Keeping the heart of a town alive in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Article type Story
Publication date 18 Apr 2025

In Foča, a town in the southeastern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Cultural Centre serves as the hub that brings people together. However, poor insulation has threatened its existence. This is a story of how climate action can keep a small town alive.

The Centre for Culture and Information (Cultural Centre) located right in the heart of Foča, a town in the southeastern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Photo/GCF Christopher Rompre

Various activities take place inside the Cultural Centre. One of the well-lit rooms houses paintings by the local art club. Photo/GCF Christopher Rompre

Friendships are formed alongside the activities that take place inside the Cultural Centre. Members of the Association of Women of Foča meet in the attic of the Centre three times a week to work on arts and crafts. Photo/GCF Christopher Rompre

Students can now comfortably use the library in the Cultural Centre to study. Photo/GCF Christopher Rompre

The choir using one of the rooms on the ground floor of the Cultural Centre to practice. Photo/GCF Angeli Mendoza

The Cultural Centre also has a cinema – the only one in Foča. Photo/GCF Angeli Mendoza

Slavica Filipović, Director of the Cultural Centre, shows the refurbished boiler in the Centre's basement. Photo/GCF Angeli Mendoza

‘The coal and smoke – it was black smoke all around the building. It was horrible. Now we can live,’ said Slavica Filipović, Director of the Cultural Centre. Photo/GCF Angeli Mendoza

Near the Cultural Centre, the Faculty of Medicine of the University of East Sarajevo in Foča also got retrofitted through the project. Photo/GCF Angeli Mendoza

Through the project, the school could have a proper environment for studying – well insulated from extreme temperatures. Photo/GCF Christopher Rompre

The school has also been vital to keeping the town of Foča alive, attracting both foreign and local students to study medicine. Photo/GCF Christopher Rompre

No longer burning coal. The school now uses an energy-efficient, low-carbon heating system powered by pellets. Photo/GCF Angeli Mendoza

Learn more about how the Green Climate Fund (GCF) is working together with the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to make public buildings energy-efficient: https://g.cf/fp051