Www.metamorphosis.org.mk Intercultural Dialogue, Civic Participation and Human Rights in the Digital...

www.metamorphosis.org.mk

Intercultural Dialogue, Civic Participation and Human Rights in

the Digital Sphere[Experiences from Macedonia]

Filip StojanovskiMetamorphosis FoundationInternational Round Table: Intercultural Dialogue and Digital Culture, датум


Republic of Macedonia

• Population: 2 million• Independence: 1991, UN membership: 1993 • EU candidate status: 2005, no negotiation start date yet• Internet penetration >30%• Workforce with university degrees ~ 10%• eGovernment services sophistication average ~50%


Macedonia, a multicultural society

Ethnic and linguistic diversity• Macedonians 64%• Albanians 25%• Turks 4%• Roma 3%• Serbs 2%• Bosniaks 1%• Aromanians (Vlach) 0.5 %& including Egyptians, Croats,

Slovenes, Jews…

Diverse religious heritage• Orthodox Christians 66%• Muslims 33%• Less than 1% includes

Catholic Christians, Methodist Christians, Jews…


Elements of Intercultural Dialogue• Acknowledge the presence• Show and receive respect• Know about each other• Work together• Solve problems• Live together


Digital Content Needed!

• Software localization– FOSS (Linux, OpenOffice.org…)– Microsoft (Windows, MS Office)

• Educational eContent• Insignificant amount of user-

generated content in local languages other than Macedonian


Need for educational eContent• Localization of software in

Macedonian and Albanian to be used in schools

• Adapting of school curriculum• Publishing digital content for the

children, esp. textbooks• Implementing Open Access

– (only 2 OA journals so far)


Content of Government Websites

• In general– Without adopted standards– Sporadic updates

• Central level– One-way communication– Macedonian and English language used

• Local level– Macedonian, Albanian and some English– Low level of citizen participation– Closing of forums & similar tools


Presenting Macedonia to the World

Government websites• Official Website www.gov.mk• Agency for Foreign Investments

www.InvestInMacedonia.com• State Statistical Office www.stat.gov.mk

Seemingly most authoritative, comprehensive and most quoted source:

• CIA World Factbook www.cia.gov

Issue of political and nationalist propaganda, cluttering the search results


Commercial Media

• Online portals almost exclusively publish in Macedonian– Politics &/ entertainment news

• News agencies – Two also use English– One of them also uses Albanian

• National broadcaster (www.mrt.com.mk)– website in 10 languages


Citizen/User Generated Media

• Around 30,000 blogs (many inactive)– almost all in Macedonian, few in English

• Wikipedia– Macedonian ~21,000 articles– Albanian ~ 22,000 articles– Roma ~ 500 articlesin comparison– English ~ 2,630,000 articles– Croatian ~ 50,000 articles

• Rising tides:– Social networking tools– Online video


Availability of Online ContentContent/language Macedonian Albanian Roma Other LL English

Political news 2 1 0 0 1

Entertainment News 2 1 0 0 0

e-Learning apps 1 0 0 0 0

General knowledge 1 0 0 0 0

Wikipedia 2 2 1 2 2

Personal blogs 4 1 0 1 1

Topical blogs 1 0 0 0 1

Bridge blogs 1 1 0 0 1

Online video 2 1 0 0 1

Rank explanation (estimates) Other local languages (LL) include

1.None2.Few (or one)3.Dozens

1.Hundreds2.Thousands

Serbian, Turkish, Bosnian, & Vlach (Aromanian)


Bridging the Language divides

• Regularly active bridge blogs and other websites (inactive or dead in parenthesis)

• Global Voices Online (www.globalvoicesonline.org)– mk.globalvoicesonline.org– sq.globalvoicesonline.org

• Note: Most MK language news media reuse foreign content (without attribution), but not from blogs or other citizen media.

LanguagesSource/target

Macedonian

Albanian

Roma

Other LL English

French

Macedonian - 0 (1) 0 0 (1) 2 (2) 1

Albanian 0 (1) - 0 0 0 (1) 1

Roma 0 0 - 0 0 0

Other LL 0 (1) 0 0 - 0 0

English 1 1 0 0 - 0

French 0 0 0 0 0 -


Presenting Macedonian Culture• Active Magazines & News sources

– Blesok | Shine www.blesok.com.mk (MK, EN)– Contemporary Arts Center www.scca.org.mk (EN)– Culture in Macedonia www.culture.in.mk (EN)– Mac. Cinematography www.maccinema.com (MK)

• Content published under Creative Commons – (CC) Macedonia Portal cc.org.mk

• Other: institutions & projects– Museum of Macedonia www.musmk.org.mk – Living Heritage www.zivonasledstvo.org.mk– Exploring Macedonia www.exploringmacedonia.com – Macedonia FAQ (last update in 2003) faq.macedonia.com


Diversity & Intercultural Dialogue Resources

NGOs and Projects• Foundation Open Society Institute

– Macedonia www.soros.org.mk • Common Values www.cv.org.mk• DIANET (Dialogue for Interaction,

Advocacy and Networking Capacity Building) www.dianet.org

• Macedonian Centre for International Cooperation www.mcic.org.mk

• Bridging Religions in Macedonia http://mcms.powweb.com/MSM


Thank you for your attention

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