FOREWORD

Dear fellow citizens, friends, present and future visitors, and anyone passionate about Macedonia, Welcome to our joint journey to 2070, and welcome to the initiative to shape Macedonia over the next 50 years into a country made for all of us.

In 2020, at a time of sudden upheavals both in our personal lives and on a societal and global level, we, the young shapers of change from the Global Shapers Skopje Hub have decided to think and act proactively, visionarily, strategically, and comprehensively by creating this guide "VISIONSMacedonia 2070." The Global Shapers Community is an initiative of the World Economic Forum that gathers young people from around the world who seek to drive dialogue, action and positive change in their communities. The Global Shapers Skopje Hub is one of more than 400 hubs that operate globally.

In front of you is a document that provides a fifty-year strategic direction and basis for an action plan for all the stakeholders in our society. These plans are presented through 176 visions distributed across 16 categories (from well-being and standard of living to tourism). Each vision is based on certain values that are the basis for all the activities that will be undertaken by any stakeholder (whether it is an individual or a legal entity from the public, private or civil society sector). In order to encourage, monitor, and evaluate the quality of future activities undertaken in Macedonia and their contribution to these visions, we have defined general indicators appropriate for each category.

Where did the idea for this guide come from?

During April 2020, some of us experienced quarantine for the first time. The quarantine was introduced in response to the global pandemic caused by COVID-19. Due to the state of emergency, the scheduled parliamentary elections in our country were postponed and the peak of the pandemic was predicted to happen at the end of April, 2020. Of course, the pandemic lasted much longer than any of us expected. Global public health agencies and national governments have already announced the long-term nature of the crisis, expecting major economic consequences from it and a second wave in the fall of 2020.

As "world change-makers" we had to adapt quickly to a new way of life and instead of meeting faceto-face, as we had planned, we started holding meetings online in our hub. It was unusual for us to work entirely online, but the pandemic forced us to adapt. We continued to meet, but at a safe physical distance, through our computer screens.

Through those conversations over Zoom, which often lasted several hours, and sometimes until after midnight, Stefan Ivanovski, one of the first and most experienced members of the Global Shapers Skopje Hub, launched an initiative to create a long-term vision for the country. The main reason for the initiative was the fact that for almost 30 years, from the independence of our country, gained in 1991, until 2020, Macedonia as a society has not taken seriously the challenges that lie ahead in the next 50 years.

From our perspective, planning for the future of our country and our capital city were based on shortterm plans and ideas. We say short-term because as a society we did not have a vision that is longer than the average working life of one person, 40 years. If a person imagines and plans his life in the next 20, 30, and 40 years, why don't we as a society plan for 50 or 100 years? If we see that worldrenowned institutions, influential countries, or prosperous multi-national communities, such as Harvard University, the United States of America, or the European Union, began as a collection of buildings in a wild meadow, an idea scribbled on a piece of paper, or as a longing for a better future and lasting peace, then why can we not long for and eventually achieve a better future in our city and our country?

Over the years, as our young minds, brothers and sisters, friends, and the best of our talent, have moved abroad to a better life, we as members of the Global Shapers Community, asked ourselves, what can we do for our society?

Instead of being “stuck” and “obsessed” with the past as a society and investing significant economic, diplomatic, and intellectual resources and efforts to try to resolve past disputes that cannot be resolved, we decided to focus on something that influences our future: shaping our future. Shaping the future can only be achieved by starting with the present moment.

The proposed idea and vision for Skopje 2070, and now for Macedonia 2070 were accepted by all active change-makers (members/shapers) and in a short time turned into our concrete action plan, which we strongly believe will be useful for the present and future generations in our society.

As it was during the creation of the Guide "Visions - Skopje 2070", during the creation of this guide, the process of creating the visions was based on inclusiveness. We outlined draft categories that would be general, and then each of us individually wrote visions to find out what kind of Macedonia each of us longs for.

In the next phase, we worked in teams divided up by categories/topics and compiled general indicators that can be used to measure the progress towards the realization of the visions outlined in one of the categories. In the process, we agreed to be guided by seven principles:

1. POSITIVE APPROACH: to create visions and indicators (metrics) in a positive spirit;

2. INCLUSIVITY: everyone’s contribution, idea, and proposal was to be taken into account and the spirit of the idea to be properly included in one of the visions or indicators;

3. INDUCTION (from individual to general and from bottom to top): each of our proposals started from the personal level, and may have contained a solution. It was sometimes accompanied by a lower-level goal, but then the idea from this proposal was extracted into a comprehensive vision and essential indicators that serve as the common denominator of all those thoughts and ideas on a societal level;

4. MEASUREMENT: each proposal must contain a specific and measurable metric. In order for us as a society to measure the progress towards the realization of the visions, there must be both qualitative and quantitative progress indicators. The aim is to measure the success and quality of the implementation of the visions;

5. ADAPTABILITY: when creating the visions and indicators, we thought they should be general enough to be adapted for another time period, with characteristics that we cannot predict from this current time frame

6. TRANSPARENCY: the whole preparation process was open so that all members (shapers) in our Hub could join and contribute, and after the publication of the guide "Visions - Skopje 2070", all stakeholders from any background area were given the opportunity to participate in the creation of this guide "Visions - Macedonia 2070" and to jointly define the indicators, as well as to determine metrics that will draw their basis from these general indicators

7. SUSTAINABILITY: When building our society, we aim to look to the future with vision, to think, to plan, and to act long-term and strategically, to provide a plan of action and a direction for social development in the next 50 years. The time frame of 50 years was chosen because an average working life is about 40 years, so that the vision of a society should naturally exceed any personal plan or vision.

The visions for Macedonia for the next 50 years are based on six key values::

1. HUMAN DIGNITY: all visions, values, indicators, and in the future measures and activities that would arise from this guide strive to meet the needs and desires of every person, while also respecting the needs, desires, and dignity of others.

2. ДЕМОКРАТИЈА: aims to encourage the citizen and the community and practice democracy in everyday life in various areas of life such as politics, economics, education, the digital world, family, media, physical space, and more.

3. DIVERSITY: we strive for a society that respects diversity in any form and where different characteristics contribute to an inclusive, equitable, and just society.

4. SOLIDARITY: caring for and helping the weaker and vulnerable groups to achieve their needs and human dignity, as well as mutual care of the citizens within the community.

5. AGILITY: the ability to adapt to change, skillfully using change as an opportunity and not a threat in order to improve overall quality of life and general progress as a society.

6. SELF-SUSTAINABILITY: building a society that reasonably manages its resources, values building partnerships and cooperation, and positively interacts with the environment.

Values are the constant that runs through the years of the country’s future, and ensure that the country is developing in the right direction while providing a quality life to its citizens.

What is this guide?

The keyword is - guide. This guide is a direction and framework for the development of our country through the prism of 16 different categories that complement each other and intertwine. There are 176 visions, grounded in the values associated with each of the visions and measured through general indicators appropriate for each of those visions.

This guide aims to inspire us to think ambitiously and courageously about a better future. This guide aims to unite us as a society together and to work daily to achieve a better life in which we can realize our personal and collective dreams. This guide aims to inspire us to be responsible with our power and influence in building our society.

This guide is a vision for our better life during our lifetime as well as for future generations.

This guide aims to inspire us to be among the top 5% of countries in Europe and the world in terms of achievements described in the visions of our society within the next 50 years.

This guide is also for those who feel they are nearing the end of their lives, those who would say they are somewhere in the middle, and of course those who are just starting out.

For those who are near the end, this guide is a hope that future generations will live a better life. They may not experience the changes themselves, but it is important to know that today, someone actively thinks, plans, and acts to make Macedonia one of the best places to live in the world.

For those who think they are somewhere in the middle of their life journey, we expect them to feel the changes in the next few years. It is important for this group to see movement in a positive direction.

And for those who are at the beginning of their lives, for them, we sincerely hope that they will be witnesses whether this document managed to inspire and lead Macedonia to the development described in it. We strongly believe that the future generations will be inspired by the ideas and activities realized by this guide and will create their own visions for the next 50 years when this guide fulfills its original idea.

What this guide is NOT?

Since we have seen that this type of document and its contents is a rarity in Macedonian society, we would like to point out what this guide is not. This guide does not contain specific solutions, but provides a framework, direction, and encourages the creation of quality and measurable solutions. You will not find specific goals in its content, because from a future perspective they might be insufficient or too ambitious. However, there are general indicators to guide the progress of shortterm and medium-term goals through continuous monitoring and measurement, as well as the activities that would be created by various stakeholders

Why does this guide refer to Macedonia?

You may be wondering why this guide is about Macedonia. This guide applies to Macedonia for three reasons:

1) WE LIVE IN MACEDONIA: almost all members of our hub live in Macedonia and have the most points of contact with the country. We thank all our members who, despite living abroad, selflessly used their time during the pandemic and worked from home to make a substantial contribution to this guide, as was the case with the guide "Visions - Skopje 2070",

2) WE OPERATE LOCALLY: our hub is part of the Global Shapers Community network of hubs, and all hubs in the world operate in the city and the surrounding area where they are based. In many countries, hubs actually operate at the level of the state itself, as is the case with us, and

3) WE WANT TO BE A PART OF POSITIVE CHANGES: based on this guide, we would like every individual in Macedonian society, on the one hand, to be aware of global trends, and on the other hand to feel that they belong to the Macedonian society at the deepest level and strive to realize their personal and collective potential for the benefit of all present and future generations.

Thus, this guide with visions for Macedonia in 2070 is a signpost that will guide us through to our common future. The guide is an incentive to jointly create diverse solutions with valuable benefits for all of us fellow citizens, friends and family, current and future visitors, and anyone with a passion for Macedonia.

What are the next steps?

Our mission is:

• to encourage debate and dialogue that will contribute to the development, defining, and promotion of the specific indicators that will be derived from our list of general indicators;

• to use the harmonized list of specific indicators for measuring the progress of the public, private and civil society sectors towards achieving the vision for Macedonia 2070;

• to ensure that the strategies and action plans at every level in Macedonian society are guided by these long-term visions that will ensure continuity in their implementation;

• to monitor and measure progress towards the realization of visions through generally accepted and recognized measurable indicators;

• to continue to plan and set ambitious goals after the completion of vision Macedonia 2070, so that there are visions for Macedonia and beyond for 2120, 2170, and so on. Time passes faster than we think.

Take the time to read in detail all the visions within the 16 categories, understand the values, and analyze the general indicators. We as Global Hub Shapers are always here and open for cooperation with all who act visionarily and for the benefit of every citizen. Let us be happy with the new 2021, the starting year of the 50 years of this plan, through which we will realize our visions every day. Let's start so that this year together, based on the general indicators, we will define the specific indicators in each of the 176 visions.

Let this year be a new official beginning - a "springboard" for the next 50 years filled with collective progress to which each of us contributes!

#ShapersLove #GlobalShapersCommunity # Macedonia2070