Working together for protecting the climate – energy and transport in Macedonia

Macedonia is a country heavily dependent on fossil fuels, and governmental strategic documents confirm the same direction for the next 20 years. In the transport sector, the situation is worsening in the cities as the inefficient and badly organized public transport is overcome by private cars which cause great air pollution, especially in winter. This uncertainty about the energy future in Macedonia and the lack of action by the city authorities create the space for strengthening the voice of the citizens and civil society calling upon the institutions to take the clean and green path towards sustainable development.

The aim of the project „Working together for protecting the climate“, initiated by the ETNAR sub-grantee Center for environmental research and information Eko-svest is to create a well-informed critical mass of citizens and civil society organizations ready to influence decision making in the energy and transport sectors in Macedonia in order to minimize the negative climate impact and protect the environment and human health.

The idea is to establish a strong cooperation among civil society organizations from various sectors (environment, consumer rights, vulnerable group rights, women’s health, etc.) and to further strengthen their capacities through initiation of discussions with relevant institutions about the practical problems and solutions.

Awareness raising is one of the most important aspects of this campaign. For that purpose, information materials have been produced in order to inform citizens about the impacts on climate change, environment and health from energy and transport sectors. A study entitled “Energy possibilities of Macedonia’, prepared by distinguished international experts Prof. Dr. Stefan Bouzarovski and Dr. Steven Glynn form the University of Manchester, was used as a basis for an infographic which was disseminated on the two day conference on energy and transport, as well as sent to all relevant institutions. A study connected to health effects of pollution stemming from coal-fired thermal power plants is also being prepared with the help of HEAL (Health and Environment Alliance) and local research organization Reaktor – research in action. The booklet on the rent-a-bike system in Skopje will be launched in September celebrating 5 years of rent-a-bike system in Skopje.

In addition to information materials, open air events are being organized in order to draw citizen’s attention to the topic and inform them about the campaign. One such event was organised on April 22^nd celebrating the Earth Day. In cooperation with the kindergarten “Detska radost” a bike-race was organized in which around 130 kids participated. Also, a “Critical mass” event dedicated to rent-a-bike system in Skopje was organized on April 30^th, with at least 300 people participating.

As a result of their constant presence in the sector of transport, Eko-svest was invited by the advertising and media company New-Moment Macedonia to take an advisory role in the contest they wanted to launch (for best ideas for bike parking). Eko-svest also started to collaborate with three Scout units from Skopje who were interested to join the project.

A very successful two-day conference on energy and transport issues in relation to climate change was organized in Skopje on 23^rd and 24^th January 2014. The first day of the conference was very well populated with representatives of institutions including one Member of Parliament, several civil servants from the Parliament, representatives from the Energy department of the Ministry of Economy, BEG – the district heating company operating in Skopje, as well as NGO representatives. The main speakers on the conference were Professor Stefan Bouzarovski and Dr. Saska Petrova, both from University in Manchester. The topics covered were: the energy possibilities of Macedonia, the possible alternative scenarios to the ones offered in the National energy strategy and energy poverty as a challenge both in Europe and Macedonia. The second day of the conference was dedicated to transport issues.

Media work plays an especially important role in any awareness raising campaign. Eko-svest generally has good relations with the media, and the news coverage of the press conference held on January 23^rd, the first day of the energy and transport conference, was excellent, with more than 20 articles published in various media. Following the press conference, Eko-svest’s anti-coal campaigner Nevena Smilevska was invited for an interview in the morning show on Radio 2 – one of the most popular radio stations in Macedonia with national coverage.

Concerning the goal of establishing a strong cooperation among civil society organizations, several partnerships were created. Related to groups working on energy issues, a working group of five CSOs (Eko-svest, Analytica, Front 21/42, Reaktor – research in action and Center for sustainability and advanced education – Bitola) was established. The group has already largely contributed in the EIA process for the announced lignite mine in Mariovo, which has resulted in the EIA study being delayed for more than four months already and the possible withdrawal of the investor ELEM from the project. For the transport sector a working group was established from long-lasting partnerships and new groups that recently started to work intensively on transport issues. The group consists of 6 CSOs and activists groups: Eko-svest, To4ak, Eco-logic, GoGreen, Ekoskop and NaTochak.

The campaign is realised with support from EU funded IPA CSF project Advocacy NGOs networks for sustainable use of energy and natural resources in the Western Balkans and Turkey – ETNAR IPA-CSF-2012/306-573.