Global Voices » Slovenia

Balkans: Online Platform Tracks Reports From Areas Hit by Record Snowfall

Danica Radisic — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:12:22 +0000

Since last week, the Balkans have been hit by massive snow storms, the likes of which have not been seen in over a decade, if not longer. After an unusually long period of nearly no real signs of a typical Balkan winter, last week brought what seems to be non-stop snowfall throughout the region, including the seaside areas around the Adriatic that seldom get any snow.

Men shoveling snow from a street in Sarajevo. Record snowfall has paralyzed transportation in the Bosnian capital, where a state of emergency has now been declared. Photo by Sulejman Omerbasic, copyright © Demotix (5/02/12).

Serbia's national television network, RTS, and other media reported on Friday 3 February, 2012, that a state of emergency has been declared by the government, while citizens have been reporting critical situations throughout the country and that municipal services have been doing a poor job of tackling the snowfall in many urban areas.

In an article titled “Serbia Blocked by Snow, State of Emergency in 27 Municipalities, Recommendation to Call Off School Attendance” [sr], the Head of the State of Emergency Sector of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Predrag Maric, is reported to have stated on Friday:

27 municipalities in Serbia have declared a state of emergency due to heavy snowfall. Maric has told Beta news agency that the most difficult situations are in Sjenica, Ivanjica, Prijepolje, Crna Trava and Surdulica, where the height of snow has reached approximately 2 meters. According to him, power supply is “relatively good,” outages are being fixed quickly and there have been no long power outages.

Maric also announced the possibility of declaring a full state of emergency nationwide, which the Government did on Sunday evening, cancelling school throughout Serbia at least until Friday, February 10, among other things.

Several actions have been organized by the online community in Serbia and the region to fend off the snow and to attempt to regain a functional state in urban areas at least, such as a #lopataup (”#shovelup”), organized by one online community leader, Zoran Torbica, and other local Twitter users.

In the meantime, Al Jazeera Balkans, the recently established regional office of Al Jazeera news network in the region, has joined forces with the team from Ushahidi to set up a platform for tracking verified information on everything from road blocks, power outages to other critical points and information in the entire region.

Ushahidi is an open-source platform for information collection, visualization and interactive mapping, which was also used in Serbia just after the earthquake in Kraljevo in November 2010 to map and track damage in the area.

Haris Alisic, who heads the New Media team for Al Jazeera Balkans, launched the platform on Sunday evening, and many members of the online community, including some of the region's GV authors, have joined the Al Jazeera-Ushahidi team in curating, tracking and verifying reports from the region.

The adapted Ushahidi platform can be located on Al Jazeera's official site, while reports can be sent in by anyone using the following channels:

- via SMS to +387644218661
- via Twitter by using the hashtags #kolaps #sneg #snijeg #lopataup #iskljucenje
- via email to oluja2012@aljazeera.net
- or by entering information directly into the form on the”pošaljite izvještaj” tab on the Al Jazeera page

If you would like to volunteer your time to help map critical areas and are familiar with using online tools, please contact the author of this article, or Haris Alisic via Twitter, or leave a comment here on Global Voices, and we will contact you for more information on what you can do to help. We also ask that you all begin reporting from your area on Twitter and using the above-mentioned hashtags on Twitter, which are automatically collected by the platform and then reviewed and verified by Al Jazeera and volunteers.

CEE: “Spotted by Locals”

Veronica Khokhlova — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 01:08:32 +0000

Spotted by Locals: Experience cities like a local features a few dozen locations, including CEE cities of Belgrade, Bucharest, Budapest, Krakow, Ljubljana, Prague, Riga, Sofia, Tallinn, Vilnius, Warsaw, and Zagreb. A random sample post from Zagreb, Croatia: Hrelić Flea Market – The Aleph of Zagreb; from Bucharest, Romania: The Haunted House – Armenian Neighbourhood; from Sofia, Bulgaria: Nissim – A True Old-School Bookstore.

Macedonia: Is Skopje Really the Most Polluted City in the World?

Filip Stojanovski — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 01:23:10 +0000

Unlike the authorities, social media users are reacting to empirical information about high levels of pollution in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia.

As part of the reforms for joining the European UNion (EU), Macedonia is required to start measuring and improving its environmental indicators. The EU progress report for 2011 [pdf] stated diplomatically by basically repeating the 2010 report [pdf] (indicating stagnation or reversal instead of real progress):

Some progress can be reported in the area of air quality. Transposition of the acquis continued with adoption of some implementing legislation. Three more Protocols to the CLRTAP were ratified. Some progress was made in developing the system of air quality monitoring. The administrative capacity remains insufficient at central and local levels. Preparations in this field are moderately advanced.

For a decade, key environment stats have been missing from the EU progress reports, since they were not supplied by the Macedonian government. (Click to enlarge the screenshot)

During the last two and a half weeks, an air quality measuring station called “Skopje Breathing”, which was installed in the busy city center to publish its data online in real time, has provided a new dimension for citizens and some journalists from Skopje.

The portal PlusInfo.mk started covering this issue in detail, and is also providing real-time numbers for the amount of sharing via social media. The article [mk] from Friday, December 3, compared the “shocking” level of pollution with the WHO air pollution database:

According to the World Health Organization data [from September], the most polluted city in the world is Ahvaz in Iran with 372 micrograms of PM10 dust per cubic meter. At this time the City of Skopje website “Skopje Breething” says that the prevalence of this type of dust is 433 micrograms per cubic meter.

The WHO limit for PM10 is 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air.

This article received over 1,432 Facebook shares and at least 19 tweets, leading to over 22,185 readings by the time of closing of this post. Other articles on this topic also received significant social media attention, especially the one on the temporary unannounced shut-down of the measuring and reporting system for six hours the day after. Other media [mk] also continue to follow the measurements, which on December 4 were 488.99 micrograms per cubic meter. The governmental bodies in charge of environmental protection either kept silent or offered the usual excuses - not within their competence, will investigate, etc.

While comparing the current (daily) measures with the WHO annual averages is questionable from the viewpoint of methodology, no official expert has provided retractions or scientific explanation about the comparison and the actual pollution. The annual mean PM10 for Skopje is 80 micrograms per cubic meter, according to the WHO database. The current metrics show a somewhat lower level than the “world record,” which nevertheless remains dangerously high.

A screenshot of 'Skopje breathing' for Monday, Dec 5. The air quality is designated as very unhealthy.

Tumblr user Stamatovski responded by creating a new postcard for Skopje [mk], which also received quite a few reposts and re-tweets.

'Greetings from Skopje' - postcard design by Kosta Stamatovski. Reprinted with permission by the author.

Stamatovski wrote [mk]:

Alright everybody, after “the postcard” incited so much interest - which I did not expect - let me remind you that we are all responsible for what it represents!

Also, this is nothing new, nor is it going to change in a couple of days! Let us all stop driving in our cars alone, let's not use our cars to go even to our kitchen, let us not insist on parking 3 millimeters from our destinations, and generally let's all become more aware of the environment.

And let us all wish for some snow ASAP. :)

On the other hand, Dejan Spaseski criticized [mk] the excessive reactions to the news about the pollution via his Personal Development blog:

For a long time, everybody has known about air quality in Skopje. The only difference is that now we have a higher awareness. We also have a way to click and receive the current information immediately. This has made a huge difference.

[…]

My personal philosophy is that you have to do everything step by step, according to the interest effect principle… Everything needs time, it is enough to start doing something to change the current situation. This is a great start for me and we are moving in the right direction.

Some of the [social media] reactions made me laugh… Most of the initial comments were accusations that this is a result of the constant building and rebuilding in Skopje, new high-rises, cutting of the [Vodno] forest, building of Porta Vlae and Kapishtec apartment blocks, to the point that we don't need Skopje 2014. Most of the people complained that the Central Government or the Skopje Mayor haven't done a thing about this in years.

Some people claimed that they wouldn't get outside until the fog lifts, until the air quality returns to the limits of world standards - like in the big metropolises. If they sit at home, would they breathe cleaner air, or just feel better? Others said they wouldn't go out until Skopje is no longer the first in pollution. I cannot fathom why they feel relieved if there's another, more polluted city? Maybe the feeling that they are not victim number 1 but victim number 2 worldwide?

[…]

People rebel about pollution, but they all like to come and live in Skopje. I am very revolted by those who constantly keep saying they can hardly wait for Friday so they could leave towards their birthplace, or have a weekend in [Ohrid] or [Krushevo]. To get away from the stench. So why are they [coming back on Monday]?

It is not loyal to spit on the city we live in. The city that has offered us existence. In return, think about how you can help improve it. Now that you know about air pollution, ride a bus instead of driving your car. It would be cheaper and less damaging to the environment…

It is naturally easier to spit and blame. It makes things easier. Instead, try to act and think differently…

[…]

To bring the city into such a state, it took several decades. It would take as much time to repair the situation.

While the apologetic attitude towards the responsible authorities received counter-criticism [mk] on Ping.mk, Twitter user Gjorgji Taskovski responded to a far more concrete aspect of the text:

Why do the people who want to “get away” from Skopje over the weekend revolt you? I'll use a personal example: I have two kids, born 2005 (male) and 2006 (female). They prosper, except that the boy has runny nose all the time. Every season we made allergy tests with no results. The responsible physician, who is also a friend, advised us to move to the Radishani [a suburb on the slopes of a nearby mountain]. And now you say I should be ashamed to run away from Skopje over the weekend (even though I was born here). [For the sake of my children] I will run, what do I care! My wife is from [Kriva Palanka] and her parents returned to the village of their birth a year ago… When the kids are there, the change is amazing: no running nose, they eat [like wolves]…

I agree that pollution [in Skopje] has been high for years. Solution: the same as [Ljubljana]. Restrictions on moving into the city from other towns, relocation of jobs by relocating factories, possibilities for studies outside of Skopje and, above all, a developed rail network. Anyone who has lived in Germany or England or anywhere else in Europe would grasp the importance of this [Macedonian railways are infamous for their inefficiency and low mileage]. Removal of older trucks from Skopje is another super option - they are used in construction business, but that's not my problem. And above all, we have to admit that we live in a city with catastrophic urban planning, which spreads only longitudinally [along the Vardar river], and that building of new sports terrains, Vero supermarkets, cinemas etc. are not the only precondition for high quality of life. […] I say “Big deal!” to organizing swarm festivals, the great night life, or the [awesome Zoo]. Try to raise kids in this city, you'll change the way you think.

Slovenia: Dec. 4 Elections Updates

Veronica Khokhlova — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 22:01:43 +0000

Updates on the upcoming Dec. 4 parliamentary elections - by Dr. Filomena and Sleeping With Pengovsky (here, here, here, and here). Pengovsky concludes: “The way it looks right now, Janša seems poised to win on 4 December. However whether or not he will be able to form a coalition remains a mystery […].”

Slovenia: Photography Under Legal Attack

Vilhelm Konnander — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 22:51:58 +0000

Stefan Geens of Dliberation discusses how photography is under legal attack in Slovenia, since the country's information commissioner has decided that all faces in published panoramic photography should be blurred out - a decision with great consequences for the Slovenian photo scene.

Slovenia: Election Campaign Updates

Veronica Khokhlova — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:37:25 +0000

Updates on the Dec. 4 parliamentary elections campaign in Slovenia - at Sleeping With Pengovsky, here and here.

Slovenia: Projections for Parliamentary Elections

Vilhelm Konnander — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:34:19 +0000

Sleeping with Pengovsky analyses opinion polls for the upcoming December 4 parliamentary elections in Slovenia.

Slovenia: OccupyLjubljana Evolves Into “Boj Za” (”Fight For”)

Veronica Khokhlova — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 23:39:51 +0000

This week, PIRAN CAFÉ has been posting updates, photos and video from the OccupyLjubljana protest, which is taking place in front of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange, Borza: “BORZA is Slovenian for bourse, or stock exchange. At yesterday’s demonstration, the R was knocked off the archway. Today it was replaced with a J. BOJ ZA translates to, ‘Fight For'.” BORUT PETERLIN in a rabbit hole of photography posts a 5AM photo from the Ljubljana Boj za camp (”For eleven years I’m working on a 5am project where I take pictures around 5am in different places of Europe and hopefully once it’ll be a book.”)

Slovenia: #OccupyLjubljana on Oct. 15

Veronica Khokhlova — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 23:25:22 +0000

PIRAN CAFÉ posts photos from Ljubljana's recently renovated Congress Square and writes that this is where the #OccupyLjubljana gathering is expected to take place on Oct. 15 - “one of dozens, if not hundreds planned around the globe that day.”

Slovenia: Notes on the Dec. 4 Early Elections

Veronica Khokhlova — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 23:20:51 +0000

Dr. Filomena writes that Janez Janša, “the man considered most likely to form Slovenia’s next government,” has blocked her as well as a few journalists on Twitter, but hopes that Janša's SDS party wins in the Dec. 4 early parliamentary elections: “[…] For three years, these people have spared no insult, no insinuation, have not missed any opportunity to question the credibility and even legitimacy of the team that governed Slovenia during the worst period of the world economic crisis. It is time for them to show they can do better.” Sleeping With Pengovsky also comments on the upcoming elections, here and here.

Slovenia: Government Loses Confidence Vote

Veronica Khokhlova — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:12:21 +0000

Sleeping With Pengovsky reports that the government of PM Borut Pahor has lost a confidence vote in parliament.

Slovenia: Former PM Andrej Bajuk Dies

Veronica Khokhlova — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:49:21 +0000

Sleeping With Pengovsky writes about Andrej Bajuk, Slovenia's former PM, who died at the age of 67 this past Monday.

Slovenia: A Comment on the U.K. Riots

Veronica Khokhlova — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 23:53:30 +0000

Sleeping With Pengovsky comments on the riots and looting in the U.K.: “But I must say I got the heebie-jeebies when I heard on the BBC that some people were thinking of bringing in the army. Please, don’t. […] I come from the part of the world where there was – not so long ago – plenty of army on the streets of its own accord. […] The army, no matter how well meaning, doesn’t play by civilian rules. And it’s much easier to bring it to the streets than to take it off of them.”

The Balkans: Travel Blogs

Veronica Khokhlova — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 01:20:27 +0000

At Balkan Travellers, Sarah Hucal writes about Yugo Yoga performance that took place on a makeshift stage at Belgrade's Museum of Yugoslav History in July 2011; more of Hucal's Balkan travel writing and photos are at her blog, Solo in the Balkans. Jana Orsolic's Istria Week travel photos and journal [sr] are here, here, here, here, here and here. Piran Café's latest entry on the June 2011 trip to Sarajevo (plus links to earlier posts) is here; the blogger also links to the New York Times' recent travel piece on Slovenia, Slovenian Rhapsody.

The Balkans: Over Half of the Population Uses the Internet

Danica Radovanovic — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 22:09:01 +0000

There are over 10.5 million Internet users in the Balkans/the former Yugoslavia, which makes up 51.7 percent of the region's population, according to a recent report [sr; see the table below].

The findings [.zip, sr] cited by Huge Media, in collaboration with Marko Tomić, a student from the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade, show that Slovenia has the highest Internet service penetration (63.29 percent), while Bosnia and Herzegovina has the lowest (51.76 percent of Internet users).

It is interesting that over a half of the Serbian and Croatian population is on the Internet, and the authors of these findings consider [sr] that there's an incomplete research evaluation of Internet usage by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (RZS):

…As for the Internet users, we think that the RZS assessment is incomplete and does not include users of mobile internet. […they are] only examining a particular set of data that gives us information about a particular topic, but not the complete story that interests us.

Facebook is the most popular destination: over 70 percent of Internet users have a Facebook account in Serbia, and 63 percent - in Croatia:

The average time spent on Facebok is 25 minutes (both for Serbia and Croatia), and the average user in Serbia checks his/her Facebook account 16 times a day, while in Croatia it is 13 times a day.

[…]

The increasing number of Facebook users can be explained by non-residents of Serbia and Croatia using this social network during their travels.

The online social dynamics and the activities on Facebook do not differ much in other Balkan countries. Last year, we published the data on the Serbian young adults who spend the most of their time on Facebook, communicating with their friends (61 percent), “like”-ing their statuses (66 percent), sharing content and information (56 percent), writing private messages (47 percent), and playing games (22.4 percent).

Statistical and educational institutions in each of the Balkan countries could generate and use the data on the relevant online activities to detect and focus on their critical users, to adjust their policies and action plans based on the data.

It would be also interesting to see age distribution among users and other relevant demographics, as well as the analysis of online social interactions on other Internet services and social media sites.

Currently, research is being conducted on the social media usage among young adults, students, educators, and scholars in Serbia, but it is limited, in a way, as it cannot be considered a sample for the entire Balkan population. Each country could work on their local national data for cross-statistical area analyses for the future.