About the Event:
In this event we will underline the need for a more democratic and inclusive society by addressing the state of democracy within the EU and its candidate countries. As well as looking to economic alternatives and the urgency of climate change.
Context:
The Green European Foundation and Sunrise have in the previous three year period been pioneers on the topic of Energy Democracy in North Macedonia; with this 2020 event we will continue with the elaboration on the European experiences in the energy sector and stimulating positive changes in North Macedonia and the region. In this open Webinar we will discuss energy transformation and set a path to a participatory, inclusive and decentralised green economy through promotion of the Energy Democracy concept. Together we will contribute to the debates and practices on the EU level with experiences and challenges from the Balkans.
Speakers:
- Aleksandar Gjorgjievski, Sunrise – North Macedonia
- Dirk Holemans, Co-President of Green European Foundation, Oikos Think Tank
- Maja Morachanin, green MP from the Macedonian Parliament
- Stefan Bouzarovski , Professor of Human Geography at the University of Manchester,
- Melani Furlan, Green Energy Cooperative in Zagreb, Croatia
- Ervin Redjepagjikj El.Eng. – Energy expert
Programme:
18:00-18:10 Introduction
- Aleksandar Gjorgjievski, moderator and National Coordinator
18:10-18:20 Citizen Energy: Making Energy Democracy Happen publication
- Dirk Holemans, Co-President of Green European Foundation, Oikos Think Tank
18:20-18:30
- Maja Morachanin green MP from the Macedonian Parliament
18:20-19:00 Session with speaker’s presentations on Energy Democracy
PRESENTATIONS:
- Stefan Bouzarovski – Professor of Human Geography at the University of Manchester, where he directs the People and Energy Programme within the Manchester Urban Institute
Topic: Energy poverty in Southeastern Europe
- Melani Furlan MSc El.Eng. – from the Green Energy Cooperative in Zagreb, Croatia
Topic: Community-led solarization for clean energy transition
- Ervin Redjepagjikj El.Eng. – Energy expert
Topic: Opportunities and Challenges in Renewables in the region
19:00-19:30 Panel discussion and Q&A
Practicalities
Registrations are open: https://survey.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_38xXJJ4o46T3FYN
The primary language will be Macedonian but simultaneous translation in English will be provided.
Acknowledgements:
This event is organised by the Green European Foundation with the support of Sunrise and with the financial support of the European parliament to the Green European Foundation
Dr Colin Sage – Senior Lecturer in Geography at UCC with research interests in food systems, environmental policy and civic initiatives for social change. He is the author of Environment and Food (2012) and co-editor of Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Transitions to Sustainability (2017), Food Transgressions: Making sense of contemporary food politics (2014) and Strategies for Sustainable Development. Colin is honorary Visiting Professor on the Food Studies program at the American University, Rome as well as at the University of Gastronomic Sciences near Turin, Italy, and has just completed a Visiting Research Fellowship at the University of Tasmania. He is strongly committed to public engagement and is Chair of the Cork Food Policy Council which he co-founded in 2013.
Dr Christina Grasseni – Professor of Anthropology at the University of Leiden, Netherlands. Her research interests lie broadly in economic, political and visual anthropology, focusing especially upon skilled visions and ecologies of belonging. She is the author of Beyond Alternative Food Networks (2013) which analysed Italy’s solidarity economy networks as ethnographic models of grassroots transition to sustainable consumption and food sovereignty. Her most recent book, The Heritage Arena (2017) unravels the political agency of heritage cheese in the reinvention of local economies and ecology in the Alps. Cristina currently leads a major European Research Council project, Food citizens? Collective food procurement in European cities which examines the premises and consequences of collective forms of food production, distribution and consumption in three European cities.
Dr. Oliver Moore – has a PhD in the sociology of farming and food and writes in the field of organics, direct selling and consumer-producer relations. He is a contributor to the Irish Examiner where he writes a weekly column on organic food and farming. A member of the Irish Food Writers Guild he also contributes to Food and Wine magazine, and to Organic Matters magazine. Dr. Moore is Communications Manager with ARC2020, an EU agri-food and rural NGO based in Paris and also maintains a lively and informative 
Regina Sexton – a food historian, food writer, broadcaster and cook. Her research interests include food and identity, food and tradition and food in the Irish country house. She has published widely at academic and popular levels. Her publications include A Little History of Irish Food (Gill and Macmillan, 1998) and Ireland’s Traditional Foods (Teagasc, 1997). At University College Cork, she lectures in the area of food history with the School of History, the Food Industry Training Unit and Adult Continuing Education. Her research interests encompass food and culinary history, food preservation, food and identity, ’traditional‘ food cultures, and constructed and ‘invented‘ food traditions. Regina is secretary of the Agricultural History Society of Ireland.