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Author: WeBalkans

Damjan Zlatanovski

Written by WeBalkans on . Posted in YEA of the month.

YEA of the Month December 2022

Damjan is a wonderfully inspiring young person who has a clear vision of what the role of young people in today’s society represents: leadership, activism, and dedication.

Not only has he been one of the most active YEAs on WeBalkans events, but he is also very active in his local community. He organized our street action for International Women’s Day in Kumanovo as well as the event which promoted the 6th European Youth Goal, Moving Rural Youth Forward together with Europe House in Kriva Palanka.

Furthermore, he loves painting and he runs a small art shop! He enjoys reading and writing poems, essays, and short stories as well. One of his biggest passions is theatre and cinema. He also loves the feeling of being helpful and helping other people. He is passionate about environmental protection and believes that only by taking care of our planet and each other, we can thrive in a better future.

Winds of change for North Macedonia’s energy production

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EU support to the country’s green energy revolution.

Bogdanci is a small town in North Macedonia close to the border with Greece. The area is known for strong winds that blow throughout the year. The constant wind in Bogdanci is known as the Vardarec, which blows along the valley of the river Vardar at an average speed of 7.2 m/s, which makes it a pretty strong wind for this part of the Western Balkans. This is the reason that the feasibility study funded by the EU’s Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) identified Bogdanci as the ideal location for the first wind farm in North Macedonia.

“Everyone will benefit from the wind parks’ green energy, whether it is for households or industry: everyone will use green energy.”

The wind park is on a site selected following an extensive analysis of data and wind flow simulation. The construction of Phase I of the park, financed by loans from KfW and the electricity generation company ELEM, was completed in 2014 and has a capacity of 36.8 MW and average annual production of around 112 gigawatt hours, which supplies green energy for approximately 16,000 households in the south of the country.

In the first phase, 16 wind turbines were installed and a 11-kilometre-long 110 kV transmission line was constructed, along with a substation and access roads which connect the wind park with the energy network. Phase II is ongoing and will add 14 MW in electricity generation capacity to the existing facilities, to bring total capacity to 50 MW according to the original plan.

“North Macedonia has set very ambitious climate targets. For starters, there was the Paris Climate Agreement and the fact that the country is committed to reducing greenhouse gases by 52%. By the end of the decade, the country also has to have shut down the thermal power plants that are powered by coal, and that puts the country in a very difficult situation. Everyone will benefit from the wind parks’ green energy, whether it is for households or industry: everyone will use green energy,” says Robert Sarlamanov from KfW Development Bank.

“Average annual production will be around 112 gigawatt hours. To simplify, it would cover the annual consumption of energy for about 16,000 families, which would be approximately the annual consumption of the energy of the households from the neighbouring towns of Gevgelija, Bogdanci, Valandovo and Dojran.”

About the project

The Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) was jointly launched in 2009 by the European Commission (the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement – formerly DG ELARG, now DG NEAR),international financial institutions and bilateral donors, to enhance harmonisation and cooperation in investments for the socio-economic development of the Western Balkans. Together with the Western Balkan beneficiaries, the WBIF forms a unique partnership, defining priorities and support packages needed for strategic investments and institutional reform. The WBIF contributes to the European perspective of the Western Balkans not only by supporting investment projects improving competitiveness and growth, but also by reinforcing regional cooperation and connectivity.

The wind park is having a considerable impact on the energy supply of the region. “Average annual production will be around 112 gigawatt hours. To simplify, it would cover the annual consumption of energy for about 16,000 families, which would be approximately the annual consumption of the energy of the households from the neighbouring towns of Gevgelija, Bogdanci, Valandovo and Dojran,” says Goce Dzambalovski from Power Plants North Macedonia.

In recent years, North Macedonia has achieved the greatest progress in the Western Balkans in energy transition. The country is conducting renewable energy auctions, replacing coal with solar power and gas, and signing strategic investment deals not only for large wind parks but also for photovoltaic plants. According to the Balkan Green Energy portal, electricity production at North Macedonia’s renewable energy power plants increased 14.7% last year against 2020, while output at coal-fired power plants fell 17.1%. The share of renewable energy in total electricity production also increased, from 29.2% to 31.4%, thanks to flagship projects like the Bogdanci Wind Park project.

One-stop shops transform youth employability

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A novel EU-funded education approach works across the Western Balkans.

Civil society organisations in the Western Balkans have joined forces to introduce a novel approach in education that aims to increase the employability of young people. The project has one major partner organisation in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia. In each country, the project is addressing gaps in what is provided by education institutions.

There are no quick fixes for education challenges, as the Centre for Youth Work (Centar za omladinski rad – CZOR) from Novi Sad in Serbia knows very well. This organisation has been working with youth for years. It used to provide courses, as well as working on youth advocacy, but youth employability really caught the organisation’s attention.

 

“We had the idea of piloting integrated services based on a one-stop shop for services for young people.”

CZOR identified that the services that young people were accessing were divided between different organisations so that the service users had to go from one programme to another to get all the skills they needed for employability.

“We had the idea of piloting integrated services based on a one-stop shop for services for young people,” says Vanja Kalaba from CZOR. The approach was successful, with more almost half of the youth involved either getting employed or securing an internship. Then Kalaba was convinced that this model could be expanded into a regional project.

Giving education a regional shot

CZOR was able to take their niche intervention in youth education to a regional level with EU funding. They were joined by organisations in Albania, BiH, Kosovo, and Montenegro in this approach that would eventually increase young people’s chances of getting a job. “We wanted to strengthen organisations by creating a network that would make the actors more recognisable and relevant, supporting them to engage with the government on youth employment and outreach to youth,” says Kalaba from CZOR

The outreach had a special focus on young people with who are not in education, employment, or training. Hundreds of candidates enrolled, hoping to get the required skills after a year-long programme including digital skills and entrepreneurship starter packs.

The partners providing the service have rich expertise including career counselling, entrepreneurship, digital skills, and social media. Now the organisations are putting their strengths together and providing candidates with everything in one place, from sharing their expertise to contacting potential employers.

“Enrolling in this format of education made me understand the IT sector better and be able to apply the knowledge in the future.”

About the project

The EU-funded “My Career from Zero to Hero” (02hero) project aims to enhance the capacities of civil society to be effective and accountable independent actors able to engage constructively with governments on the identified thematic priority of innovative solutions for youth employment in the Western Balkan Strategy. 02hero is an integrated model for NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) youth employability, based on one-stop-shop methodology, which provides all youth employability services in one place to develop the skills for future jobs in the 4.0 digital revolution.

Sajra Hadžiarapović participated in training provided by the partner organisation in Bosnia and Herzegovina – “Centre for Youth Education” in the town of Travnik. She says that the tailor-made course taught by lecturers specialised in programming and web design addressed gaps in her education. An element that she appreciated even more was the introduction of successful entrepreneurs as guest speakers. “Enrolling in this format of education made me understand the IT sector better, and be able to apply the knowledge in the future,” says Sajra, who hopes that now she stands a better chance of employment.

The consortium of organisations is currently focused on sustainability of its model so that it can become the essential address for encouraging employability amongst young people.

EU, EBRD and Sweden support SMEs and female entrepreneurs in Montenegro

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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting women entrepreneurs and small businesses in Montenegro with a new financing package to Crnogorska Komercijalna Banka AD Podgorica (CKB), a member of the OTP group and the country’s largest bank. Some €3 million of the loan package will be allocated to supporting investments by women-led businesses. SMEs will also benefit from grant incentives of 15 per cent of the total loan amount, funded by the European Union.  
The funding will be provided through the EBRD’s Women in Business programme, which promotes women’s entrepreneurship and their participation in business. Women entrepreneurs will also have a chance to benefit from tailor-made business advisory services under the Bank’s Advice for Small Businesses programme. The Women in Business programme is co-funded by the government of Sweden, which has been supporting it in the Western Balkans since 2014.  
The loan will give SMEs in Montenegro access to finance, enabling them to go beyond their day-to-day operations and invest in upgrades with a view to reaching EU standards. SMEs can use the funds to upgrade technology, processes or services, particularly those related to product quality, health and safety and EU environmental requirements.

EU and IFC sign the 1st of a series of EU Economic and Investment Plan projects

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On 19 December, Katarína Mathernová, Deputy Director-General in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations and chair of the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), and Alfonso Garcia Mora, International Finance Corporation (IFC) Vice President for Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, signed the Eco-Industrial Parks project, the first IFC led project implemented through WBIF.

 

The Eco-Industrial Parks project aims to help advance de-carbonisation and improve resource efficiency of industrial parks across the Western Balkans. Preliminary diagnostic will be followed by targeted implementation of four pilot projects in industrial parks across Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Albania.

 

IFC, together with the World Bank, is the latest international financial institution to join WBIF, creating a partnership of critical importance to support private sector activity in the region, addressing urgent development issues, creating jobs, and ensuring long-term sustainability. Other projects in the pipeline aim to mobilize guaranteed financial instruments for creditworthy agribusiness clients, enabling much-needed sector modernization, digital transformation and help improve climate related capacity of financial intermediaries, allowing them to expand their outreach to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Ambassador Popa met with the Young European Ambassadors

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The Ambassador of the European Union to Montenegro Oana Cristina Popa met with the Young European Ambassadors as part of the “Youth Dialogue” initiative launched earlier this year. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss what has been done so far as part of this initiative, but also which topics should be better addressed in the future. Young European Ambassadors stated the problems that concern them, such as attacks on the LGBT community in Montenegro, biased media coverage and national divisions, a large percentage of young people who want to leave the country and their unclear role in society and more.

 

Ambassador Popa introduced them to the projects and activities that the European Union is implementing in Montenegro when it comes to overcoming these challenges, but also invited the young people to be active and propose concrete initiatives in order to improve their community.

 

Young European Ambassadors (YEA) is an initiative dedicated to young people in the Western Balkans, which the European Union launched three years ago in order to give them the opportunity to learn and experience the values ​​of the EU and promote the opportunities that this community offers. Recently, the third generation of YEA was announced in Montenegro, including Selda Jahjagić, Marija Blažević, Anđela Micić, Merita Dukaj, Edina Osmanović, Filip Jovetić, Lukas Junković, Milutin Radulović, Luka Vukotić, Andrej Bubanja, and Matia Prenkočević.

Putting Albania on the start-up map

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A flagship initiative funded by the EU helps to identify, promote and grow innovation.

Albania’s recent political milestone – the start of accession negotiation with the EU in 2022 – opens a new chapter for innovation and competitiveness in the country. With a traditional economy, the country has had steady growth since its switch to democracy three decades ago but showing tangible results in start-up development is important for Albania to move towards a sustainable economy.

 

Since Albania was considered to have untapped potential for start-ups, the European Union offered financing for projects to improve the innovative environment and breed new entrepreneurs. The “EU for Innovation” initiative brings best practices that enable ecosystem actors to come to life, facilitate them in working together, and support innovative start-ups.

“The ‘EU for Innovation’ has acted as a cornerstone of the ecosystem.”

When the initiative started back in 2018, it was obvious that there were entrepreneurial activities but that they were scattered and not helping the sector as a whole. EU for Innovation offered an address where resources could be pooled and activities coordinated.

“The ‘EU for Innovation’ has acted as a cornerstone of the ecosystem. We improved cooperation in the ecosystem; we created engagement platforms and repeatedly put emphasis on the importance of competition between stakeholders in order for the ecosystem to become more competitive overall,” says Sebastian Berwanger from the EU for Innovation initiative.

The government has added their support by initiating a law on start-ups as well as a grant scheme that will inspire new innovators over the next five years.

The EU for Innovation initiative filled in gaps in the Albanian ecosystem through an open co-creation process with key stakeholders. Taking this approach, the initiative piloted more than 35 projects from October 2018 to September 2022 and closely aligned its activities with stakeholders, policy makers and other donors.

Technology is an integral part of start-up solutions in Albania, whether in ICT, tourism, agriculture or agri-tourism, e-commerce, education, or health. Another positive pattern in the first cohort of founders resulting from the multi-university incubation programme, is its domination by women founders.

AlbaniaTech, the country’s yellow pages for start-ups

Taking the first steps can be a burden for every start-up, and that is why a team of innovators introduced AlbaniaTech, a platform offering information exchange, promotion and the chance to connect stakeholders. Built with support from EU for Innovation, the platform aims to unite and activate the key ecosystem players in Albania.

“Sometimes it is just one missing piece of information that young people need to be part of a programme, an opportunity to grow into a business,” says Prishila Gjoka from AlbaniaTech.

AlbaniaTech is free to use and with its database of 170 start-ups, it is the place to identify, promote and grow start-ups in Albania. The platform has grown by collaborating with an international provider that hosts  50 ecosystems globally, thus making the startup ecosystem of Albania visible to foreign investors, while also developing a digital welcome for whoever wants to start fresh in Tirana.

“Our platform enables start-ups to flourish.“

About the project

The EU for Innovation project seeks to improve the innovative environment and boost the creation of start-ups in Albania through capacity development for innovation; intensified linkages within the Albanian innovation ecosystem; and funding for innovative start-ups and innovation support providers. The project is considered as the flagship project for innovation and the start-up ecosystem in Albania.

The foundations have been laid for the next generations to build upon: AlbaniaTech is there to give wings to innovators and start-ups. “Our platform enables start-ups to flourish. Anyone looking back will see how the community has grown from where we started from scratch,” says Gjoka.

With serious interventions like EU for Innovation, Albania is slowly but surely earning a place on the map of start-up nations. The new dynamics in the Albanian innovation environment were highlighted on the European Innovation Scoreboard 2022 where Albania was noted as an Emerging Innovator alongside the other Western Balkans economies.

The Maribor effect: enhancing professional skills abroad

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The EU-funded Intervet project helps increase and create new opportunities for learning mobility in the Western Balkans.

Engjull Miftari is a 17-year-old high school student from Kosovo. He is in the final year of the “7 September” Vocational Education School in Prishtina. Engjull says he’s been fascinated by the catering business since a very young age. He explains that this was probably because of his father: “My father was a chef in a restaurant for over 17 years, and I would sometimes accompany him to work; I fell in love with this profession,” Engjull says. As it wasn’t possible to study cookery at high school, he chose to study tourism in general, including managing tourism agencies and reception desks, and he says that he doesn’t regret his decision – and even if he had a wider choice, he wouldn’t now choose a different professional school.

“The internship experience in Prishtina was very useful. However, I had the feeling that I needed more practical work experience as well as variety.”

Engjull proved to be a very good student, with high grades and praise from his teachers. As a result, he was assigned to a four-month internship at the reception desk at the Grand Hotel, one of the historical hotels in the centre of Prishtina. “The internship experience in Prishtina was very useful. However, I had the feeling that I needed more practical work experience as well as variety,” says Engjull. This opportunity came very soon when the EU-funded Intervet project launched a call for international internships for Vocational Education (VET) high school students from Kosovo.

As a VET School student, Engjull heard about this opportunity from his English language teacher and instantly decided to apply. He fulfilled the criteria by being a good student and having knowledge of English, and he was chosen among the young students from Kosovo who would join a one-month internship programme in a mountain hotel in Maribor, Slovenia. “I was very excited,” Engjull remembers.

“My experience during the internship in Maribor was excellent. Not only did I upgrade my professional skills, but I also learned about the culture and developed my language skills too.”

About the project:

The aim of the EU-funded Intervet Western Balkans project is to create opportunities for learning mobility in Western Balkans training centres, the internationalisation of the VET System and an improved culture of learning mobility in the field of VET. To achieve these, the project is implementing activities at two levels: on the one hand, the mobility of VET learners and on the other, the competence building of VET staff. Their consortium includes business and education associations, small and medium-sized enterprises, VET centres, chambers of commerce and universities from the six Western Balkans and eight EU countries, while Prishtina REA is the Kosovo country partner of the project. By the time it is finished, the project aims to have implemented 56 PRO-type mobilities, 360 placements of one month, 54 job shadowing experiences, participation of 36 VET teachers in summer schools – in Amsterdam, Bologna, Lyon, Maribor, and Seville, and participation of 72 VET teachers and managers in activities hosted by the Malta College of Arts, Science & Technology (MCAST), ROC Da Vinci College (The Netherlands) and SEPR (France)

During the internship in Maribor, Engjull practised his skills in various positions, from administrative support to the hotel maintenance service section, to restaurant service, reception desk and the spa. Apart from gaining professional experience, in his free time he also had an opportunity to visit the city with other students and to learn more about the culture. They visited the city museum and main attractions and also had the chance to visit Ljubljana, and the city of Graz in Austria which is not far from Maribor.

All in all, this was a great learning experience for Engjull and other students. “My experience during the internship in Maribor was excellent. Not only did I upgrade my professional skills, but I also learned about the culture and developed my language skills,” says Engjull.

Sarajevo part of the 100 Net Zero Emission Cities mission: Launch of coalition for greener projects

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Following the selection of the Sarajevo Functional Urban Area as part of the 100 Net Zero Emission Cities mission, the EU Office in BiH and Canton Sarajevo launched the Net Zero Emission Coalition on 14 December. The Coalition partners committed to coordinating their activities and to directing resources towards zero emission projects in Sarajevo.  
The launch of the Coalition, which will represent a fundamental change in how funds are spent, is an opportunity to link financing with the objectives of a cleaner environment especially in polluted urban areas such as Sarajevo.  
Following the selection of the Sarajevo Functional Urban Area among the “100 cities”, a ten-year Net Zero Action Plan needs to be developed, including a plan for climate neutrality across all sectors such as energy, buildings, waste management and transport, together with related investment plans. This process will involve citizens, research organisations and the private sector. The Net Zero Emission Coalition will come together regularly for practical working level meetings which will be an opportunity to coordinate activities and share best practices.

RHP delivers keys to newly-built apartments to 25 refugee families in Serbia

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As the end of 2022 draws near, the pace of Regional Housing Programme (RHP) activity shows little sign of abating, as a further 25 refugee and displaced families received keys to newly-built RHP apartments in Šid and Lučani, Serbia, on 15 and 16 December. The first of the ceremonies, which marked the delivery of keys to ten families in the municipality of Šid on 15 December, was attended by Svetlana Velimirović, Deputy Commissioner for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia; Zoran Semenović, Mayor of the Municipality of Šid; Mirjana Maksimović, Programme Manager at the European Union Delegation to Serbia;  Ružica Banda, National Human Rights Officer at the OSCE Mission to Serbia, and Jovan Lazarov, Deputy Director of the Public Sector Projects Implementation Unit Ltd., amongst others.

 

On behalf of the European Union – the main donor to the RHP – Mirjana Maksimović congratulated the families on their new homes and emphasised the determination of the EU to support socially vulnerable people. “I am glad that we will have the opportunity to open many more buildings before this programme closes next year,” she said.

 

The celebrations continued in Lučani the following day, where a further 15 RHP beneficiary families received new homes.  On behalf of the refugee families present, RHP beneficiary Radoslav Mirković from Lučani took the opportunity to thank all donors and stakeholders.