Civic Impulse #3: Monthly Review of Grantee Activities

March 2025

March was a month of clear pledges for reforms, visions of educational and scientific development, but also specific activities in the communities across North Macedonia. The organizations supported by Civica Mobilitas have continued to influence with their expertise, engagement and direct connection to the citizens.

Four distinguished persons gave their perspectives on education, science and labor market in interviews that were conducted as part of the project “Advocacy for Inclusive Development”, implemented by Forum for Reasonable Policies, Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities – Skopje (ISSH-S) and BIRS.

Katerina Kolozova from ISSH-S spoke about the necessity that the universities become part of the industrial processes, asking for transformation of the academy from a formal system to a productive space for innovations and research.  
Ali Pajaziti from the South-East Europe University warned that the lack of investments in science and innovations limits productivity and stimulates the development of “fake science”. Kristina Ampeva from “Loud Textile Worker” association spoke about the serious disbalance between the graduate profiles and the real demands of the labor market.
Ahmed Qazimi, department head at the Ministry of Education and Science presented the policies on increasing the budget for science and strengthening the international mobility via legal changes and programmes such as Erasmus+.

There was also a sector analysis of youth policies in the Pelagonija region prepared by Pro Local and Youth Council of Prilep, which covered themes such as economic development, environment protection and health and fire protection. The analysis, which is part of the project “Youth Policies Fit for the Young” will be used as the basis for creation of local policies and measures in all nine municipalities in the region.

In Struga, Antiko, together with their partners Adrion and Cohabitation Forever organized four workshops for development of leadership and communication skills for the young people. The participants had the possibility to develop action plans for public initiatives in their communities as part of the broader goal for active youth participation in public policy creation.

In the area of environment, Centre for Climate Changes (CCC) was quite active. They set bins for waste selection in Tetovo schools, in cooperation with the Municipality of Tetovo and “Tetovo” communal enterprise and held workshops with students on the importance of selection of paper and plastic. As part of the campaign on the occasion of the World Day of Energy Efficiency, CCC conducted activities to raise public awareness on the importance of energy management to decrease air pollution and living expenses. The research that they conducted among the citizens showed that 44% of the people would move to more environmentally friendly sources of heating if they are granted subsidies, which is a clear indicator of the need for economic support in the green transition. At their Facebook page they publish regular information on the new pilot projects on waste selection, meetings with institutions and activities in the schools around the country.

Parallelly to this, the Centre for Environment Resources (REC), in partnership with Eco Logic and Florozone implemented practical workshops with students of several primary schools. Besides in “Vera Ciriviri Trena” school, there were workshops also held with the students from “Avram Pisevski” school, all in the municipality of Karposh. The children worked in a biotechnological laboratory and created pectin from apple peel, biofilm from potato peel and biodiesel – learning by direct implementation on how waste can turn into useful products. The initiative is part of the project “Civic Activism for Implementation of Circular Economy in Organic Waste Management”.

March was the month that connected the concepts of sustainability, critical thinking and civic action. The grantees continue to set the pace, open important topics and move the society forward, step by step, with ideas that inspire and activities that make lasting changes.