Bulqiza is a municipality in northeastern Albania, historically defined by its chromium mines and the surrounding terrain. For years, the town has faced a challenge familiar to many peripheral communities across the Western Balkans: population decline, migration, and shrinking public resources. Yet it is precisely in places like Bulqizë where investment carries the greatest transformative potential.

A bet on clean energy and on community

When the Open Society Foundation | Western Balkans (OSF-WB) launched its call for municipal co-financing under the Sunny Schools initiative, the Municipality of Bulqizë seized the opportunity. Despite constrained budgets and limited technical capacity, the local administration submitted a competitive application and was selected.

The result: photovoltaic (PV) systems installed at two public schools, Shefqet Tanci and Xhevdet Doda, now generate clean electricity, reducing the energy burden on local education infrastructure. Encouraged by the impact, the municipality has committed to equipping a third school with solar panels using its own funds, a meaningful signal of local ownership and sustainability.

Where energy meets education

The tangible impact of the Sunny Schools initiative extends well beyond kilowatt hours. In Bulqizë, the installation of solar panels became a catalyst for student-led innovation.

At Shefqet Tanci school, students designed and built an impressive array of working prototypes using micro: bit microcontrollers. Their showcase included a cardboard house powered by a functional wind turbine (complete with a glowing LED), an electric train made from recycled materials, a handcrafted solar system model, and even a micro:bit-driven puppet theater. Hand-drawn posters of solar panels, energy grids, and wind farms lined the display tables, set against the dramatic backdrop of Bulqizë’s mountains. Their projects reflect not just technical skills, but a deep engagement with the real-world problems facing their community and creative confidence that belies their age.

At Xhevdet Doda school, students went further, still developing an integrated smart urban system that combined intelligent vehicle parking, smart waste management bins, a seismic community alert mechanism, and sensor-driven water resource management designed to optimize the use of scarce local water supplies.

These are not science fair novelties. They are solutions-oriented responses to concrete challenges: waste management, disaster preparedness, resource efficiency, and sustainable mobility.

The case for investing where it matters most

The enthusiasm of those youths offers a powerful reminder: talent is not concentrated in capital cities or well-resourced districts. It exists everywhere, often waiting only for the right conditions to emerge. A solar panel on a school roof can do more than generate electricity. It can generate ambition, curiosity, and agency.

The Sunny Schools initiative currently supports 111 schools across 39 municipalities in the Western Balkans, combining renewable energy infrastructure with educational engagement to empower the next generation of climate-conscious citizens and problem-solvers.

Bulqiza’s story proves the model works, even and especially where conditions are hardest.