Fawzia Kurtic

Bosnian environmentalist who pioneered Europe's first citizen-led environmental justice movement

Fawzia Kurtic is a visionary environmental lawyer from Bosnia and Herzegovina, born in 1975. As founder of the Green Home (Zelena Kuca) environmental NGO in 2000, she transformed post-war Bosnia's environmental consciousness. Her work has redefined citizen participation in environmental governance across Southeast Europe.

Kurtic's breakthrough came in 2005 when she led protests against illegal waste dumping in Zenica, organizing 10,000 citizens to successfully block a toxic landfill project. This campaign established Europe's first successful use of the Aarhus Convention to hold governments accountable. Her legal victories include securing €5 million in damages from polluters and passing Bosnia's first environmental protection law in 2009.

She developed the Green Map System, a participatory mapping tool now used in 70 countries to identify pollution sources. Her initiative to plant 1 million trees in post-war regions has restored 1,200 hectares of forest. Kurtic also pioneered the Eco-Schools program, now in 400 Bosnian schools teaching sustainable practices.

In 2018, she launched the Balkan Ecological Movement, uniting 15 countries to oppose cross-border pollution. Her Oxfam partnership created the first regional environmental justice fund. Most recently, her legal strategy helped block the controversial Budapest-Belgrade Railway project's harmful sections.