The Public Utility Company (JKP) Zelenilo canceled participation in the traditional camp for students and professors of the Faculty of Biology and the Faculty of Geography because “they are not welcome.”
“Zelenilo Beograd” canceled the participation of students from the Faculty of Biology and the Faculty of Geography of the University of Belgrade, as well as their professors, in the Ecological Camp, stating as their explanation that: “they are not welcome,” reports the website Nova.rs.
Students from both faculties spoke out regarding the shameful cancellation. The full statement follows below.
“Why are we, students and professors, declared undesirable?
This morning, our professors informed us that the administration of the Public Enterprise Zelenilo Beograd (the official manager of the Great War Island, declared by the City Assembly of Belgrade) canceled the participation of students in the Ecological Camp, planned for the beginning of October as part of mandatory fieldwork. This was an opportunity for students to make up for missed fieldwork.
The explanation we received was the sentence: ‘Students and professors of the University of Belgrade are not welcome at the camp.’
The camp has existed for many years, and the cooperation between the organizers and our faculties has always been excellent. Now, an order has arrived that the visit must be canceled, and without any reasonable grounds.
Although we are taken aback, we are not surprised. This is another in a series of pressures by the current regime on the students and professors of the University of Belgrade, which has been ranked among the best universities in the region and beyond for years.
This decision is not only an insult to the students and professors but also a clear message that knowledge, science, and critical thinking are to be excluded from the process of nature conservation and public good. We are the ones who will bear the responsibility for environmental protection tomorrow, and we will not allow our participation in its preservation to be forbidden.
Therefore, we demand:
That the decision to ban the participation of students and professors of the University of Belgrade in the Ecological Camp be immediately withdrawn.
-That Zelenilo Beograd and the competent city institutions publicly explain the reasons for this decision.
-That the free and unimpeded inclusion of the academic community in the processes of education, research, and conservation of natural assets be guaranteed.
-If we are not welcome in the field today, will we be undesirable in classrooms, laboratories, institutions, and even in our own city tomorrow?”
There is no information about the canceled camp on the JKP Zelenilo website in the “news” section. The last information about the camp dates back to October 2023. It is a report from the 17th camp held on the Great War Island. Students and professors from the Faculty of Geography, the Faculty of Forestry, and the Singidunum University participated.
MORE TOPICS:
Source: N1, Photo: Wikipedia / Stefan Didam Schmallenberg