarantees people will protect nature. People behave like intruders in paradise, that's a fact. If we don't make peace with nature, we will destroy ourselves. That is a fact," Siljanovska Davkova noted.

The initiative was also welcomed by Deputy PM and Minister of Environment and Physical Planning, Izet Mexhiti, who stated that this is the largest volunteer waste clean-up campaign in the country, growing each year and becoming a symbol of how awareness of individual responsibility and good cooperation yield visible results.

“The environment, and especially monuments like the Aqueduct, deserve respect and care. The campaigns like these, where we jointly show initiative, willingness, and readiness to cooperate, should be part of our daily lives. Waste has no place on the streets or in nature,” Mexhiti said.
 
He noted that the Government and the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning support all initiatives that show strong leadership, inclusivity and commitment to being part of the change for a better future for us and the generations to come.
 
The national waste collection action ‘Generalka Weekend’ (a volunteer action by citizens for citizens), is created by Man & Mountain, together with the main strategic partner Pivara Skopje and the official partners: Pakomak, Zero Waste, Sparkasse Bank, EVN Macedonia, Makstil, Bucim Borov Dol, Saubermacher and Kostal. The action is also supported by ZELS, the Red Cross and the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning. sk/

Photo: MIA archive