In June 2021, 40-year-old Bosnian economist Maida Bilal was awarded the Goldman Prize, sometimes called the “Green Nobel”, for leading a group of local women who stopped two proposed dams on the Kruščica River after a 503-day blockade. It is the first time a Goldman Prize has been awarded in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Awarded annually to environmental heroes in each of the world’s six inhabited continental regions, the Goldman Environmental Prize honours the work of grassroots environmental activists from around the world. Bilal was awarded the European prize for 2021.