 First of all, I want to thank you for joining this event and extend a welcome from us and from the Green European Foundation organizing this event in the frame of the project CTSS Places of Hope Some technical information in the beginning the event will be recorded We'll have simultaneous translation in Macedonian and English by clicking the button on the right bottom corner of the screen enables changing the language from English to Macedonian and vice versa In order to have this option, however, you must download the latest update of this Zoom application This is the second of a big series of events That will take place in the next period throughout Europe Joining us are representatives of the Greens and Municipality Council throughout Macedonia We have green activists from around the country and together we'll share initiatives from the country Same initiatives can be found in Europe We'll see their experiences for making cities The places for sustainable future During the project implementation and afterwards Available for you will be the research is made by us and also by partners around Europe This event is a continuation of the research and the mapping of progressive and transformative practices in Western Balkans done by us as a partner and we will see practices mapped by the other partners cooperating with us Practices and possibilities around Europe for cities and municipalities to self-organize through building and membership in translocal networks of European cities Through which they will connect with the green movement in Europe and accomplish their goals for greening the cities This event is named talking about green cities Where organizations taking part in the project are from several European countries We have also municipality counselors green activists and we hope for representatives of translocal international networks who will perhaps join us later in the event international networks of green cities and we'll have a chance to discuss initiatives and Hopefully in the end we can address the response to COVID-19 crisis affecting us all from local to central level It's in our homes already Big part of Europe is in quarantine as well as our neighbors in the Balkans and If we have time we can discuss how cities respond to COVID-19 crisis In the first part of this event Addressing will be member of parliament Maia Morachanin on the importance of training for green activists and counselors on these Local topics for greening the cities from the project leaders apart from Mia's coordinator in Macedonia Addressing you will be Kati van de Velde, leader of the Give project cities as places of hope She's an international coordinator of workers think tank from Belgium She will introduce us in the project and speak about a difference different vision of Europe and will point out Why cities are so important in these changes throughout Europe? In the second part speaking will be counselors from several cities Hrysta Naidyanov, counselor in the city of Skopje Sreti Mirnikolovskiy, counselor in the municipality of Kriva-Palanka Svetlana Stanovska, counselor in the municipality of Probishtip and Ivana Zdraveska counselor in the municipality of Arodrum from the city of Skopje In the chat box, I sent a link you can register on to receive information on topics addressed by the Green European Foundation and the Green European Journal and That way you can keep up with the latest events in the UN wider In the first part while the speakers are addressing I would ask you to mute your microphones and Afterwards, we will have a discussion. I would like to invite to address the president and leader of the Green Party Dome Also a member of Parliament Maya Murachanin Thank you, Alexander. Good evening and thank you for the invitation and the opportunity to address you It is my great pleasure to see this choice of topic about green cities Dome is working on years back Which is one of our main program? Commitments, but also what we work on daily basis Central level as members of Parliament, but especially our councillors in local municipalities Where they're elected this way of exchanging experiences especially in cooperation with our friends from Europe From where we can Import and apply experiences here this way of cooperation is useful and drives towards true improvement Improvement of the state and especially towards our priority to green the cities will even as in the world also in Macedonia Two-thirds of the populations live in the cities That's a trend that probably will continue in the future The population in the cities will rise and that is not a sustainable way to develop cities And what is one of the crucial needs is To give more attention and to stimulate citizens to stay in rural areas and Smaller or urban areas and not to go to the big cities but That is probably another topic that also should be addressed as well How to provide conditions for equality life and existence outside the big cities so people would not be motivated to live their hometowns and move to the big cities and Today's topic of discussion. I Will address mostly Even though this is a wide concept I Will try to focus on Three to four key moments. I think are important for our cities especially for Skopje as the biggest city with the highest number of inhabitants probably over 700 800,000 inhabitants as city that was planned in the past for almost half of that number Some sustainable way of life. It was estimated that Skopje can provide conditions for adequate living of around 400,000 inhabitants What we see now is Doubling the number of inhabitants and additionally the people that travel for work in Skopje migrate to Skopje and And all this burdens the city and decreases the quality of life from the aspect of Traffic intensity, which is also one of the key factors of pollution The increased number of people in the city decreases the quality of life it increases the need for construction of housing facilities and and What we witnessed in the past decades is the construction expansion especially in the capital Skopje and specifically in the center of the city and usually Destroying the free green areas which also contributes for increased pollution and decreased quality of life because there are less and less green spaces less area for social activities and Of course the infrastructure is not dimensioned to serve is the rising number of Facilities and population There is also lack of schools health facilities all that citizens need on a daily basis and All this is contributing to decreased quality of life and even deteriorating health of the citizens That is why Dome as a political party in the key activities has the urban planning All our counselors Also those present today here Who will surely share their experiences in the struggle against hyper urbanization And that we fight for years so we can truly in the urban plans contribute To see this development in a sustainable and a green way What is a big challenge? In in all the cities in Macedonia is the illegal landfills The dumps waste dumps which the municipalities started seriously dealing with and have some progress Our counselors from different cities a Year and two ago Took part in such activities together with the citizens and the local authorities in Mapping the illegal landfills and also in closing and Cleaning and After that the recuperation Which is of great importance as a source of pollution of The water the soil the air in the cities But also from a hygienic and a static reasons it decreases the quality of life. I Hope some of the counselors present and the activists will share experience from those activities So through the exchange of experiences other counselors and activists and Stakeholders on different levels in institutions can implement these positive examples in Solving the problem of illegal landfills, of course in this area key task is introducing a waste management system a Modern one But I hope next year The first regional landfill construction Will start and Probably in the next two or three years It will start functioning These will seriously contribute to modernized waste management and Solving the decades-long problem of illegal landfills and Waste dumps These are perhaps key topics we have worked on through different initiatives on Central and local level and I Think that it is important to share our experiences In the third part I want to address Is the need for a bigger involvement of Citizens as well as Subsidies and help in the use of renewable sources of energy because in our cities especially in Skopje, Tetovo, Bitola the air pollution is a major problem and often unfortunately among the top cities in Europe with the air pollution levels and Precisely the transition from fossil fuels to new renewable energy sources primarily the Sun and the wind is one of the key factors in Solving this problem This additionally positively contributes in the fight with climate change But also contributes in increasing the family budget When citizens get the opportunity from photovoltaics to produce electricity That will also generate substantial savings In that area, I think legislation should be improved so I think that it will be a challenge for the coming period that we need to work seriously and Just to round up. I will give a short introduction to Something I feel is very important for sustainable development of the cities and especially In this COVID-19 pandemic Was emphasized more that's the need of Digitalization and what we are working on The concept of smart cities which simplify life, but also positively affect environmental protection and the climate and I think Digitalization as a process is something that Macedonia in the future and needs to invest more And Intensify the process. I'm here for questions and I'm eager to hear your experiences and of course New ideas and suggestions. Thank you very much. Thank you Maya Truly well said and now we will continue with the presentation with Katy van de Velde, the leader of the project Cities of as places of hope She is the international coordinator of Oikos think tank from Belgium She will tell us a bit more about the project and open a different vision of the European Union in which cities are most important Most efficient in creating these changes in Europe will Share my presentation. I prepared a presentation That'll make it easier Does this work do you see this No Yes, we can see it and you are translated into Macedonia and everything is working well. Oh Okay So good evening and thank you for inviting me on this this webinar So yes on behalf of the Belgian Green think tank Oikos I'm happy to talk about me more a bit more about this project and to share another vision on the European Union because we all share this this Logic and dominant vision on the European Union as a cooperation between member states with its successes and its difficulties and I think it's clear that the European Union is currently facing huge challenges the public and political debate is dominated by migration climate change fair and healthy food Sustainable mobility, etc. We also see nation states Turning away from the Union and becoming more protectionist. They start using Isolation more as an answer to challenges than then then cooperation look at Brexit Also, the EU has a strong focus on economy and the free market But its social and environmental agenda is insufficient on the other hand, however And I'm going to the next slide on the other hand, however, the European Union also has a rich landscape of Progressive cities developing transformative projects and policies for food, mobility, agriculture, energy, circular economy And there appears to be a clear difference between national governance and and local governance Some national governance for governments, for instance, they invest in the automobile industry They build more motorways to be able to accommodate more cars while many cities are currently actually Investing in the mobility of tomorrow making streets and city centers car-free In a few minutes, I'll be happy to go more into detail on this because here in Belgium We have the city of Ghent as a beautiful example But also on the European level Policies are not always in line with the local level. For example, the EU sticks to Industrial agribusiness instead of sustainable urban food policies It finances large-scale industrial agriculture rather than local small-scale food initiatives On the other hand, you have, for instance, the Milan urban food policy pact that works to develop Sustainable food systems that are inclusive and resilient Besides these progressive cities, like Milan or Ghent or many more There is also a growing number of city networks, like fearless cities and energy cities Energy cities, for instance, is a network of a thousand local governments in 30 countries And it wants a radical transformation of the energy systems and politics Giving citizens the power to shape a decentralized and renewable energy future So they trigger dialogue between citizens and local, national and EU Politics and institutions to accelerate the energy transition in Europe Fearless cities, on the other hand, is a global municipal movement that works on Human rights, democracy and the common good They organize international summits to build global networks of solidarity from the bottom up By using participatory methods They publish the guide, by the way, which you can download from their websites So it's pretty interesting to check it out Now, I think there are three important domains where cities can make a big difference As democracy, economy and climate So democracy is being challenged That's pretty clear Think of the Yellow Vests versus President Macron in France Or the tension between Chancellor Angela Merkel and East Germany Or think about the global youth and adults going on strike for a real climate policy Democracy today is not able to solve these contemporary issues So we'll need to reinvent it somehow And this is where municipalism comes into play The self-governance and participatory governance of cities, towns and municipalities Can make a big change here Because municipalities help mobilize citizens to participate deeply in local problem solving And the citizens this way become more of a partner against the neoliberal deregularization Municipalism can also inspire municipal governments To share solutions with cities around the world The website municipalist.org, by the way, that I mentioned here Is documenting this phenomenon So to check it out Economy, the second domain So the current economic system fails As became clear already in 2009 after the financial crisis Also the global markets improve the life of some At the expense of the quality of life of many others So more and more people are advocating for an alternative economic system One where increasing the common good for everyone Becomes more important than profit for only a small group And for this more and more citizens are taking matters into their own hands By setting up citizen collectives or commons as we call them To create alternatives based on the needs of society rather than for private gain In these commons people work together to produce or manage what they find valuable And want to take care of on the basis of their own self-determined rules Catalonia in Spain is an interesting example of an open source common based economy Because it starts from the basic principles of sustainability and participation So they're no longer working on short term or top down These cities and regions like Catalonia are locally embedded through cooperative logic But at the same time they are sharing their knowledge, their expertise and their technology Worldwide When it comes to climate This brings us to climate adaptive cities Like here the focus is not only on lowering CO2 emissions But these cities are also dealing with changes that are occurring already today in cities Like the example of Neurbro in Copenhagen which is pictured here So in 2018 the city of Copenhagen launched the climate adaptation project called The Soul of Neurbro It aims to regenerate the city's inner Neurbro area Establishing new ecosystems to ease flooding And at the same time creating new social spaces in the process So it's a beautiful example of social and climate adaptive objectives Brought together in a city with involvement of local citizens and even local traders Also in Belgium we have some great examples and I already mentioned it briefly earlier The Ghent Mobility Plan So Ghent is the third largest city of the country after Brussels and Antwerp And it has 260,000 inhabitants Moreover as a university city it also counts almost an 80,000 student population So the Mobility Plan in Ghent was enrolled to provide more space for pedestrians and cyclists To improve the circulation of public transport To make parking and other destinations more easily accessible And to keep transit traffic out of the city center Now it's useful to know that the first steps towards a better mobility in Ghent Were already made in the early 90s with the implementation of a cycling policy But even though the result was a doubling of bicycle use the numbers were still very low Then in the late 90s the city rolled out its its first mobility plan for the inner city By turning the heart of the historic center into a pedestrian zone Surrounded by a parking route connecting the different parkings around the center But meanwhile the city was confronted with a steady population increase Including an exponential growth of the city's student population And it also became an increasingly popular tourist destination On another level research had showed that more than half of all the travel in the city Was taking place by car and that much of this traffic was merely transit traffic Going through the city but not having its destination in the city Walking or cycling counted for only one-third of all Travel and the use of public transport for barely nine percent So in 2017 the city of Ghent implemented its circulation plan There was a lot of fuss about it But it was primarily focused on relieving the city center of ongoing traffic So it put the halt to transit car traffic through the city center So in order to give more space for pedestrians, cyclists, buses, trams and also for green space More green space And it did so by first of all extending the restricted traffic area in the center Which is here colored in pink But then also by dividing the surrounding zone into six sections Where car traffic is looped out of and rerouted via the ring roads So driving from one section to another section or through the city center is no longer possible in Ghent You can only go from one section to another by going out of that section through the ring road And then turning around to the next section At the same time efforts were made to facilitate the smooth flow of public transport So there are now night buses, free public transport for people under 16 Park and ride shuttles and a shopping bus Cycling infrastructure was extended And this created this whole new cycling culture With new businesses by or for cyclists For instance bike couriers, bike rental services, bike repair services The effects of the whole policy are remarkable There has been a 17% decrease in car use And an increase in public transport use of 6% on a daily basis And of 25% during evening rush hours Bicycle use has grown with more than half Significant improvements were also noted in terms of road safety and air quality The number of traffic accidents in the city center decreased with 25% And nitrogen concentrations decreased with 20% on average So in this diagram you can see that in 2018 More than one-third of trips are made by bicycle compared to one-fifth in 2012 So the Ghent mobility plan has shown that bold policies aiming at social ecological transformation Really can provide a significant answer To various challenges in terms of livability in and accessibility of the city of Ghent So here you see a picture of a new underpass for cyclists So they can avoid the busy crossroad above There are several of these underpasses these days in Ghent They were recently installed But I'll end this presentation with a picture of the Mauset Square in the center of Ghent a few years ago Versus today So there's also a lot more green space making the city much more livable for citizens And despite the comments and all the fuss that there was in the beginning When this whole plan was announced today citizens are really happy with the change And you can feel it, you can breathe in the city I mean the city is gaining a lot of popularity Because of this it's just more measured to the size of the citizen And no longer fitted to or less fitted for cars It's now more the citizen's city than the car's city So thank you and I'll stop sharing your screen It is truly impressive about Ghent and what happens in Europe I think Ghent is near Brussels Impressive data, car transport to drop for 70% And cycling to rise 50% It's years of effort so Belgium can reach this stage of urban mobility I have heard about Ghent before the project started In the world a lot of cities accept this way of transformation I hope one of our cities, especially Skopje, could accept something like this To make the city center a pedestrian zone and as Scottie said To use the ring roads to deter from one municipality to another This way the attention is set on cyclists and pedestrians I believe public transport is well managed also Thank you again for the nice presentation I would like to hear some local transformations now We have four green councillors from different parts of Macedonia First I invite Christa Naidanov, a councillor in the city of Skopje To share practices in the city of Skopje on the topic Thank you, Alexander and good evening to all the participants Thank you for the invitation to take part in this webinar And give a small contribution as a representative of Dom in the council of the city of Skopje Given the limited time I will speak about the action plan For Skopje as a green city This is a new initiative that started a year and a half ago March 2019 under the patronage of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Skopje is the first city in North Macedonia that joined the green cities with the EBRD Started the development of the action plan for a green city that will Help establish, prioritize, respond to the most urgent challenges regarding environment The EBRD program for green cities strives to create a better, more sustainable future for the cities and the citizens And this is done through establishing, prioritizing, connecting city challenges for environment Investing in sustainable infrastructure, adequate policies, etc The green city action plan has a goal To make Skopje a leading sustainable city in the region Offering the citizens a high quality of life through clean air, clean water, green areas accessible for all Skopje's political, cultural, economical, academic center in Macedonia is also a center for industries Like metal, chemical, wooden, textile, leather and printing And the industrial development of the cities followed by development of trade, logistics, banking And many other transport, culture, sports In the past decades, there were efforts to develop Skopje in a different direction, in a more sustainable way These efforts were viewed separately and were implemented at ACTA Today, a few of the cities trying to solve those problems in a more systemic way The approach of the green city offers integrated and multi-sectoral process Challenges on the environment are determined periodically, depending on priorities and they are appropriately responded to This is achieved through green investments by giving services, regulations, valid instruments Or by changing part of some policies I feel that through this approach, Skopje has a great potential to develop as a green city On a path that leads to green growth The acute problems persisting in the city and now, as in the past, can be put in several areas First of all, Skopje is considered, as data shows Obviously, one of the most polluted cities in Europe And it takes its toll Air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions mainly come from huge dominance of private vehicles That use fossil fuels, as well as the availability of some sort of alternative transport The public transport system is in urgent need of improvement So it can be a cost-effective transport and Competitive to the private vehicles So it can reduce their use As one example, the city made improvements this year With a decision from last year Through financial cooperation with the government For the procurement of 40 new buses And methane and part electric This similar is the situation with the non-motorized types of transport How to provide infrastructure And especially for bikes and electric scooters Here, there is also a small contribution in Skopje By the city In the past two years, there were 14 new bike lanes built Of course, this is not enough, but the construction will continue And also the revitalization of the existing ones The contribution is made also by subsidies for citizens to use these transport options More often Like bikes and electric scooters, and that was a very successful action Especially this past year I hope next year also it will be planned in the city budget Energy supply and energy efficiency of residential, commercial and industrial buildings Also contributes to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions It is also connected to energy supply Where not all citizens have access to the central heating But also the city has contributed Especially in the past two years So all high schools under the city jurisdiction are energy efficient now In the past year, in order to reduce the emissions, the city has given Subsidies for inverter air conditions It's a transitional period after which eventually Gasification of these areas will be in place Collection and treatment of solid waste is one of the problems that all cities face This has implication affecting biodiversity, ecosystems, green areas And this solid waste management can be reduced by reduction of use of materials With poor quality, especially those used for heating And thus improving the air quality Facilities for recycling, composting, separation Are not enough So the city should contribute to more of these facilities And a good example is the new waste collection system It's functioning from last year From the center of the city to the other municipalities With bigger waste bins and modernization of the Mechanization of the drizzle landfill Also wastewater treatment contributes to problems with the quality of water, soil And this has implication on ecosystem, biodiversity We see the problem in connecting some buildings, the residential buildings, to the main sewage System, lack of wastewater treatment plants, which contributes to poor water quality In the Varda river City of Skopje has a positive take on this So ongoing is the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant That will contribute to a lot for improvement of quality of water As Maya, the president of, don't mentioned, urban growth, urbanization In the negative context This urban growth has wide range implications Improvement and protection of the land use is a common question Examples of increased urbanization Increase this energy demand Transport, more solid waste Wastewaters In the business increased demand for drinking water, endangering Protected areas, etc Skopje in the past two, three years Changes the way of action As well as the city policy in view of this And increased investment in green areas Skopje invests in new parks Two new ones are in the center of the city One near the city mall And the other one is near the field harmonic Field harmonic And is continuously revitalizing the existing parks And the greening continues But with adequate greenery Which is autonomous to the region Briefly this action plan Additionally will be reviewed in the sections that were described It is over 100 pages It's worth reading And I think that the city of Skopje is a place of hope Thank you Thank you, Christa, for briefing and informing us in a short time On the work of the city council in the past period I hope in next year's elections we'll have more green counselors So citizens can benefit from it It is obvious with the two of you green counselors in the city council The city policies slowly change And we hope for bigger changes in the future I would like to invite Sretimir Nikovsky, counselor from Krivapalanka municipality Greetings to you all As a counselor from the green party and as a professional I'm obligated to take care of the environment And people's health as well Since I come from a city that represents a gate to the European Union And our place is in the EU The first impression a foreigner sees in Krivapalanka will give him a sense It's the same more across Macedonia So we need to be working for a clean green eco city In order for our environmental efforts to be successful Big part of the city budget is dedicated to this About 15 to 17 percent 27 to 31 million donors A decent sum of four different environmental projects And since my first mandate and now in my second mandate as a counselor I advocate for Krivapalanka to be a green city Caring for the green areas outside the city is one of my priorities So I worked hard to plant trees around the city We achieved to plant 2500 trees And the city green has been multiplied to a substantial level Last year over 2000 square meters of new greenery were set up This year over 5300 square meters And we also planted about 500 trees And another activity in cooperation With the local utility company And that produces flowers was 20,800 flowers were planted Same as the number of inhabitants of the municipality of Krivapalanka What I've worked on from the start was for Krivapalanka to have clean drinking water So the water supply partly with asbestos pipes to be replaced Asbestos is a toxic material in the country So the initiative of all our counselors was accepted by the city and the mayor So the process of replacement of asbestos pipes is almost finished With plastic pipes that are safe for distribution of drinking water Among other topics I advocated for Shutting down reducing cleaning the illegal landfills And the city landfill on the city outskirts is about to be conservated Because the regional landfill is being constructed near Svetimikola for several cities So in near future this landfill which is an ugly site will be conservated Several actions to clean illegal landfills were organized With different names municipality without waste clean work Clean community clean municipality in which tons of waste was collected and properly dislocated To deal with these sanitary issues we had to provide a number of waste containers So the idea was for the utility company to provide these containers for waste selection And this was my commitment from the start So in time five green containers for glass waste were procured This procurement was beneficial because this year close to five tons of glass waste was collected A big number of glass waste indeed And I procured were five metal cages for selection of cardboard packaging Five metal cages for plastic bottles and two metal storages for electronic waste From the company Elkumak And collected were around eight tons of electronic waste 50 kilograms of light bulbs and 20 kilograms of batteries etc This is a good number of waste selected and disposed properly As a counselor I worked on air pollution even though Kriva Palanka is a clean city In winter since primary source for heating is wood Deer gets polluted City counselors advocate for putting measuring stations and properly inform the City about the number of toxic particles in the air There was a positive input but unfortunately it's costly so we have to wait for An investment in order to acquire those instruments Since wood is the primary heating choice among citizens Along with fog and emissions from the vehicles it contributes to air pollution So one of my priorities was gasification of the city Unfortunately even though the main gas line passes along the city We still don't have connections Although we have the best gasification program some say Finances are needed for the gasification What was planned for commercial facilities first and followed by private housing The latest event is the procurement of the so-called Plastic OMAT Automated machine Within the project for a clean city use the Plastic OMAT implemented by the North-Eastern plan region This Plastic OMAT, the vending machine, was placed so citizens can dispose of Used plastic bottles and cans There are not about degradable waste and are a serious threat to the environment So placing this vending machine in the city center in front of the supermarket for the first Time the benefit will have all citizens that use it Because using the software in the machine Every disposed bottle is registered and with the mobile app the user can Use discounts in the supermarket in front of the which the machine was placed This way the benefit is for the citizens for all of us as well as the city And finally this is something new and interesting in Krivapalanka And it will be officially open for use at the end of the month We will advocate for as many machines around the city because plastic waste is very damaging Due to its long period of degradation and level of pollution to the environment Now we'll stop here given the time for presentation And I thank you and wish you to stay in good health Thank you Stratimeros We all know you're a doctor a medical worker and currently directly dealing with the COVID crisis and we are thanking you for it and thank you for the fine presentation That truly shows how initiatives in small cities can be implemented more easily You presented a lot of initiatives and a lot of implemented projects As I see it it's a start of a transformation in waste and water management Thank you for the presentation we will continue the discussion with the other counselors But before we continue the presentations I want to play a video that's related to the topic of the next speaker This is one of the oldest excavations in the Balkans with a relatively homogenous structure from crystal, stikarp and magmatite created by the tectonic clashes on the land of the crust around 500 million years ago in the early Paleozoic era The volcanic activity on the planet is not seen in the Volosnovian crater of the surrounding clashes, but it is also said that the proud witness for the endless internal activity on the planet is the one who does not follow the sun as it is in the West Although the old Sasi, which is on the left side of the Osogovic planet, knows that near the rich nature, at the end of the Lovotov-i-Cinkot, the Carpites are hiding from gold and silver The tectonic clashes and long-term erosion, but they managed as a sculptor on the other side above the material, creating rocks, Carpites and rocks, such as the Radkova rock and the Orlov stone This is the place where today is known that there are around 20 rare species, except for the rare Egyptian species that are proud to be on the throne of the kingdom of the birds Circovite, however, in Gnezden, under the highest points of this area, is required from some kind of glacial activity, and Osven, which is full during the observation, is created on the rivers and rivers, which are the gas of the jet of the generations About 50% of the Osogovic population has disappeared from the family and is formed close to the nature Unusual from Spletna, Gaber and Dab, the water from the village of Zelengrad is an ancient refuge, which dates back to, say, the unchanging form of the distant home, and the Prasum characteristics also have the sound of a wooden stone, which with its ancient stem is home to specific cows, birds and insects Here, the old lady clearly confirms her presence on the house, with the soup of the Alps climate, which in combination with the numerous sources and stones, is a perfect recipe for the forestry of the forest On the whole of Sasa, where the stone river begins its journey from Trmentec, there is an extremely important florist mountain where rare species are found, which are primitive from Lycopodium clavate, which exist since the time of Nathinosaurus The important and hidden depths of the mountain, this can be found on many warm and warm forest species There, the mountains, the refuge and the specific forest of the Prasum clavate, such as the clavate from Lipi, Belgaber, Orevi, and at the end of its west side, from Massivot, near the village of Raičani, there are few remains of the Džužestbade, dark green, light green, yellow From the red color, from time to time, the different inhabitants of this jungle Here, the nature created 780 rivers, rivers and rivers on the surface of around 1000 sq.m. on the so-called Sogovsk planina or the paradise of the land Everyone is talking, without stopping, no one is repeating themselves, and there are centuries ago living 10 species of fish, 150 species of unemployed on the bottom, about 40 species of wild animals and other species of water animals Here, over 3,000 aquatic, collected animals and plants, some of them, for the first time, are described for the plants and they are called Osogovikus, Osogovensis, or, simply, Osogovski Slanabara, which is located directly under the Tsarev Vrv, is a chivalrous drink of water and with its low pH, low concentration of food substances, it is also a home specific flora adapted for long, dry periods and lack of food Here, the river Nagorekon, the first river of the river, is 2,252 meters above sea level The first river of Osenkite, Dabot, Yassenot, Leskate and Gaberot, which is about 123 species of wild animals and plants 55 species of cows, over 260 species of wild animals and insects and, of course, 14 species of animals and, of course, 100 species of birds and, of course, 32 species of birds and, of course, the cows, as you know, have crossed the border of 1,000 meters above sea level and, of course, the high mountain ranges from the Brdski Passišta, Dabov and Bukovšumi to the Mosaichno and Prepleten and Solivadi and the Obrabotljevi Površini and, of course, the 28 rural villages where the house is traditionally built far away from the neighbors as every family wants to build a house and, of course, to preserve for themselves what is more important than this place The inhabitants of the centuries use them for the benefit of the children of the wild and, of course, they are interested in the environment and the views of the birds and, of course, there is also the Katempeča in the front of the village You should know about the quality of the forests, forests and all the properties on the villages and the smell of the beautiful berries makes the wind and the wind endemic In particular, the natural and cultural heritage is complemented The village of Lesnovo and the building of the monastery of St. Gavril Lesnovski and the old building that is buried at the end of the monastery doors is alive until the tens of thousands of suns and the same amount of suns and there is no doubt about the changes of the generations and traditions of the new building The echo of the carpets remains the only one of the white new traditions of the places from the village of Lesnovo For the mountaineers there is a lot of mountaineering but if you ask the cyclists who call them wild and impregnable they will see the cinemas and the forests of the forests and other noisy residents of the village Here and only here if you are patient and enjoy the greenery of the golden candle and the Yosovian tarpaulin and maybe the happy and lively star in the 6th chuchuliga and the yellow moon of the Galka If you are fast enough maybe Yosovian from the endemic race That's why the part of this natural diamond in the eastern Europe deserves to be protected because the nature will continue to build harmony and only this natural wealth will be preserved for the next generations so that they can create and bring the history to us These silhouettes of the young people of the region are clear, you, you and everyone and at the same time the nature should give us a good news The nature may be without us but maybe it's not without us and nearby cities as well having a national park Thank you, Alexander for the invitation I really enjoyed this video I hope all present enjoyed this Osogovo is a protected area proclaimed by the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning few days ago I'm a councillor in Municipality Probistip is a mining city and I have a bit different presentation than what you usually hear from me I think you will enjoy it A protected landscape is a type of protected area it falls into category 5 according to the international community for conservation of nature A protected area is a place where the connection between man and nature over time has created area of rare character with high ecological, biological, cultural and landscape values In the protected area it's most important to preserve the connection between man and nature because it's crucial and most important in protection and management of the protected area The main goal of the protected area is to practice nature through the protection of traditional historical practices of natural resource management Osogovo has become a protected area due to the diversity and the richness of biodiversity geodiversity, hydrological characteristics landscape and other values One of the ways in which this type of protected area works is to maintain the balance between nature and human culture by protecting the area and the way of life of the local population The proclamation of an area as a protected area contributes to the protection of certain types of species and their habitats The Radkovaskala site covers 1619 hectares and is representative of the Osogovo rural area It has high values from a cultural and natural aspect It's important for the conservation of birds especially for the globally vulnerable Egyptian vulture that nests here There is an abundance of plant species in Osogovo as well The Osogovo Genista is a local endemic plant species found only in the Osogovo mountains This dwarf legume with yellow flowers grows on open high mountain pastures in very small areas around Tsarevharv In the Bregelnitsa region you can find wolves foxes and even bears and wild boars This region is also home to about 50 species of mammals A significant part of them can be found predominantly in the protected area and have conservation status This is especially true for the bats of which as many as 6 new species has been recorded In the Bregelnitsa region a water lizard has been observed which is from the amphibian class As we see in the picture the griffon vulture is our largest bird whose wingspan can reach up to 2.8 meters It can be spotted near the Bregelnitsa Tsarnarika and the river and in Bervo Now more than ever we have the opportunity to set up new tourist practices that are safer, more environmentally friendly and more sustainable Visitors and many people have the opportunity to try delicious local food climb mountain peaks breed mountain fresh air develop sport tourism as the region is rich in hiking cycling and winter sports Which are the economical benefits, they are vast The protected area brings employment opportunities and socio-economic development of the area through recreation and tourism The area is protected but is managed which can offer a number of natural products and ecosystem services Through this type of protected area protected are local agro biodiversity and traditional agricultural practices As we can see in the slide the economic benefits are huge forest fruit pickers with blind and controlled fruit picking will provide a source of income for the coming years and their products will have higher price because they come from protected area Hotel owners, hotel managers and caterers expect an increased number of tourists The beekeepers will have opportunity to brand their products and the opportunity to network with the beekeepers first from the region the mountaineers in the protected area expect to improve the conditions for mountaineering through hiking trails, educating mountain guides and enriching the tourist offer in all seasons Osogovo is one of the most suitable mountains for mountain biking livestock farmers through state and foreign funds will be able to provide conditions for production of cheese and other dairy products Farmers will have branded and recognize products produced according to traditional practices and for that will be able to use state subsidies Women farmers for their dairy products will have higher market value due to the environmental origin they will be able to use funds from the European Union and the state funds the guard service that will take care to reduce all illegal activities that harm nature thus will preserve the Osogovo mountains for the future generations there will be existence for whole families and thus the migration of young people will be reduced the protected area will provide plant development and joint promotion of the region will become recognizable and it will be possible to use ear market funds for rural development protected areas are truly a boon for the whole community we hope that Proberts deep as a city will have a big benefit knowing that it's a mining city and there was a skepticism how it can become a green city with the Osogovo protected area I think it can be achieved thank you for your attention thank you Svetlana I feel all will agree that your transformation is what we all strive for congratulations on the new national park in Macedonia it was declared couple of days ago it's official now thank you for reminding us and for sharing your emotions and thoughts for the future we continue with another presentation an urban topic in the municipality of Aerodrom the city of Skopje we have a green counsellor our young counsellor Ivana Zraveska hello to everyone thank you for the invitation counsellor in the municipality of Aerodrom most working in the national hydrometrological service and I have a master's in agricultural sciences and management in rural tourism counsellor in the municipality of Aerodrom from the start of my mandate I face different challenges victories, defeats and decision making as a green counsellor my vision for the municipality of Aerodrom is improved quality of life of all citizens more green areas reducing pollution improved air quality as well as providing help better infrastructural solutions my contribution as a counsellor is based on providing assistance and counselling to citizens in many municipalities who very often have wrong perception about solving their problems and they are usually regarding sanitary and waste solutions urban solutions as well as proposals and initiatives for different needs and problems citizens face especially proud of the cooperation with the mayor and other counsellors which unanimously have voted for my amendments for subsidies of bikes and air conditioners one of the major problems my municipality faces is the faster urbanization as a counsellor I fight for synchronized implementation of legislation in this area with the fast and irregular growth in urbanizing space accent is put on construction and not synchronized with green area or improved air quality new green jobs parks and bike lanes as well as youth centers as a result two detailed urban plans were approved which I voted against because they are not in line with my vision as a green counsellor nor with the needs of the citizens that elected me and who I represent in the council my future goals as counsellor are setting up solar heating panels in public facilities opening vegetable gardens in kindergartens planting trees and taking care of the greeneries as well as subsidies for households for isolation of residential facilities all these initiatives lead to one goal improved quality of life for the citizens as well as reducing pollution lower electricity bills and education of the the youngest ones about organic food production although this seems very easy my experience showed it's not but if you are honestly fighting for something significant for the community we live in we shouldn't give up only with dedication, persistence and the well together we can achieve our common goal to live in a clean and healthy environment thank you for your attention thank you Ivana for the presentation I would just like to remind you since many of the counsellors were present at the first event that the project led by Giev is led by Kati the project leader is about practices in parts of Europe where networks of cities exist they take each other's experiences on energy economy as Kati mentioned and social issues also so in the next period the project will map even more such practices in Europe and counsellors we have access to them and if interested to implement them in their cities I have a question for Kati since you shared a good example for us the experience how transport can be transformed to public transport biking and pedestrians that is something we want to see in our cities you have mentioned several times the process at the beginning was challenging and difficult so I want to know what challenges in planning the project and the implementation were faced and whether the support of the citizens was there in the start or was there a hesitance and how they achieved to involve all the citizens in supporting the process because support from the local population is really important when planning transformations like this yes so recruiting citizens to adhere the project was very important in the beginning people and especially local traders were very much against it because making the city centre car free they saw it as a big problem for their business because they thought they needed cars that otherwise people could not reach them and same was for shops there was a lot of protest but the local councillors did go through with it the city went through with it but it was a participatory process so they they asked for the opinion of the younger people the students, the older people the working people the people living there the people not living again so there was a lot of interviews and a lot of research for their opinion on it and they were also informed of every step of the way and it was of course very gradually implemented the first steps were already taken in the early 90s and now we are 2020 so it was step by step and gradually the people saw that actually the people did not stay away from the city centre it was not a problem at all on the contrary the city of Ghent became even more and more popular and if you go there now all restaurants well not now but in a normal situation all restaurants are full there's a lot of people walking in the city of Ghent just because it is so so nice such a nice city the city was returned to the citizens and it is no longer in the possession of the cars and so even after every step there were new questionaries sent to the people to ask for their opinion and to see where they needed to improve certain things because in the beginning there was a lot of protest because the public transport was not fitted enough to the cuts for the cars so they needed to work on that but they did so there were a lot of improvements along the way that were implemented and the citizens input was very important for that that is very important thank you Maya thank you for the nice question it's really interesting with Ghent I have a short question as well since I've heard of this project before I started working with Gev is it true that again there are people that are deciding to give up ownership of vehicles do we have a translation we don't have a translation well yes because public transport has improved a lot and because there's a lot of investments has been done into cycling infrastructure people indeed start using their cars less and less and I mean I even feel the same in Brussels I live in Brussels without this whole policy of the circulation policy we're not that far yet but we're also investing in these different mobility and you feel that the pressure to use the car is slowing down it's just more pleasant to just take a bicycle because often it's faster than a car and you pay a lot of money for a car in the end and we see a lot of initiatives of car sharing initiatives so there's in Ghent there's this beautiful car sharing initiatives of electrical vehicles so there's a whole new movement that grows alongside the circulation or the mobility plan that just strengthens the whole movement and the whole switch to a new mode of transportation thank you for the answer I hope councillors and here in the future we'll take these initiatives and establish cooperation with our partners from other countries and maybe in their own way we'll implement these examples develop project ideas in municipalities throughout Macedonia any other comments? Aleksandar and Gusev from Municipality of Karpoz in Skopje Vorkati how much does living in Ghent cost what is the tax on a 60 square meter apartment so what percentage is this from the average pay from Belgian citizens because I feel that living in a smart city is expensive so the question is are people in Skopje prepared to live in such a city if we want to live in a city like that it will cost us in that case on election day no one demanding this would win a vote so you're in a mystical circle we want a smart city all the commodities commodities of modern living but we are not prepared to pay for it since our standard is low but also on a conscious level not everyone is prepared to open the wallet 95% of the population is not prepared to pay for that let's maybe call it luxury it's not luxury but for residential buildings not to be constructed and not to have aggressive urbanization costs need to be provided from other sources among which property taxes will rise taxes flowing from central to local management in order to achieve this goal which looks good and is successful here in our country we have to change a lot of things so these parameters are asked about how high is the tax in Ghent for 60 square meter apartment this is an entry parameter for us to know what we want to achieve and how to get there how how okay well first of all I don't know the figures that I am not sure of but it is a fact that these developments in Ghent have caused that the prices of houses and apartments went up a lot by a lot so these measures do need to be combined with social measures so that certain people don't fall out so it is important to integrate the social aspect into every sustainability project or environmental project because education always needs to be just and that is something that the city of Ghent did think about as well to take everyone along so that the elderly people the poor families would not be deprived from their the things that they had before so it's a give and take so the city of Ghent did provide social measures to protect these poor families or elderly people so that they would not be shut out of the whole transition but I cannot give figures unfortunately I'm not aware of that but it's also these questionaries after every step of the way that gave the city insight in the situation of all these different people and that gave them a reason to improve certain aspects and yes financing or social measures is definitely part of that to make it affordable for everybody Thank you Katin the point is if we want to live in the nice cities we need to pay something not only migrate in Skopje extra migration everything's happened here extra migration a lot of people come here so we need to be prepared to pay the price for that or I don't know that was the point of my nation Thank you Thank you Katin Thank you Angushev this was a crucial aspect of transformation of course Katin is leader of the project and has mapped perhaps 10 maybe 50 transformative practices around Europe she researches intensively she is familiar with the problem but Alexander Angushev comes from one of the richest municipalities in Macedonia municipality of Karapush in the city of Skopje with biggest debt as well and wanted to say that this will be a good momentum for communication in the future all of us involved in the project are open to you since the project is to show our transformative practices as well in western Balkans as well to see what Europe has so with this type of communication in the next year or two we can get to some starting solutions at least from municipality of Kumanovo wants to say a few words I will not speak about the problems Kumanovo faces when I come to Skopje fill it some metropolis listening to you I see you have problems what has been done in the past 30 years in Kumanovo regarding urbanization pollution industry streets you feel like you are in the middle of a US car market as Angushev said well try and find the pedestrian lane I walk on the street this is another topic I just want to mention it you often hear citizens of Skopje complain about migration as everything is constantly repeated in Skopje and it's not the young people's fault I know their troubles they buy tiny apartments so they wouldn't travel for work from Kumanovo to Skopje although they don't like the city regarding all your presentations since I work in education I'm pleasantly surprised by my students from rural areas that they tell me they are more often moving from Kumanovo building nice houses in the next period for those that are wealthier who can afford it they will live even Kumanovo and move to cottages and rural mountain areas and they live there in Kumanovo the problem is the urban plan arranged to do traffic needs at a recent conference we shared what functions in the world Kati can tell about Brussels it was an example about Paris why not move the vehicles away from the city there was an initiative for vehicle pollution stickers why drop this idea we should revive that idea it's we cannot believe the numbers 62% but let's trust the World Health Organization we use wood for heating also in Skopje urban planning is poor people in Gaziba Bar most affected it's where industry was located simply we cannot compare and Yusuf says in 30 years maybe we'll catch up with Brussels let's start with the simple steps since we have different culture and consciousness for example cycling for Skopje is a good idea but for Kumanovo with all the uphill terrain cycling is hard to promote the natural terrain and the location is relevant also for the pollution regarding pollution as I as I move through Skopje crossing Partizanska Boulevard as a pedestrian I have some sort of view of mountain Vodnoiskopje but in Kumanovo we've created an artificial valley first time what I saw in Skopje was the black snow in the past period beginning half city transport I wondered how snow can turn black but in the past period Skopje was smaller Kumanovo was even smaller 115,000 inhabitants 30 years ago but with the illegal constructions and the expansion I think we need to revisit the idea of vehicle pollution stickers maybe Kati can tell us if this functions in Ghent or Brussels I know it works in Paris you have days with bands and you only drive in the designated days let's start with the simple things that's my thought and to agree with Andrew we are in a closed circle voters will be turned away if we cut to strict measures but I should repeat it's all about raising awareness as Kati said it's very important to be close to citizens and ask questions give polls and do a lot of work that's what we need to raise awareness and it's done nicely with explanations not just by saying yes to the poll without knowing the facts as I heard started in the 90s so we need to start it already talk to neighbors should they think about wood heating and pollution etc we like this on national and local level I believe so thanks to Kati but we are far from their example but from the discussion I realize I'm on the right track with my thoughts of the need of polls communicating with people explaining nicely transparency that is what we like in every sense thank you once again Kati these are my thoughts I can do it in the educational process I trained students how to monitor from the website of the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning the air pollution since we educate online currently a student measuring station joint and another from a different city location through air care app since I trained them how to monitor the air pollution through the application the Ministry of Environment website and she's official website our our analysis confirmed that near the measuring station in the air care app showed same values unlike the measures there at my location my school's location they were much higher but what should I complain for when walking through Kumanovo I see a lot of people burn wood for heating there's a lot of vehicles oil from the fast food industry is burned it's the same story everywhere not just in Kumanovo we generally need state regulations for wood for heating maybe maybe I discuss a bit harshly my educator my vacation but I wanted to express that we lack the most thank you all thank you Tukati once again thank you Ogitsa you didn't waste time you expressed relevant concerns I want to reply to Ogitsa's comment I agree with your comment about the stickers two years ago and the proposal for amendment of the law was given and it stated stickers for polluters in traffic red, yellow, green what happened in a long debate for months the proposal was stuck in parliament discussions with negative comments me and Liliana Popowska my colleague from DOM parliament member since we believe it's a good solution we defended it but in the end the decision passed but not obligatory but as a choice by the citizens because the public pressure and the opposition even the position that suggested it with two so the changes were accepted and the sticker made non obligatory so I agree here communication with the public is very important if we started communicating earlier about benefits for all of us maybe we wouldn't have such negative stance and a better legal solution would have been found I just wanted to explain the issue around the proposal for the amendment of the law I will just rephrase the question from Ogitsa Tukati does Belgium have categories for vehicles depending on the pollution they generate the proposal in our country was for vehicles to have green, yellow or red sticker depending on the level of pollution they create with the red being the high polluters so in specific days we don't circulate in traffic and the ones with green stickers have a pass through the week non-stop in Belgium we don't work with stickers but we do have low emission zones like Brussels enter of the biggest cities are low emission zones so highly polluting cars cannot enter the city any longer so they cannot enter the city at all yes I think it's a practice throughout Europe here however as Oliver said and Mike explained well the start is making the vehicles and marking the vehicles slowly those who pollute the most will be put out of use and this probably was a practice decades ago in Europe but we need to implement it in our country now we are having discussions so if anyone else has something to add please do I have a comment if you hear me I'll be brief I'm a member of the Green Party Don from Kumanovo representing the business sector in Kumanovo the whole discussion that we had was in a way giving complaints from all of us no matter what city we talk about in Kumanovo I think we need to give accent what steps we can do to spread our green idea in Macedonia we are all aware of the situation here as well around the world not to mention the green gas emissions we need to start acting in order to develop it in a green society this was a brief comment on my part let's start action now greetings to all thank you for the brief comment I think you mentioned in the next aspect and Kati was that a municipality should have a big budget to implement these green policies and measures but if we know in advance for example the city of Skopje and the bike lanes it would be nice as it's a practice these past two years every boulevard and main boat that gets reconstructed to have a white bike lane which is a good practice in that way in future we can create a network of bike lanes and increase the mobility I live in a part of the city where it's accessible the western part of Skopje it's connected by bike lanes have any other comments Vasylka from Skopje from municipality of center I would like to share a good initiative I know some of you are familiar with my work the civil sector and my work on school projects I think it's a good way to achieve something because we need to work a lot on education I work with CSO Slowfoot and it's a third year that we lead a project with schools for vegetable gardens it was financed by the city of Skopje for two years and last year by the ministry for environment the project is well received in the schools in my experience from the three years involved I think we should help in institutionalizing this project idea to ask the ministry of education to make it part of the educational program only in that way it will be it will serve its purpose to the maximum and be sustainable thank you Vasilka I know the work you do and it's truly transformative practice with urban gardens in schools and thank you for the comment Divna Vidic has comment I joined a bit late I don't know if waste separation was mentioned on city level not just Skopje but all municipalities in the country I think we pay very little attention to it households are not used to separate waste we behave carelessly waste is one of the biggest polluters in cities we should work on raising awareness about the importance of waste separation and it's time to start the process of waste separation a long time ago maybe 20 years ago I was in Italy for 3 months and even then every household was obligated by law to separate waste and leave it for in that manner citizens in our country dispose of waste in a free manner not minding the designated areas for that and usually there are no penalties for that I think we are going backwards in this area there was a time when Skopje was one of the cleanest cities now it's very dirty it's very important for our tourist centers like Struga the municipality of Struga where I often go in summer where the coastline to be clean it's dirty and councillors in municipalities should pay attention to the process of waste collection and separation it should start even in kindergarten there is a process of raising awareness among the youngest ones after in schools and so on it's time if we speak about clean cities to start with the waste and separation and by legal obligation and afterwards it's repurpose and recycling I can't remember besides Pakomak another company that recycles they pack and send plastic waste to another destination since I don't recall that we have a company in Macedonia that recycles repurposes or reuses plastic any kind of plastic waste or any kind of waste it applies to any type of waste not just what I mentioned plastic with the reuse of other types of waste not only awareness can be raised but improvement in hygiene will be achieved in the city and decrease pollution and create new jobs with repurposing and recycling waste, thank you thank you Divna I agree with you we pay very little attention to recycling as I can see during the years recycling is voluntary with separation on main streets in Skopje for plastic glass and electronic waste citizens recycle on voluntary basis they have at least a disposable disposal point I want to mention our colleagues from Gogrin in the past period they had an interesting initiative with putting cardboard boxes in residential buildings initiating voluntary recycling that a lot of buildings applied for and the organizers put the boxes and when they are full they collect them it shows that citizens are where recycling is good for the environment and the city and it improves quality of life and I think in future we need to work on this issue more and develop ideas that can move us towards a larger scale of waste separation and recycling thank you Divna I just want to mention that Kati is available for questions or informations during the whole project duration as well as the other European partners so we can contact them directly with this I want to conclude this event stay in touch you will be informed about the project results by mail but you can reach me by phone anytime all information collected within the project regarding western Balkans will be available as well as from the European partners so you can use this in your work thank you for joining us I invite you on December 15 to join us on another event related to energy transformation towards energy democracy also organized by Sunrise CSO together with the Green Foundation thank you all then thank you and goodbye