Global Shapers Skopje Hub's Impact Report 2021

GLOBAL SHAPERS SKOPJE HUB'S

IMPACT REPORT

2021 FEBRUARY, 2022

GREETINGS FROM THE CURATORSHIP

Hello Reader, What a year, right? 2021 has been an exceptionally challenging one for all of us!

Facing both an economic and a health crisis, we, as Shapers were tasked with one of the toughest jobs – helping the world recover while recovering ourselves.

At Skopje Hub, Shapers grappled with their challenges (from losing personal sources of income to starting new businesses and new professional stories) while always having in mind other people and how we can collectively help, especially in these unprecedented times.

Skopje Hub is one of the 457 hubs in the Global Shapers Community, which in turn is an initiative of the World Economic Forum. This gives us a unique position and a responsibility – to join our forces and together change the world one young person at a time.

Speaking of change, we are proud that our Hub is comprised of 44 young professional changemakers, who always devote their time, skills, empathy, and kindness, sharing them with society.

During our many brainstorming sessions and informal gatherings, we always find a common denominator – everything we do must have an impact! A result of that is this Impact Report 2021 that you are reading right now where we compiled everything we did this year in one place. Through this report, we welcome you to read more about us, the impact-driven projects, and the activities we took part in within the community we serve.

Using our agility, vision, creativity, and proactivity, we bonded more than ever and acted to make Skopje and our communities better than they were a year ago. This was possible thanks to our partners as well as every young person who attended our events, offered their help, liked and engaged with our social media posts, and supported us in every way imaginable.

Thank you! We continue #SHAPING in 2022… #ShapersLove

Yours, Marija Vasilevska, Curator 21-22 Olga Rachikj, Vice Curator 21-22 Bojan Kitanovikj, Impact Officer 21-22 2

Could you imagine how delighted each of us is while in a strong team spirit we have shaped outstanding and memorable impact in our community?

I don't have enough words to explain my deepest gratitude to all Shapers in the Skopje Hub who have been such amazing people for the whole Macedonian society, and reached their potential by making remarkable changes for the common good. Many different stakeholders joined us, and many new youngsters were inspired to drive actions, dialogue, and change together with us.

WORDS FROM THE OUTGOING CURATORSHIP Proud to be a Shaper. Proud to be a Human. Love is what is equal for both of my "roles".

And we were not limited in our borders only, but we were so happy to spread the Shapers’ love beyond them, across the region, and across the globe thanks to other beloved members of our community.

That's why we celebrate our past and current joint efforts, including one of our actions that was spotlighted as the most impactful in the world for April 2021. And as the cherry on the top of the cake, we celebrated recently the election of the newest 11 Impact Council members. It is important to emphasize that for the first time one Shaper from our wider region has been elected on that level, and I am more than happy to be that one who will passionately shape the world with higher engagement from the whole Shapers community.

Honestly Yours, Miroslav Draganov, Impact Council Member (from 2022), Outgoing Curator at GS Skopje Hub (from March 2021, until then Curator) with Dimche Micevski, Vice Curator 20-21 Marija Vasilevska, Impact Officer 20-21

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IN THIS IMPACT REPORT...

MEET THE 44 SKOPJE SHAPERS...................................................... 5 IMPACT-ORIENTED HUB.................................................................. 6 PROJECTS AND ACTIONS FINANCIAL LITERACY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN N. MACEDONIA......... 7 WATER4CHANGES..................................................................... 8 NO HEALTH WITHOUT MENTAL HEALTH...................................... 9 VISIONS FOR SKOPJE AND N. MACEDONIA 2070........................... 10 CYBERGUARD YOURSELF............................................................ 11 FUTURE OF WORK..................................................................... 12 DAVOS LAB DIALOGUES................................................................. 13 PART OF THE COMMUNITY............................................................. 14 OUR PARTNERS............................................................................. 15

MEET THE 44 SKOPJE SHAPERS! 5

IMPACT-ORIENTED HUB The Skopje Hub is comprised of young and ambitious individuals who are committed to empowering community members to be positive agents of change in their society. The Hub partners with local organizations to tackle the most pervasive issues in the community, namely low standard of living and unemployment through promoting entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship.

Our mission in Skopje is striving to create a quality society of proactive youth. Our vision is to undertake action that create growing mindset of youth and inspire youth to be active. Our long-term VISIONS for 2070 are part of two Guides, both for City of Skopje and for the whole Macedonian society.

Our strategic goals: 1) To raise awareness and to inspire young people in Skopje to take an active stand on burning issues; 2) To empower youth in Skopje to become self-driven, therefore, advance their communities.

Our projects and actions are designed and implemented per the mission, vision and strategic goals together with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the impact areas of the Global Shapers Community.

MAKING SKOPJE A BETTER CITY FOR EVERYONE DURING A PANDEMIC...

The global COVID-19 pandemic presented a variety of challenges to the projects and the Shapers. During 2021 more than ever, we understood the need for quick decision-making, flexibilty and reassessment of the needs and wants of our community. This why we are exceptionally proud of what we have achieved together and the support we have had from young people from Skopje and the entire country:

8 34 5 176,236+ ACTIVE PROJECTS

PARTNERS FROM THE CIVIL SOCIETY, GOVERNMENTAL AND PRIVATE SECTOR

ORGANIZED DAVOS LAB DIALOGUES WITH 31 DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL SPEAKERS

REACH ON SOCIAL MEDIA

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Feat April ured in th , 20 e news 21 GSC lette r

FINANCIAL LITERACY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN N. MACEDONIA Engaged Shapers

Partners

Directly Engaged Young People

13

16

227+

SDGs:

CATEGORY: EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

ACTIVITIES: Organized 5 lectures for youth from all over the country about financial literacy; Conducted campaigns for raising awareness including participation in Global Money Week; Published 4 informative articles in the street magazine Lice v Lice, which represents a social enterprise model; Organized a Davos Lab Dialogue on 'Inclusive Jobs'; Contributed to the National Bank of RNM's National Strategy for Financial Education and Inclusion 202125 and participates in the implementation; Organized a panel discussion during the Global Entrepreneurship Week; Organized a Summer School for Financial Literacy comprised of 2 parts and 14 lectures in total; Developed a Guide for Financial Literacy in Macedonian and Albanian (English in development).

GOALS: To increase knowledge, interest, and awareness of young people on financial topics through their involvement in serial of different project activities (training, workshops and others); Foster development of a long-lasting network with the relevant institutions (National Bank of RNM), local organizations (such as businesses, CSOs, students’ organizations, and others), and individuals (interested young people); To increase public awareness through promotion on local web platforms, social media, local portals, and magazines.

IMPACT:

Impact Area:

88,931+ reach on social media; 217 young people from diverse backgrounds attended the financial literacy lectures + around 20 at-risk youth and children without parents or guardians; 1 student from the Summer School for Financial Literacy got an internship opportunity; Featured in the April newsletter of the GSC; Part of the preparation and implementation process of National Bank of RNM's National Strategy for Financial Education and Inclusion 2021-25; The Ministry of Education and Science has plans to include financial literacy as a optional school for some secondary schools in the country.

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WATER4CHANGES Engaged Shapers

Partners

Directly Engaged Young People

10

7

86+

GOALS:

SDG:

CATEGORY: CLIMATE CHANGE AND NATURE

ACTIVITIES: Organized a Davos Lab Dialogue on the topic 'Water, Humans, the State' as a part of the theme 'Next Generation of Impact and Ethics' to celebrate World Water Day; Organized a photo competition for young talented photographers who take photos of water; Hosted an ongoing campaign for raising awareness on social media platforms; Participated in an analysis of the public water fountains and wells by the Macedonian Informative Agency (MIA); Initiated an innovative idea and applied with on UpLink's Climate Reality Challenge

To educate the local people how to treat water and not to waste it; To increase public awareness through promotion on local web platforms, social media, local portals, and magazines; To implement water as a basic human right in the Constitution of North Macedonia and improve public participation in exercising water rights.

IMPACT:

Impact Area:

15,077+ reach on social media; Part of the campaign for representing and lobbing 'Razbistri se' supported by activists, media, civil society organizations, and other institutions; Part of the state-wide Network for Environmental Justice Nominated for the Youth Civic Engagement Award in the category 'Informal Youth Group' awarded by National Youth Council and USAID's Civic Engagement Project; 22+ articles on local and national media portals and TV appearances.

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NO HEALTH WITHOUT MENTAL HEALTH Engaged Shapers

Partners

Directly Engaged Young People

10

4

162+

GOALS:

SDG:

CATEGORY: HEALTH

ACTIVITIES: Organized a Davos Lab Dialogue on the topic 'Mental Health, COVID, and What's Next' as a part of the theme 'Mental Health'; Organized 3 webinars on the following topics: Impact of social-economic status on mental health How to develop emotional intelligence Psychotherapy vs. psychological counceling; Hosted an ongoing campaign for raising awareness on social media platforms; Participated at a discussion on mental health and the need for a National Strategy for Mental Health organized by young MPs from the Macedonian Parliament.

To raise awareness to at least 150 young people from the Republic of North Macedonia for the need of mental health as a public health priority; To increase the interest in asking questions about mental health and break the stigmas and taboos surrounding the subject; To lobby for passing the Law for psychotherapy.

IMPACT:

Impact Area:

12,046+ reach on social media; Engaged 162+ young people and raised awareness among them about the importance of mental health especially nowadays; Networked with other organizations in the field and key decision-makers to support legislative and regulative changes at the national level.

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VISIONS FOR SKOPJE AND N. MACEDONIA 2070 Engaged Shapers

Directly Engaged Young People

14

SDGs:

CATEGORY: EQUITY AND INCLUSION

ACTIVITIES: Promoted Guides for Visions (vision documents) for the next 50 years that will help the city and the country to improve the quality of life for its citizens and residents and ensure they stay in the top 5% of cities and countries in Europe and the world; Given 2 interviews and appeared on Macedonian national TV stations where the project was the main focus; Written and published 8 articles about the visions in print and online media; Given training for writing visions in front of a group of young political leaders as a part of International Republican Institute (IRI)'s program Advanced Leadership in Politics – ALPI; Translated Guides for Visions in English that will be published soon.

528+ 86+

GOALS: Our aim is to foster a public debate about the future of our city and country and encourage stakeholders from the private, public, academic, and civil society sectors to actively work towards achieving the visions we outline; To contribute to the development, harmonization, and promotion of the indicators that the stakeholders will use to monitor the progress towards achieving the visions during the first two years; To monitor and measure the short, medium, and long-term progress towards the realization of the visions with the widely accepted and recognized measurable indicators; Build a culture that continues to set ambitious visions with the aim of improved quality of life and works towards accomplishing them after the completion of these visions, so that there are visions for the city and the country for 2120, 2170...

IMPACT:

Impact Areas:

16,976+ reach on social media; 1,368+ impressions on the Guide for Visions for Skopje 2070 (on Issuu); 2,748+ impressions on the Guide for Visions for Macedonia 2070 (on Issuu); Increased outreach through TV appearances and articles in print and online media; Increased awareness among youth and stakeholders regarding debates about the future of our city and country; The visions' impact could be seen in the programs of the political parties in the latest local elections and the President's MKD2030 strategy.

10

CYBERGUARD YOURSELF Engaged Shapers

Partners

Directly Engaged Young People

10

5

36+

GOALS:

SDG:

To raise awareness of cybersecurity threats and educate young people on how to protect their data online; To develop a practical Guide for basic cybersecurity education to young people in Skopje and after its publication to make sure it reaches a wider audience.

CATEGORY: EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

ACTIVITIES: Organized a Davos Lab Dialogue on the topic 'How to Successfully Migrate in the Digital World' as a part of the theme 'Digital Literacy'; Organized an in-person workshop about cyber hygiene to mark October Cybersecurity Awareness Month; Updated social media platforms with latest activities and useful information regarding the project and cyber security; Appearance on a podcast popular among youth in the country.

IMPACT:

Impact Area:

7,465+ reach on social media; 336+ impressions on the Guide to Cyberguard in English, Macedonian, Albanian and Polish (on Issuu); The Davos Lab Dialogue organized by Shapers in the project had 8 speakers from 6 other Hubs as well as 2 domestic experts and was attended by 20+ young people and was viewed on Facebook Live over 2,400 times; 7 young people attended In-person workshop.

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FUTURE OF WORK Engaged Shapers

Directly Engaged Young People

12

1,296+

GOALS:

SDG:

CATEGORY: EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

ACTIVITIES: Produced informative articles and personal stories about the importance of future of work to inspire and motivate youth to talk about it more and take further action; Hosted an ongoing campaign for raising awareness on social media platforms.

To establish a network of individuals, representatives from companies, policymakers, CSOs that have messages to spread connected with the recommendations from the Future of Work reports produced by the World Economic Forum; Produce personal stories from individuals that are oriented into future of work concept; To rais awareness of the concept of future of work and promote it on social media platforms.

IMPACT:

Impact Area:

7,356+ reach on social media; 4 published personal stories from individuals that are oriented into future of work concept; 1,296+ reads and actions taken on the personal stories about the future of work.

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DAVOS LAB DIALOGUES Engaged Shapers and Alumni

Partners

Engaged Participants

32

7

150+

Engaged Speakers*

Organized Dialogues

Social Media Reach

31

5

28,385+

*from 14 different countries SDG:

TOPICS: MENTAL HEALTH: Mental Health, COVID and What's Next NEXT GENERATION, IMPACT AND ETHICS: Water, Humans, the State INCLUSIVE JOBS: Equal Opportunities for All NET ZERO: Zero Pollution DIGITAL LITERACY: How to Successfully Migrate in the Digital World

IMPACT AREAS:

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PART OF THE COMMUNITY...

For our Shapers we organized a hybrid training on using TopLink and the Shapers' unofficial platforms.

We regularly organize team building sessions. Some of the feedback from the present follows: 71% of Skopje Shapers feel that the team now is more strengthened than before.

57% of Skopje Shapers think that their level of engagement and contribution in the Hub has been increased by 50%.

64% of Skopje Shapers feel that they have made more reliable friends and colleagues from the Shapers team.

TRAININGS AND TEAM-BUILDING SESSIONS

ENGAGING STUDENTS We participated in the Virtual Career Days organized by University American College - Skopje.

2020-2021 Curator Marija Vasilevska has been a guest on one of the lessons to present our work among the students and to invite them to be a part of the Hub.

Skopje Shapers actively promoted and supported the Davos Lab Survey among the youth in their communities to get as many answers and possible for the first Youth Recovery Plan.

The Davos Lab Survey was translated in Macedonian by Skopje Shapers. It is one of the 10 global languages on which the Survey was translated.

DAVOS LAB SURVEY

CELEBRATING WITH THE SHAPERS COMMUNITY 2021 was a year of celebrations and reflections for the Global Shapers Community. Together we celebrated Youth Day and the launch of the Davos Lab: Youth Recovery Plan, the 10th-year anniversary of the community, and more!

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OUR PARTNERS

15

skopjeshapers@gmail.com https://www.globalshapers.org/hubs/skopje-hub

https://www.facebook.com/skopjeshapers

https://www.instagram.com/skopjeshapers

https://www.linkedin.com/in/global-shapers-skopje-hub/