Eko Straža: Serbians Fighting Their Own Air

Eko straža (Eco Guard) started in 2019 as a Facebook page sharing air quality readings and has grown into one of Serbia's largest grassroots environmental movements, entirely run by volunteers. It organized a series of mass 'Protest za bezopasan vazduh' (Protest for Safe Air) demonstrations in Belgrade that pushed the government to require schools and kindergartens to monitor daily air quality, adopt public pollution-alert broadcasts, and pass a national air quality action plan for 2022-2030. The group also supports a citizen network of roughly 30 independently installed air-quality monitoring stations, and runs 'Zavrni Rukave' ('Roll Up Your Sleeves'), Serbia's largest volunteer litter-cleanup campaign; its 14th edition in May 2026 mobilized 5,600 volunteers across 315 locations to pull 156 tonnes of waste out of nature.