On Tuesday May 23rd, from 1-4 PM we organized an ecological action to green the yard of “Sonja Marinković” Elementary School in Zemun, with support from Microsoft volunteers.

This served as an ecological team building activity for them, through which they strengthened and improved relationships within their team, while achieving exceptional results in establishing more humane conditions for children at school.

These actions are extremely important for company employees as they adopt new values through such activism, raise environmental awareness through collaborative work, and leave behind a much more beautiful space they improve.

Children in schools and kindergartens need help and support to have better and more humane conditions for development.

We are witnesses to urban life where we dedicate the least time to those who need attention the most – children. This problem mostly affects children living in urban areas. Volunteers joined forces with the desire to change the daily environment of children at Sonja Marinković Elementary School by planting 50 Cherry Laurel trees.

In this way, we provided:

• Better air quality in the school yard – trees retain soot particles and exhaust fumes.
• Creation of a more pleasant environment – greenery reduces noise and improves the aesthetics of the space.
• Mental health improvement – spending time in nature and green surroundings positively affects children’s mental health, reduces stress, and improves mood.
• Shelter from traffic and streets, privacy for children, and shade during hot summer days.
• Learning about the importance of nature conservation – tree planting proved to be an excellent opportunity to educate children about the importance of preserving nature and the environment.

The Ecological Action Was Carried out According to the Following Agenda:

1:00 PM – Gathering in the yard of “Sonja Marinković” Elementary School.
Ground preparation and planting led by experts and volunteers, with school students as main helpers.

After planting, certified instructors held an ecological workshop, an educational program organized through games with interesting presentations.

This approach to actions has shown exceptional results and great interest. Children in standard education programs don’t have the opportunity to directly familiarize themselves with seedlings, planting materials, and planting methods. Additionally, there isn’t enough discussion about the importance of forests, environmental protection, and ecology in general.

After the planting action, Microsoft volunteers, Discover Serbia experts, school management, and students jointly watered the seedlings, and students gave each seedling a name.