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Macedonia: Wild Herbs Exchange Network

· Rising Voices

Categories: Macedonia, Indigenous Communities, Audio Podcasts, Blogs, Digital Photography, Digital Video, Mapping, Microblogs, Mobile Phones, Social Networking

Macedonia is a country with lush nature and a large number of medicinal herbs and teas. People that live in remote villages have a natural remedy for every ailment but they have very little contact with the rest of the world. We plan to educate these people on the importance in sharing this knowledge by exchange of information and cures using the internet. We will also ask young bloggers to photograph and write about these wild herbs.

Topical focus:

Indigenous Communities [1]

Country:

Macedonia [2]

What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?

Skopje, but project will be carried out throught Macedonian villages

Describe the specific community with whom you will be working.

People from remote villages in Macedonia live simple lives and yet struggle to survive. What they do have is untouched nature and the knowledge how to use everything they find in nature. This is why i feel passionate about teaching them that earning money is possible if they use internet tools to exchange their knowledge. I also want to train young people so that they can become the link between villagers and the online world.

What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?

We will create a web site where villagers will be able to share their knowledge about wild herbs, their natural remedies and exchange seeds. Web site will have video and photo content, a live forum where people can ask questions and mapping of wild herbs. Young bloggers will be encouraged (through contests) to participate in the wild herbs exchange and a network of blogs will be established to promote villagers knowledge of nature.

What technologies and digital tools do you plan to use in the trainings?

Audio Podcasts [3], Blogs [4], Digital Photography [5], Digital Video [6], Mapping [7], Microblogs [8], Mobile Phones [9], Social Networking [10]

Describe the connections that you or your organization have already established that will contribute to the success of the project.

We plan to cooperate with the Macedonian ministry of Agriculture and Forestry so that they can directly help better the lives of villagers through our project. Also create a joint database on wild Macedonian herbs in cooperation with villagers to save indigenous herbs.

How many participants do you think will be involved in your project?

At least 50 people from villages will be trained in using digital tools via their mobile phones, PC or laptop. They will be interested to participate because this will offer them a sustainable future. At least 30 young people from the cities will be trained to use digital tools in the promotion of wild herb knowledge.

Contact name

Elena Nikolovska

Organization

Association for environmental protection TERRA FLORIA – Skopje

Twitter URL

Facebook URL