Decarbonise, decentralise, democratise. These are the three Ds of a possible energy revolution that some citizens are carrying out on the Croatian island of Krk through the installation of many photovoltaic systems and the establishment of an energy community. An interview
The green transition is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Ukraine, however, not only has to decarbonize, but must do so amidst a war. Despite it, the country is already rebuilding and discussions about greening the economy are vivid
1.8 million projects carried out by over 600,000 entities thanks to the EU cohesion policy. Who managed this myriad of initiatives, and on which areas and subjects were resources concentrated? A look at the data from the Kohesio platform
For centuries the opium poppy has been cultivated with great success in what is now North Macedonia. After the bans of the Yugoslav era, there are now those who want to reintroduce it for the (legal) needs of the pharmaceutical and food industries
Where was Marco Polo born? What is his native country? A question that made little sense in the 13th century – everything was under the control of the Republic of Venice – is nowadays a source of debates, especially between Croatia and Italy. A new project tries to overcome them
There is great anticipation in Yerevan for the first edition of the Armenian Fashion Week, to be held in early July. The ambitious event is the first of its kind in the country
Synthesise and integrate two "failed", seemingly antithetical political thoughts, the Marxist and the Islamic one. This is what EKP-dominated Turkey needs according to Recep İhsan Eliaçık, Turkish thinker and activist, animator of the first collective of "anti-capitalist Muslims”
David Pejić, born in 1990, won the European Commission award for "Best European organic farmer" last September. David is at the helm of the oldest organic farm in Croatia and his is a very unusual story that crosses agriculture and philosophy
The current Macedonian government wants to speed up the construction of road infrastructure: to do so, it is changing several laws and awarding the contract without a tender. Procedures which, according to the opposition, mainly damage the treasury in favor of private interests
In the Balkans, a region where energy is produced from fossil fuels or – when from renewable sources – from hydroelectric energy, energy communities are gaining ground: groups of citizens and small businesses that focus on self-production and self-consumption of renewable energy
In San Martino in Valle, on the island of Cres, the distillation of medicinal herbs boasts a centuries-old tradition. Today, it is kept alive by Irena and her husband Guerino
In recent decades North Macedonia has been affected by a very strong emigration trend and today more and more companies struggle to find staff. Among the solutions proposed, there is that of encouraging the arrival of workers from non-European countries
The warm season will be an opportunity to test the new infrastructures and strategies of an EU-funded project in the municipalities of Gorizia, Nova Gorica, and Šempeter-Vrtojba, a border area that conceives itself as a single, homogeneous territory along the river Soča
As in other areas of the Croatian coast, also in Baška, a municipality on the southern tip of the island of Krk, the local administration is facing depopulation in the winter months and saturation in the summer ones. We talked about it with its mayor, Toni Juranić
Few cities can boast of being crossed by four rivers. Karlovac is one of them. Kupa, Dobra, Korana, and Mrežnica. A river city that saw its golden age towards the end of the eighteenth century. Our reportage continues along the Kupa River
Energy communities are projects in which citizens associate both as producers and consumers of clean energy at a local level. There are already many of them, including in South-Eastern Europe. They could be supported by EU cohesion policy, but that is not the case yet
Local official in the morning, farmer in the afternoon. Franjo Toic is the emblem of what Europe can be: local, global, with a strong civic and community sense. An encounter
In Europe, Romania has one of the lowest general unemployment rates and one of the highest youth unemployment rates. And the trend is not getting better
We were in Kryvyj Rih, an industrial city in central Ukraine, to investigate what the workers' organisations are doing and how they have reacted to the conflict
In Slovenia, the healthcare system, once a flagship of the country, seems to be on the verge of an irreversible crisis that risks leading to the dismantling of the public system in favour of the private sector
Twenty-one years after the serious economic and financial crisis of 2001 that accompanied its rise, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) presents itself for the electoral appointment in June in a context of full economic and social turmoil
For the Croatian government, 2022 was the year of the objectives achieved: entry into Schengen, the single currency, and the Peljesac bridge. But if the Croatian authorities celebrate the treble, the population looks with concern at the arrival of the single currency
Civil society organizations in North Macedonia have been fighting against the opening of new copper and gold mines for years. Citizens have collected documentation and evidence that mining will seriously damage the environment
This year, the number of people who left Armenia to work in Russia decreased by 20,000. The number of migrant workers leaving for Russia from Georgia has also decreased slightly. The main reason is war
The start-up sector in Albania is relatively young, yet it has big innovation potential, especially in the ICT industry. An interview with Arjan Ymer, director of the business incubator Oficina
Kosovo is growing fast in the field of innovation, but the strong potential of the sector is currently not being used as much as it deserves. We talked about it with Uranik Begu, director of the Innovation Center Kosovo
Τhe islet of Revythoussa is a small, barren piece of land in the Gulf of Megara, west of Athens. There would be nothing special about this place, except it has become the only LNG terminal in Greece and a strategic energy stronghold for the wider Balkan region
Supporting the development of young and innovative businesses in the Western Balkans. This is the objective of the Star Venture programme of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. We talked about it with regional coordinator Dejan Tonic
RuralAlbania, a project to support small agricultural producers in northern Albania, started in September. It follows up on strong preexisting relationships, and one of the first initiatives was a study visit
Innovation clusters that involve relevant stakeholders, from public authorities to the private sector and academia are key to reducing brain drain and promoting local development. We talked about it with Jolta Kacani, professor at the University of Tirana
