EU funding has enabled an NGO from North Macedonia to develop a virtual reality tool taking you back to the gladiator battles of 1,500 years ago.
Stobi in North Macedonia was once one of the most important cities in Europe. From around 200 BC, and for almost seven centuries after, it played a significant role in the Roman empire. At the crossroads of trade routes, it grew into an important town, which even minted its own coins. During Roman times, Stobi was the capital of the Roman province called Macedonia Salutaris, and its citizens had the same status as citizens of Rome. As in any other important Roman city, gladiator games were an indispensable part of urban culture. Today, Stobi is an important archeological site with Christian basilicas, baths, a theatre, a synagogue, the remains of roads and grand houses, and even a casino. Although life in the city will probably never be revived, its gladiators are coming back!
The concept of using historical and cultural sites as tourist destinations is still in its infancy in North Macedonia. Archeological sites often lack good visual presentation and information boards; storytelling rarely goes beyond brochures and posters, and there is little or no on-site audience engagement. However, a highly competitive tourism market requires cultural heritage sites to develop strategies and collaboration with creative industries to help them stand out. One such option is the use of innovative solutions such as a virtual-reality (VR) tour application as a tool to explore and revive cultural heritage. VR technology offers the public an opportunity to immerse themselves in a realistic reconstruction of events and stories that best represent any given cultural heritage site.
“The 3D environment presents the interior of the gladiators’ arena, and it also projects an introductory ceremony before a battle, as well as a generic crowd, providing visitors with a sense that they are part of the audience.”
Virtually among gladiators
In cooperation with the Stobi National Institute, and with the support of EU funding, the Center for Social Innovations Blink 42-21 NGO developed a virtual reality application that will engage visitors to Stobi in a gladiators’ battle performance inside the old theatre. Milan Tancheski, the manager of the project, explains that the VR application includes 3D visualisation and reconstruction of the theatre.
This enables visitors to gain a much deeper and more holistic understanding of the space, with unobstructed views of structures and major monuments that no longer exist. “The 3D environment presents the interior of the gladiators’ arena, and it also projects an introductory ceremony before a battle, as well as a generic crowd, providing visitors with a sense that they are part of the audience,” says Milan.
The development of this project was challenging. The city is in ruins, so first came the development of a screenplay and story as a basis for developing 3D models for characters and the surrounding architecture. As part of the process, an architect developed a plan of the old theatre and turned it into a 3D model. As a final part of the activity, the project had to develop life-size 3D models for the gladiators and for around 700 characters from the audience. In doing this, they consulted closely with experts and used historical data, so the experience is as realistic, and fact-based as possible.
“At its height, the theatre had 7,000 seats, and we managed to design and bring to life 700 characters, most of them dynamic: cheering or standing up. So you see the guy beside, behind or in front of you cheering or standing or sitting.”
About the project
The Tourism Development and Promotion Project, funded by the EU and implemented by the Regional Cooperation Council, has a budget of €5 million. It works to develop and internationally promote joint regional cultural and adventure tourism offers, increasing the number of tourists visiting the six Western Balkans economies, and extending tourist stays in the region. Blink 42-21 was among the grant recipients in the second round of grants – worth up to €54,000 each – awarded in October 2019. The Regional Cooperation Council is an all-inclusive, regionally owned and led cooperation framework promoting cooperation, reconciliation, and economic and social development in the region. It is financially supported by the EU.
If you visit Stobi now, you can ask for a virtual reality set, consisting of a laptop and VR glasses. With these, you’ll be seated at a designated place in the theatre. The moment that you put the glasses on and turn on the equipment, you travel back 1,500 years and are surrounded by an audience and able to enjoy a gladiator ceremony taking place on the theatre’s main stage.
“At its height, the theatre had 7,000 seats, and we managed to design and bring to life 700 characters, most of them dynamic: cheering or standing up. So you see the guy beside, behind or in front of you cheering or standing or sitting,” says Milan.
Homeowners taking out loans to make their homes ‘greener’ will be able to apply for up to 20% cashback, funded by the European Union. In Serbia, homeowners will be able to improve the energy efficiency of their homes thanks to a new credit line equivalent to €10 million provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) toErste Bank. In North Macedonia, more homeowners will be able to invest in domestic energy efficiency improvements, thanks to a new €2 million credit line that the EBRD is extending toOhridska Banka.
The lenders will provide these funds to help people install renewable and energy efficient measures in their homes, such insulated windows, heat pumps and solar panels. The cashback offers an extra incentive.
The financing is part of a larger €135 millionGreen Economy Financing Facility (GEFF)programme for the Western Balkans, which supports businesses and homeowners wishing to invest in green technologies. The programme is supported by theEuropean Union, theWestern Balkans Investment Framework and theAustrian Federal Ministry of Finance. To date, around 7,000 households in the Western Balkans have improved their energy efficiency through the GEFF programme with investments in projects that have contributed to a reduction of more than 10,000 tonnes of CO2emissions per year: equivalent to taking 6,000 cars off the road.
On 10 June, the EU’s Neighbourhood and Enlargement Commissioner, Olivér Várhelyi,participated in the Tirana Summit with the Western Balkans leaders. They discussed the implementation of the Economic and Investment Plan, put forward for the region by the Commission last autumn and looked ahead towards the Berlin Process Summit with the Western Balkans on 5 July.
The EU’s Economic and Investment Plan foresees up to €28 billion of investments, in grants, loans and guarantees, to help the Western Balkans with the post-COVID-19 recovery and with the convergence with the EU. The Plan also fosters regional integration and cooperation. The Common Regional Market that the Western Balkans leaders agreed to take forward at the Berlin Process Summit in Sofia last year will unleash the region’s growth potential and will, with practical decisions, make life easier for citizens and businesses.
On 10 June, the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM) presented its annual report on the level of media freedom and safety of journalists in North Macedonia. The report was prepared as part of the project Regional Platform of the Western Balkans, funded by the European Union.
The report measured three main indicators:
-The legal framework for media freedom
-The position of journalists in newsrooms
-The safety of journalists
Results revealed no improvements in 2020 in the media sphere, with instead an increasing trend of attacks on journalists and a deterioration in their security situation.
According to AJM statistics, a total of 14 attacks and serious threats against journalists have been reported since the beginning of 2020, out of which more than half were against women journalists. In comparison, in the previous year only four such incidents were reported, indicating a three-fold increase.
With EU and EBRD support, Montenegro’s Voli supermarket chain has launched the country’s first onlinegrocery service. Their easy-to-use platform now offers customers an array of more than 5,000 products for collection or delivery. This has made it easier for people to remain safe at home which is a crucial step in the fight against Covid-19.
Of course, shoppers were not the only ones who had reason to panic when the pandemic hit. When lockdown measures were introduced at the end of March last year, many farmers were left with tonnes of produce at risk of going bad because of restaurant closures. To help these businesses, Voli decided to partner with small Montenegrin agricultural producers and has since developed core supplier relationships.
Without Voli, it would have been almost impossible for these small local producers to reach consumers. The supermarket promotes a local system with fewer steps between grower and consumer. It is committed to paying a fair wage, is community-driven and diverse. The system also supports organic and sustainable farming and promotes transparency ‒ something extended supply chains cannot always do.
The EU-funded EU4TECH project announced that four Western Balkans Proof of Concept teams have been selected to join the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Jumpstarter programme. The SerbianMito-Fert-SignatureandFungpack projects, both from the University of Novi Sad, and the North Macedonian Innopodand ‘Snail Mucus Products’ start-up projects will join a selected group of Jumpstarters who will be offered intensive support to bring their early stage technology ideas to market.
Jumpstarter is EIT’s cross-industrial, pre-acceleration flagship programme. With the unique know-how of best-in-class experts and the creative community, the action helps idea-holders turn their ideas into business. EIT Jumpstarter helps innovators and entrepreneurs build a viable business model around their innovative product or service idea. If their business idea is considered sustainable, the EIT Jumpstarter team encourages them to register their company. The programme has a special focus on helping talent from Central Eastern and Southern Europe to validate their business concept, develop a business plan and pitch their ideas to potential future investors.
The EU4TECH WB PoC Project is funded under multi-country pre-EU accession funds (IPA) to provide hands-on support in taking 40+ promising inventions in the Western Balkans to market.
Touching people’s hearts through activism to support one of the most discriminated community in Albania
“Love is the vaccine against homophobia” was the slogan in use this year for the activities celebrating the diversity and pride of all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) people in Albania. It was a call from the LGBTI community for understanding and acceptance following what the Alliance Against LGBTQI Discrimination describes as a difficult year, full of uncertainty, fear and isolation during the coronavirus pandemic. The Alliance is one of the lead organisations behind the activism marking the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) which takes place in the week of 17 May.
Xheni Karaj, the Alliance’s Director, has been a leading activist for more than a decade. This year’s initiatives are focusing on public appearances and artistic performances. “Our community needs to know that we are here to support them, and 17 May is the right occasion to come out,” says Karaj. “They shouldn’t feel embarrassed or guilty.”
“The family should be a safe haven [for LGBTQI people]. Through art we strive to win people’s hearts in order to change their minds.”
Among the highlights of the programme, there was a queer monodrama staged at a cultural centre in the capital, Tirana. The play tackled the biggest fears of LGBTQI people in Albania, including self-acceptance, and the importance of being accepted in the family. “The family should be a safe heaven. Through art we strive to win people’s hearts in order to change their minds,” says Karaj. She is the first member of the LGBTQI community in the country to publicly come out to reveal her sexuality as lesbian. Karaj gets motivated in her work by the courage of LGBTI people to challenge the conservative Albanian society.
In parallel to raising awareness, the LGBT organisations have also engaged public institutions to commit to strategically ending discrimination against LGBTQI people countrywide. Research shows that twice as many LGBTQI people are targets of discrimination and exclusion compared to the rest of the population. With the support of a joint EU/ Council of Europe programme, the Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey, civil society organisations such as the Alliance are able to better bridge the gap between the community and law enforcement institutions. An example of this is the State Police Directory that has appointed contact points with the LGBTQI community and has improved its protocols for reporting cases of hate crime. Occasions of dialogue between the community and police are fostered through the programme initiatives, in Albania as well as throughout the region.
The Council of Europe has recently adapted and translated into Albanian a manual to guide police on how to respond professionally to such cases and has also organised activities to build capacity within the force. This manual triggers the setting up of a range of follow up initiatives that will address discrimination, inequality and strengthen inclusion within the police, and in the relation between police and citizens. These initiatives are guided by the EU and Council of Europe standards in respecting and promoting human rights.
“The only time sexual orientation was mentioned during the general election campaign was when political opponents wanted to insult each other.”
About the programme
The action on “Promotion of diversity and equality in Albania” aims at strengthening discrimination mechanisms in the country, including by better promoting/protecting rights of LGBTI persons and combating hate speech, in line with the standards and recommendations by the Council of Europe. Activities also aim to support Albania’s accession negotiations with the European Union in the field of fundamental rights.
The programme is financed under the European Union/Council of Europe Horizontal Facility II for the Western Balkans and Turkey (Horizontal Facility II) 2019-2022, a joint effort of the two organizations to meet beneficiaries’ reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with the European standards.
As part of the fight for a free and equal society for all sexual and gender identities, the Alliance considers that the main institutional challenge is with political parties. Almost ten years ago, with the support of the Council of Europe, changes were proposed to two key laws that allow same-sex marriage and gender recognition for transexual persons. However, the Assembly has never taken these into account.
“There is no political will whatsoever,” says Karaj, who seems disappointed but not surprised. The Alliance asked all parties taking part in the 2021 general elections about their plans to improve the position of the LGBTQI community, but with the answer was silence. As Karaj says, “The only time sexual orientation was mentioned during the general election campaign was when political opponents wanted to insult each other”. The NGO developed a public campaign pointing the finger at politicians who used such practices in the recent electoral campaign and over the past year.
Such an atmosphere means that community members are put off when reporting abuse, bullying and domestic violence. Nevertheless, according to Xheni Karaj, LGBTQI people in Albania are a resilient community who remain active regardless of the great pressure in everyday life. The community has an online peer support service to provide counselling and legal support. Solidarity with people in need has grown during the pandemic, mainly with the help of donors. The message they all send is “Krenar”. In English it translates as “Proud”.
The Young European Ambassadors (YEA) network is launching a new call for applications for young people from the Western Balkans on 10 June. If you are aged between 18 and 29, and want to become a leader of change, make sure to apply!
The YEA network launched in August 2020 with 60 game-changers from Albania, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The network promotes diversity and sharing a common vision: learning about one another and the European Union, pursuing creative projects, acquiring new skills, organising inspiring events – always guided by the idea that youth activism is the most powerful tool for social change.
The ‘YEAs’ are now a well-known network, sharing information with their peers about opportunities offered by the EU – from education and skills development, to travel, advocacy, and much more. Hoping for a safer year ahead of us, we are looking forward to welcoming new young leaders, who will inspire change within their communities and across the Western Balkan region and the EU.
Applications are open from 10 June until 10 July 2021 and all information about the selection process can be found in the webpage:LINK
Better data, better decisions – a first mapping of air quality carried out with EU support sheds fresh light on Albania’s pollution problem. Now it’s up to decision-makers to act.
Albania’s capital, Tirana, is a vibrant city with 850,000 inhabitants, and growing every day. A limited public transport infrastructure prompts residents to drive cars ever more frequently, and the demand for housing has led to a construction industry boom in the last three decades. All this is taking a toll on the levels of air pollution.
Without data, Albanians could only make assumptions about the quality of the air that they breathe. The environmental organisation, Milieukontakt, wanted to offer precise information so that better decisions could be made, based on data. Their plan was to measure pollution on a large scale – at over five hundred locations – and at the same time to involve as many people as possible in order to increase awareness of an environmental problem which is invisible but nevertheless makes such an impact.
“Everyone living in Tirana is aware of the poor air quality, but now we have the data to show exactly how bad it is.”
“Everyone living in Tirana is aware of the poor air quality, but now we have the data to show exactly how bad it is,” says Arion Sauku, Project Coordinator for Milieukontakt’s Green Lungs project which was the first to provide such comprehensive data on the problem. The project measured pollution with mobile meters in hundreds of locations across the capital, including the bustling city centre and the busy areas near schools, as well as at stops along Tirana’s longest bus routes.
“The greatest air polluters are the transport and construction industries. The levels we’ve measured regularly exceed EU standards. In some cases, they are three to four times higher,” says Sauku.
Over a three-year period, and with EU funding, Green Lungs extended its monitoring to three other large cities – Durrës, Elbasan and Shkodër. The results showed the same pollutants, caused by what is most in demand: housing and cars.
The European Union has identified depollution, including of water and soil, as one of the main areas that need to be addressed within its Green Agenda for the Western Balkans. This is a new growth strategy aspiring to switch from a traditional economic model to a sustainable economy, in line with the European Green Deal.
“There is plentiful information for decision-makers to act on – we’ve generated data, illustrated maps and narratives to indicate hotspots.”
About the programme
The Green Lungs project designed and implemented a platform for monitoring air quality and noise pollution, and evaluating the service provided by urban greenery. Green Lungs was supported by the EU-financed Civil Society and Media programme in Albania which is designed to strengthen cross-sector cooperation between the government and civil society, and to develop the capacity of civil society organisations.
Green Lungs’ online database means that anyone in the project cities can identify the air quality hotspots in their neighbourhood and the project has also educated young people about this issue in schools. In addition to air quality measurements, the platform established by Green Lungs also monitored human-made noise pollution and urban greenery. “There is plentiful information on all three components for decisionmakers to act on – we’ve generated data, illustrated maps and narratives to indicate hotspots,” says Sauku.
BIRN Kosovo is inviting students from Kosovo’s public high schools interested in media production, media literacy and tackling fake news to apply for training sessions on basic journalist skills. This activity is part of the EU-supported ‘Solidifying the Resilience of Kosovo’s Current and Future Journalists’ project. It will include ten training sessions for 200 high school students in a programme that aims to nurture young talent by mentoring students to produce videos, photos and articles.
At the end of each training session, youngsters will pitch their journalistic ideas, which the BIRN team will assess before selecting a minimum of 60 video and article pitches that will be published on the online platform KallxoRinia. The production process for all these articles will be overseen by a team of BIRN Kosovo editors.
There is currently a promising generation of high school students in Kosovo who have the talent, creative ideas and willingness to engage in investigative journalism. However, the media lacks a specific platform to provide these students with the chance to express their writing and community reporting skills. The main goal of the activity is to lay the path for increased independence, transparency, accountability, and civic engagement for these young people.
