The conference “Green society for all is” is currently taking place, organized by CIVIL in cooperation with the Heinrich Bǒll Foundation. Conference topics were green values and policies, antinationalism, social justice, media, disinformation and hate speech.
The conference is taking place in four separate panels, on the above-mentioned topics, with participants Mirjana Najcevska,university professor, activist Mersiha Smailovic, Blagica Dimitrovska from the NGO “Inkluziva”, President of the party DOM, Maja Moracinin, Astrit Istrefi from Balkan Forum, Kosovo, National Coordinator for Intercultualism Robert Alagjozovski, Slagjan Penev from Forum CSRD, Milos Dimitrovski from Izvor – Kratovo, journalistic veterans Zoran Ivanov and Aleksandar Nikolic Pisarev, Filip Stojanovski from the Metamorphosis Foundation. The conference was opened by Xhabir Deralla from CIVIL, who at the same time moderated the first panel on the topic green values. Panel moderators also include Dehran Muratov, Diana Tahiri and Petrit Saracini from CIVIL.
Xhabir Deralla, President of CIVIL, at the opening of the conference highlighted that this project is a kind of continuation of the ideas for advocating and promoting green values, antinationalism and social justice.
“With ‘Green society for all’, CIVIL will continue with field activities and with media production for strengthening awareness on the unity and indivisibility of green values, which also implies respect for diversity, equality and multiculturalism.
One of the main messages of this project in the context of the local elections, is to free local elections and, overall, local policies from nationalist narratives that undermine local issues.
CIVIL will continue communicating ideas on the interconnectedness of green values, antinationalism and social justice, particularly in the context of creating local policies and practices with real concern for the interests of the citizens at the local level.
CIVIL calls on all citizens, decision-makers at the local and central level, the media and civil sector to join in creating a society that will deal efficiently with nationalist narratives through green alternatives, initiatives, strategies and active participation in creating green policies that will contribute to creating a progressive, free and green society”, stressed Deralla.
Professor Mirjana Najcevska outlined that a green futureis a right of every citizen, but also a responsibility.
“The main promoter of the green future is the state. But without the rule of law, we cannot have a green future.
Dictatorship is cheap, because not much needs to be invested.
Democracy is expensive. Social protection is expensive; protection of the most vulnerable groups is expensive.
A state should be led by someone like a chess master, who sees 10 steps ahead, what kind of moves to make… Only a state that is based on science and data can plan a green future.
We need a state that will anticipate, foresee and make moves for the good of the citizens”, said Najcevska.
Leader of DOM, Maja Moracanin, says that most citizens see green values as protection of the environment and climate. However, green values are respect for the rule of law, antinationalism, social justice, humanity, solidarity…
“We have already started experiencing climate change. Politicians are always making excuses that they don’t have enough funds. But we need to make actions and plans to prevent disasters.
We need to have a socially just transition, we must pay attention to the vulnerable categories and women”, says Moracanin.
She added that North Macedonia has committed to taking care of the environment. There should be greater coordination between the central and local government regarding environmental protection. The whole potential that we have should be included in order to implement these strategic goals.
Astrit Istrefi from Balkan Forum, Kosovo, said that in the Balkans there is no peace, but a lack of wars. He emphasized the tensions that recently took place between Serbia and Montenegro, as well as between Serbia and Kosovo, where there were military planes and vehicles activated.
We cannot be just viewers in our country while nationalism is rising. It seriously affects our societies.
“Nationalist rhetoric is used in time of political campaigns. We actually no longer have local elections, everyone has big dreams, ideologies…
The green agenda is an extremely political agenda. From building green energetic places, permits, gas… No one thinks about the citizens, but are just making calculations on what benefits they will have.
We need to build a green society for everyone in the Western Balkans, that way we will have greater mutual cooperation, respect…”, he said.
National coordinator for interculturalism and one society in the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, Robert Alagjozovski, said that despite the fact that the year is still pandemic and we have various restrictions, the strategy is being implemented.
“Today, the six-month report on what has been done in the period January – June this year should be completed up to the last segment. And the news is good.
Only a small part of the activities, for example, have not been started, because they are specific areas that are subject to annual planning. Hence, if the year was bad, that is, if for instance the reprogramming could not be anticipated, then it has to be postponed for the next quarters, or next year.
However, many of the activities have started, and in many of the areas already, not just to say that the activities have been implemented once, so you put a check mark as they have been implemented, they have a “green check mark”, implemented, but we now insist that those activities become continuous, because that is the meaning of the Strategy, to win things as a result, but when they are continuously revived, they become implementable.
Prime Minister Zaev often says in his public statements that the Strategy “One society for all” is in an advanced stage of implementation and we can confirm this with numbers. Once it is officialised, adopted in the next period, it will certainly be available to the public. The plan is to make a public debate, public presentation of what has been done in this year and a half by the end of the year, and to receive the input of the public and reflections of the public”, said among else Alagjozovski.
Deralla at the end concluded that in one way or another, politics revolve around “green”, and thus everything else gets a “green” dimension, primarily – the economy.
“Unfortunately, ‘green’ concepts in the economy are becoming a necessity as a result of the perception that the world is in an environmental crisis due to the uncontrolled exploitation of natural resources and pollution at all levels and on all scales. Less attention is paid to the fact that we have arrived to this planetary state due to the global culture of consumerism and strongly expressed social, political and cultural polarization throughout the world.
Hence, one can say that even more important is the question: Is society moving in a ‘green’ direction? For this, however, we will have to wait, if we ever come to see it. In a great part of developed democracies, which at the same time are the richest countries in the world, green values are already accepted and deeply enrooted, while circular and green economies are already firmly established and bring huge profits for companies, but also welfare for the population.
Those two main ‘green’ approaches to the economy complement each other and reflect the social character of the most developed democracies in the European Union and in the world. In the EU directives and in the report of the European Environment Agency of 2014, green economy is defined as ‘a system of economic activities related to the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services that result in improved human well-being over the long termwhile not exposing future generations to significant environmental risks or ecological scarcities”, while circular economy is ‘development strategy that provides economic growth without increasing the consumption of resources and reducing the environmental impact”.
That is what it is like in the developed part of Europe and the world, while the others will have to be satisfied with the fact that the economy, at least declaratively and with shy steps in practice, is just starting in that direction. But is this enough? By far not. These are interconnected processes. Green, or as it is called, circular economy, cannot be developed if policies and practices of local and national governments are not developed, and even more so – public awareness and political culture that lead in that direction. And that inevitably means a system of values that includes human rights and freedoms, social justice and multiculturalism.
Let’s take a look at North Macedonia, which in this context does not differ much from other countries in the region and beyond.
What used to be until recently underestimated, has too quickly and easily become a trend. Now there isn’t a politician that isn’t talking about a green economy and a healthy environment. But do the people in politics and the public sphere understand what they are talking?
If we make an analyses of the public appearances of politicians, both the veterans and newcomers, both party and independent ones, we will find surprisingly low levels of knowledge of the terms, with rare exceptions,then what is acceptable for the new age in which the world lives in. Unfortunately, we will arrive to similar conclusions if we also analyse civil society organizations and the media.
A similar, if not even an identical parallel can be drawn in other critical social and political processes, policies and practices as well. To practice something, it first needs to be learned and understood, and then applied. This society has very little of this.
If we do not understand the comprehensiveness of green values and if we remain in the darkness of ignorance about what is happening and what the world and every society, community and individual need in this context, we could easily go in extremely undesirable directions.
Love of nature, care for the environment and communal hygiene are one thing, while green policies are another. Hence, “green” political speech is trending in public communication, “green” projects have found their place in everyone’s political program, even though with a critical view of these programs and declarations,just some colored (in green) old political phraseology and demagogy can be revealed.
Nationalism and ultranationalism, as mostly a rightist (there are leftist nationalists too, right?) ideological matrix, in conditions of a lack of public awareness, can easily be masked as modern, by stressing the “green” terminology in the first paragraphs of the political programs. If green values are not accepted, nurtured and promotedin their entirety, as indivisible one from another, we will remain in the same polarized society that will not succeed politically, or economically.
We are witnessing political and civic entities that are persistent in keeping the concept ‘love of nature and animals’ and claim they are not interested in human rights, social justice, interethnic, inter-religious and intercultural relations. Ideas close to the concept of ‘living space’ or – Lebensraum can easily be nested in such political and civic entities. Let’s remind, that it is the concept of the foreign policy of Hitler’sNazi party of in the 30s and 40s of the previous century, and which had admirers in various variations and still has in a small number of European and world countries”, said Deralla.
Diana Tahiri CIVIL, presented the guests of the second panel
Slagjan Penev, from the organization FORUM, CSRD, in his address reflected on the efforts of his organization for changing the mentality, which has input among citizens, but less in the local government.
We remained to visit the new authorities of green values, but unfortunately many of our comrades disappointed.
In south-eastern Macedonia, they won power with efforts against the mines, but the mines have remained, I am afraid that the new government too will be in a coalition with the owners of the mines.
The administration of the City of Skopje, many things we advocated for, closing of landfills, not building new buildings, new detailed urban plans, has failed here.
Between the two rounds, Shilegov had a good announcement that with the next detailed urban plan, he would try to dislocate USJE and Zhelezara, but how much of that will the citizens believe.
The announcement for the opening of a regional landfill, despite the support of the EU was managed very poorly, it was presented very poorly to the public.
Citizens don’t trust that the landfills will be according to world standards, but that hazardous waste will be burned.
Lessons have not been learned, all the shortcomings of the ruling structure at the local level cost them to lose many votes, the same ones that fought against the tree cutting, are now doing that, many trees were cut in Skopje, Butel, Cair.
The environmental agenda should come first.
Mersiha Smailovic, activist in the fight against nationalism, the desire to be one society for all, means for all of us to be equal. There is no need for us to list nationalities.
“Yesterday we saw how victory of nationalism, xenophobia is celebrated, after the construction of the center for foreigners in Bardovci was cancelled. The green agenda is a bold agenda.
The pandemic has created a feeling of inequality, discrimination… During the local elections we see only party propaganda for equality, coexistence, multiculturalism… however, the citizens do not want populism, but real coexistence and equality for all.
Xenophobia is clear discrimination. The bombastic headlines in the media about the arrival of Afghanistan civilians turned the accommodation of Afghan refugees in hotels into a detention. The police guard the refugees. If someone violates a human right once and no one reacts to this, then human rights will continue to be violated…
The green agenda is not green balloons or green badges, but on the contrary, it is respect for human rights and freedoms…”, said Smailovic.
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
