Blocking the streets, planting trees or demonstrating – the movement for environmental protection inspired a lot people to become active this year and also involved the creation of a group named Extinction Rebellion in Moldova: here, activists like Elena Tacu are trying a different strategy of civil disobedience.

When the air stank of bad eggs, a group of young people decided to ‘die’. The smell of the Dniester river was so present this summer in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, that, in some areas, it was even impossible to open the windows at night. So, about 20 activists demonstrated in front of the ministry of agriculture – as part of a campaign in which they wanted to raise awareness of water pollution, they ‘buried’ themselves by laying down. “I drank the water from the Dniester” was, for example, written on the gravestones made out of paper between them. ...