Eko-svest - 'Civil Society Action for Climate'

The Inception Phase lasted for 6 months, starting on June 1, 2021 until November 30, 2021. The objectives of the Inception Phase were to prepare the project staff to successfully execute the project from administrative perspective, providing them with the necessary training, procedures and policies, adjust the project activities based on performed analysis and circumstances and set up monitoring and evaluation tools and practices to be used during the course of the project. Since Eko-svest went through a special assessment of internal controls (ISK), one of the most important deliverables of the Inception phase should be the Updated Action Plan for ISK recommendations. The Inception phase was reported in the Inception Report as being mostly fruitful in terms of planned activities and as successful in achieving the forseen results, but the actual assessment of the achieved results will be done more thoroughly when assessing the Inception Report. Some of the achieved results of the Inception Phase are: - through participation as a CSO representative in a number of national climate processes for new policies, as well as participation in producing the shadow report for the climate sector within Chapter 27, the project ensured that the voice of civil society is heard by the institutions and enhancing the role of CSOs as a credible and constructive partner in climate related processes. - setting up the management structure and preparations both of Eko-svest and its partners, MYLA and CNVP and conducted trainings on RBM. - preparation of a needs assessment for the support of CSOs and a gender mainstreaming analysis, as well as an updated sectoral analysis on climate change. - developed a Communication Strategy for the project. During the implementation phase, some of the results achieved by Eko-svest include: Main project results Jun 23 - May 24: -During the last project year, the main project results were delivered via the sub-granting programme, which focused on providing three types of grants to local organizations throughout the country: - institutional grants (organizational capacity development) - local action grants (implementation of specific local climate actions) - ad-hoc advocacy grants (supporting advocacy on specific topics of climate relevance) 14 sub-granted projects were completed, reportedly having met their expected results and indicators. Some notable examples include: - the preparation of local environmental action plans (LEAPs) for 6 municipalities, including climate mitigation and adaptation measures; - 1 local strategic environmental policy document examining challenges specific to the Gostivar municipality; - A national disaster risk analysis was conducted with the participation of all stakeholders from the National Adaptation Plan (NAP); - 3 recipients of institutional sub-grants prepared strategic organizational plans and started implementing measures that include strengthening their work on climate action; - Two photovoltaic (solar power) plants were installed to support local communities (1 in the eco-educational center in the village of Belica, situated in a biodiversity hotspot area, 1 at the rehabilitation facility in the city of Strumica) etc. - The Shadow Report for 2023 on EU acquis Chapter 27 was produced, published and disseminated. This document was prepared in consultation and with inputs from all members of the Climate Coalition of CSOs, enriching their insight into the state of implementation and transposition of legislation across relevant sectors. Other results: - 4 CSO trainings held for 25 organizations, 80% of organizations report plans to practically apply knowledge learned at the sessions; The sessions were also attended by 14 sub-grantee organizations, who note that it has helped them improve their project management capacity. - Mentoring and legal support was provided to 27 CSOs during the third project year, which resulted in 2 organizations obtaining project grants. Preparation of Local Environmental Action Plans (LEAPs) were facilitated by 1 participating CSO for municipalities of Kicevo, Plasnica and Makedonski Brod. Implementation of LEAPs by municipalities is expected to improve various environmental parameters. - A total of 10 public educational campaigns were carried out, reaching over 2.5 million views and the largest group that engaged with the content were women aged 35-44. Campaign topics included general information on climate change, energy efficiency, ecosystem services provided by forests, the role of urban greenery in climate adaptation, sustainable urban mobility etc. - 20 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed with municipal authorities, and additionally with the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning (MoEPP), WeEffect, the State Environmental Inspectorate and the Faculty for Forestry. This led to a signing of a declaration by 40 mayors in early 2024 committing to accelerating climate action.

General objective Strong and vibrant civil society that plays a meaningful role in the process of decarbonization, transformation and renewal of the society, resulting in a clean environment, green economies and healthy citizens in North Macedonia. Specific objectives 1. Strengthen and empower the civil society to take part in climate related decision making and take local action through improving their capacities, knowledge and skills and providing the necessary resources for this work. 2. Increase public awareness about the possibilities for low carbon economies and green transformation and build public pressure on institutions to ensure these developments through policy and programme changes.