Mobile Application GoGreen: Sarajevo’s Secondary School Students Design First Mobile Application for Selective Garbage Disposal

December 22, 2020

GoGreen is the first mobile application in Bosnia and Herzegovina that locates green islands, connects citizens with the authorities, educate young people and scans waste.  It is available in 14 municipalities and cities and was designed by a team of young people at last year’s Hackathon that took place within the Regional Programme on Local Democracy in the Western Balkans – ReLOaD – funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).   

Emina Zolota, Elida Arnaut, Nadir Karaman and Benjamin Šišić, secondary school students back then and now electrical engineering students, won first prize with their idea of an application and also technical support for the development.  After one year of work and consultations with a team of developers, led by Jasminka Hasić Telalović, the GoGreen application is now in use in the ReLOaD project partner municipalities and cities. 

“The GoGreen idea was born a year ago, out of our desire to make our city as “green” as possible. So, it became our project that we worked on day after day, we conducted research and expanded our idea. GoGreen connected us even more and had an impact on our awareness about the environment but also on our friendship.  The advice we received from our mentor in the Hackathon helped us improve the GoGreen idea and produce a prototype of the application, and it was precisely where we had met our mentor, professor Jasminka. Having won first prize in the Hackathon, the GoGreen team expanded. Through the development process we met a large number of people, made new friends and expanded our knowledge. We had never dreamed our idea would be in a year where it is now, and that feeling is indescribable. Our wish is that GoGreen connects other people as it connected us”, said Emina Zolota, a GoGreen team member.  

The application connects citizens with the authorities through direct contact and reports of improper waste disposal and enables easier waste separation. It also helps find containers for selective waste collection.

“Our goal was to support the development of innovative solutions which would help people in a community to connect. 14 partner municipalities and cities - Jablanica, Kakanj, Modriča, Maglaj, Sarajevo Center, Brod, Bijeljina, Rudo, Trebinje, Travnik, Vitez, Tuzla, Tešanj and Sokolac – are using the application and already have positive feedback from the public. Transparent and two-way communication with the local authorities is at the core of the ReLOaD programme and we, in the European Union, are proud that we can support the initiatives that are as interesting and useful as this one”, said Vladimir Pandurević, project manager at the European Union Delegation.

GoGreen is a call to all citizens to act together with the authorities. The Application is available for Android and iOS users and can be downloaded by clicking this link.