Gorjan Jovanovski | |
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Born | |
Nationality | Macedonian |
Education | Master of Software Engineering, University of Amsterdam |
Occupations |
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Known for | Activism, AirCare |
Awards | European Young Innovator 2020 |
Website | www |
Gorjan Jovanovski is a Macedonian eco-activist, entrepreneur and software engineer, working on raising awareness about air pollution through technology. In 2014, he created the AirCare mobile app, which uses open data to visualize air pollution, and its launch triggered nationwide protests in North Macedonia and Serbia [1] by citizens demanding that local governments take more serious action against the issue.
AirCare, initially known as MojVozduh, is a mobile app that uses open data from government and volunteer air quality sensors to map and visualize pollution in the Balkans. Launched in December 2014, it currently has over 200,000 downloads, [2] and is used a daily basis during high pollution months in the Balkans. AirCare accumulates data from government, volunteer and satellite measuring stations from the European Space Agency, aggregating them for easier consumption by end users. Pollutants include Particulate matter, Nitrogen dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Sulfur Dioxide and Ozone.
Making the data available to the masses led to nationwide protests in North Macedonia [3] and Serbia. [4] In response, the "Plan for Clean Air" was released by North Macedonia's government. [5] AirCare and Jovanovski's work has been covered by Forbes, [6] The Guardian , [7] NASA, [8] and the UN. [9]
In 2020, Gorjan was awarded European Young Innovator by the UN founded World Summit Awards, for his work on raising air pollution awareness through AirCare. [10]
Jovanovski has given talks at multiple conferences on the topics of mobile apps and using technology for ecology activism. In 2018 he gave a TED talk at TEDx SittardGeleen titled "Data: the pathway to a better world". YouTube. TEDx Talks. 13 April 2018., about the founding of AirCare and the impact it had on public awareness about high pollution levels in North Macedonia. [11]
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity, abbreviated as VMRO-DPMNE, is a conservative and the main centre-right to right-wing political party in North Macedonia.
The Democratic Union for Integration is the largest ethnic Albanian political party in North Macedonia and the third largest political party in the country. It was formed immediately after the country's 2001 armed conflict between the National Liberation Army and Macedonian security forces. NLA founder Ali Ahmeti has been the party's president ever since.
An air quality index (AQI) is an indicator developed by government agencies to communicate to the public how polluted the air currently is or how polluted it is forecast to become. As air pollution levels rise, so does the AQI, along with the associated public health risk. Children, the elderly and individuals with respiratory or cardiovascular problems are typically the first groups affected by poor air quality. When the AQI is high, governmental bodies generally encourage people to reduce physical activity outdoors, or even avoid going out altogether. When wildfires result in a high AQI, the use of a mask outdoors and an air purifier indoors are also encouraged.
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Bulgarians are an ethnic minority in North Macedonia. Bulgarians are mostly found in the Strumica area, but over the years, the absolute majority of southeastern North Macedonia have declared themselves Macedonian. The town of Strumica and its surrounding area were part of the Kingdom of Bulgaria between the Balkan wars and the end of World War I, as well as during World War II. The total number of Bulgarians counted in the 2021 Census was 3,504 or roughly 0.2%. Over 100,000 nationals of North Macedonia have received Bulgarian citizenship since 2001 and some 53,000 are still waiting for such, almost all based on declared Bulgarian origin. In the period when North Macedonia was part of Yugoslavia, there was also migration of Bulgarians from the so called Western Outlands in Serbia.
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