Форуми во заедницата

   The first forum session in the Community Forums Programme in the municipality of Kocani, which took place on November 27 at the Sveti Kiril i Metodij elementary school, attracted some 200 citizens of Kocani who showed interest in participating in the decision-making on where to spend the MKD 8 million from this Programme.

   Out of the three forum topics: Infrastructural redesigning of the town and surrounding settlements; Environmental protection; and Local economic development with a focus on alternative tourism development, proposed by the Municipality of Kocani in their application to the project, the topic to get the most votes was Infrastructure, which is an exceptionally broad one and offers possibilities for the development of several projects by citizens.
   “In the process of applying to the Community Forums, the Municipality of Kocani had a somewhat easy task when deciding about the three topics, because we had the LED Strategy, the Master Plan for Tourism Development, and we’re in the process of developing the Sustainable Development Strategy,” said Zoran Manasiev, representative of the Kocani Municipality, in his statement for the media.   
   According to Manasiev, all three topics include citizen participation in the process of analyzing the situation resulting in the choice of the topics of greatest concern to citizens, that is the topics with the greatest need for intervention.
   “I hope that citizens will choose the right project that will help improve their lives”, said Manasiev.
   The first forum session also identified the forum structure in working tables. In the following six sessions of the process of proposing projects, discussion and final decision, citizens will be able to work in 11 working tables. The following working tables were created: local community authorities, municipal administration, environment, business sector, youth, social issues, education, rural development, culture, community development promotion, and development of eco-tourism.
  According to the participants in the forum, this is a good decision-making model.
  “It’s a good model because the citizens who are directly affected by the issues will be able to decide directly on where to spend the money from the donors to improve the quality of life in the town. I think that all Forum participants will make the right decision and focus on the problems that affect the most people”, said Blagoj Jovanov, a student.
  “This is an excellent and democratic opportunity to finally hear the voice of the people, what they think their town should look like, and what the funds should be invested in.   As representatives of the Mountaineering Society we chose the topic Local Economic Development, because we have a project to build a Mountaineering House, as a basis for further development of tourism in the Osogovo Mountains”, said Sasko Stefanovski from the Osogovo Mountaineering Society.
  The Programme is aimed at supporting participatory development of local communities, with the Forum as a platform through which citizens would improve their own lives with their ideas and participation, and the administration would develop responsible local governance that would include citizens.
  Through this Programme, Kocani received MKD 6 million from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the Municipality’s share is MKD 2 million. The Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia is involved in the implementation.
  The second forum session is scheduled for December 18 in the lobby of the Sveti Kiril i Metodij elementary school, and is open to all citizens of the municipality of Kocani.