Albania – World Ozone Day 2024

The week following September 16, 2024, the National Ozone Unit (NOU) organized a series of events and initiatives to celebrate World Ozone Day. These efforts aimed to raise awareness about the crucial role of ozone layer protection, tackle climate change, and further promote the objectives of the Montreal Protocol, with a particular focus on the Kigali Amendment. The key activities included:”

On September 16, 2024, a meeting with operators and technicians from the RAC sector was held, organized in collaboration with the Professional College of Tirana and the RAC Associations. The event attracted significant interest, with 55 participants in attendance. and addressed the following key topics:

• Overview of World Ozone Day 2024, the Vienna Convention, and the Montreal Protocol:
  The importance of protecting the ozone layer was highlighted with a presentation from the NOU representative titled “Protecting the Ozone Layer and Addressing Climate
  Change: The Vital Impact of the Montreal Protocol.”
• Discussion on implementing the new F-gas Law: The session featured a dialogue on the new F-gas law’s enforcement, during which technicians shared their concerns and the challenges they face.
• Networking cocktail: The event concluded with a networking cocktail, providing an opportunity for participants to continue their discussions and share insights in a more informal setting.

Representatives from the National Ozone Unit conducted the awareness campaign “Montreal Protocol: Advancing Climate Action” with students from high vocational schools. The primary goal of this campaign was to engage students in discussions about the importance of protecting the ozone layer and addressing climate change. This initiative was organized in collaboration with two vocational schools.

The first event took place on September 16, 2024, at the “Karl Gega” vocational school in Tirana. Approximately 25 students and three teachers from this school participated in the activities.

The second event occurred on September 17, 2024, at the “Harry Fults” Institute in Tirana, and around 40 students and three teachers participated in the activities.

On September 16, 2024, the Municipality of Tirana organized a special event in the village of Peza to commemorate Ozone Day. The National Ozone Unit participated in the event, contributing to the awareness-raising activities by distributing educational materials on the ozone layer and brochures on Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases. The event brought together people of all ages, with a particular focus on engaging youth through informative and interactive activities.

On September 16, 2024, the National Ozone Unit, in collaboration with “Top School” high school in the city of Durres, organised an event titled “Listen to My Essay”. The activity brought together 35 students and their teachers, who shared essays highlighting environmental challenges and solutions related to Albania and their coastal city. The students’ work addressed topics such as environmental protection, expanding green spaces, promoting the use of electric vehicles, and reducing gas-related pollution. As part of the event, students also received information about the significance of World Ozone Day, its role in raising awareness about the protection of the ozone layer, and the global efforts under the Montreal Protocol to phase out ozone-depleting substances.

On the 18^th of September 2024, the representatives of NOU carried out an interesting activity with the children of the Community Centre “To Stay Together” in Tirana. This activity is part of our ongoing collaboration to support the children studying at this centre and was organised under the motto: “Montreal Protocol: Advancing Climate Action”. About 30 children aged 10 – 12 and four teachers from the Community Centre actively participated in this event.

“The More We Know About Nature, the More We Use It to Our Advantage” was an informative and awareness-raising activity held with students of the “16 Shtatori” high school, located in Peza. The event brought together around 45 students and 6 teachers of “Nature ” and “Biology” subjects. The session began with an interactive quiz, sparking discussion on key environmental topics such as the importance of protecting the ozone layer, the causes of global warming, measures to mitigate climate change, natural disasters, World Ozone Day, and the significance of the Montreal Protocol. Teachers actively contributed by answering several of the students’ questions, while informative leaflets and brochures on World Ozone Day were distributed to all participants.