Current administrative channels In Skopje, Macedonia, there are no particular laws related to participation. The participation is warranted in the Law for Local Self-government, Art. 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 which regulate the implementation of civic initiatives, citizen’s assemblies, and referendum, as well as the right on submitting proposals and organization of public round tables, consultative surveys etc. The law on spatial and urban planning regulates the procedures that under the Art. 17, point 5. warrants the publicity of plans, and Art. 24 includes public presentation and consultative surveys before the adoption of plans. The political culture since independence 25 years ago has been growingly authoritarian and not increasingly democratic. It creates an atmosphere of helplessness and turns citizens into receivers of services provided by the central government. Even the existence of laws that regulates civic engagement is not sufficient to encourage active citizens.
LAWS
Current administrative channels The main and most natural partners for civic initiatives regarding public space are local selfgovernment units, but the process of decentralization has been stalled in the last ten years. The main problem is the ownership of land still in possession of central government and not transferred to municipalities. Therefore, the urban planning is dependent of the decisions of the central government ministries. This complicates the communication and is often perceived as too complex and dependent on too much bureaucracy resulting in self-imposed censorship by the citizens. Municipalities have their offices for collaboration with citizens, but it is more on the level of consultation. The real partnership between the municipalities and the citizens is far from being even conceivable. City of Skopje has the department for cooperation with NGO’s but it is not related to the urban planning. Municipality of Centar, recently started a program Centre of the community of the municipality of Centar, where open days were held with citizens regarding the urban planning, as they cover other activities as well.
INSTITUTIONS
Current administrative channels
The findings of the Urban Cooks team in Skopje demonstrate what was already known about the civic participation in the country; it is weak, underdeveloped and minimal. Few research on civic participation, one consistently applied for a longer period by Macedonian Centre for International Cooperation (МЦМС), especially the Civic Society Index developed by CIVICUS http://www.mcms.org.mk/images/docs/2011/civicengagement-long-road-to-go-ar-2011.pdf, corroborates the the findings of our team. Also, the Reactor research http://civicengagement.mk/ , demonstrates the main weaknesses. We were therefore unable to identify one civic initiative and to turn it into a physical platform. In general, the local authorities were open and welcoming but not excessively helpful in identifying the few and largely confusing and underdeveloped civic initiatives, especially regarding the interventions in public space.
USUAL RELATION
Current administrative channels In general, the interaction is limited and the process is clearly fitting the top-down model of decision making and implementation of projects. Perhaps it boils down to the centralized ownership of land as municipalities are still not in control of the land, but most of it is owned by the central government, diminishing the possibilities for greater civic engagement on local level and explains the lack of mechanisms and instruments at disposal of municipalities. The recent referendum, held on 26.04.2015 initiated by the citizens running the campaign “I love GTC” (Go Sakam GTC) http://gosakamgtc.mk/ for protection of the City Shopping Mall not to be adorned in neoclassical façade, on which insists the central government as part of the “Skopje 2014” project that remakes the central part of the city as it is built XIX century. The referendum eventually failed, but was the first such initiative implemented. To encourage and strengthen the civic participation the program “Community Forums” is implemented by the Association of municipalities in number of
PRACTICES