There are projects you carefully design on paper — and then there are projects that feel personal from the very beginning. “Uta në Sharr” is one of those.
This week, we officially launched Uta në Sharr – Inclusive Education and Environmental Awareness through Storytelling, Animation, and Outdoor Learning. For us, it is more than a work plan or a list of activities. It is a journey designed for children — to help them connect with nature, discover new perspectives, and build friendships across communities.
At its core, the idea is simple. A children’s story inspired by the Sharr mountains becomes the starting point for something much bigger. Instead of remaining on a bookshelf, the story will now travel — into classrooms, onto hiking trails, into camps, and onto cinema screens across Kosova.
Over the next 12 months, we will translate and share the book in Albanian, Serbian, and Turkish, produce an animated film based on the story, and organize educational hikes and ecology-focused events in eight municipalities. Children will participate in school presentations, creative storytelling sessions, and a two-day scouting camp. The journey will also include public cinema screenings in three cities, where families, educators, and communities can experience the story together.
In total, 300 children from different linguistic and ethnic backgrounds will participate directly in the project. But the real impact goes beyond numbers. When children hike side by side, listen to the same story in different languages, and reflect together after a day in nature, something shifts. Nature becomes a shared classroom. Diversity becomes something they experience, not just hear about.
“Uta në Sharr” is implemented by Utalaya in partnership with Save the Children Kosovo, with support from the Embassy of Sweden in Prishtina. It is rooted in the belief that inclusion and environmental awareness start early — and that children, when given the space, can lead the way.
This is just the beginning. The mountains are ready. The story is ready. And the children are ready to begin their journey.
