03/11/2022
On November 3, 2022, a public discussion on "Urban mobility - opportunities, practices and sustainable projects" was held at the "Millennium" hotel, organized by the Youth Cultural Center - Bitola and the Municipality of Bitola and within the project "Promotion of social dialogue in the community" supported by The Olof Paleme International Institute from Sweden, as part of the Bitola Municipality's program for the celebration of November 4, the Day of the Liberation of Bitola. Dr. Niko Jankov participated as a representative of Mobility Bitola and a member of LESC - Bitola. The opening address was given by the vice-president of LESC - Borche Dimitrovski, who referred to the implementation of projects and sustainable solutions in the field of urban mobility in Bitola, and after him spoke prof. Dr. Nikola Krstanoski from the Technical Faculty ("Bitola - how to achieve sustainable mobility?"), B.Sc. Eng. arch. Blagojce Cvetkovski and B.Sc. traffic engineer Tome Kukanovski from PE for urban planning, projecting and engineering, and experiences were shared by B.Sc. Eng. arch. Snezhana Domazetovska from the urban planning department from Centar Municipality (Skopje) and Dušan Petrić from Stari Grad Municipality, Belgrade (Serbia). The moderator of the discussion was Stevo Bashurovski.
Considering the short presentation time, Prof. Krstanoski from the Technical Faculty had the best presentation, addressing all elements of traffic and was the only one who (at least briefly) mentioned architectural barriers and the importance of their removal. During the discussion that followed, the president of Mobility Bitola spoke in more detail on that topic, quoting excerpts from expert studies made within the framework of our "Alternative tourist experience – ALTER TRIP" project.
Namely, since the mobility of persons with disabilities was almost not on the agenda, Dr. Jankov started first with the constitutional right of all citizens to free movement throughout the country, and then with the National Strategy for Equalizing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2010-2018, where it is stated that "mobility and accessibility are basic prerequisites for the implementation of all activities in the daily life of persons with disabilities". During the period of the Strategy, one of the most important tasks should have been the promotion of "Universal Design", and the respective ministries (for transport and communications, for education and science and for information society) should have been the bearers of measures in this direction, IN COLLABORATION WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS. Among the measures that had to be taken are the establishment of an environment accessible to persons with disabilities by applying the principles of universal design, enabling transportation accessibility, applying modern technologies, etc.
In the concluding observations of the initial report of the Republic of North Macedonia by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities from 2018, regarding Accessibility, Art. 9 of the UN Convention, the Committee noted that our legislation provides a systematized and comprehensive approach to the right of physical access, but expressed concern, among other things, that there are NO SPECIFIC AND EFFECTIVE MEASURES AND SANCTIONS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LEGISLATION and that the level of cooperation between government institutions and organizations of persons with disabilities regarding the implementation and evaluation of accessibility standards is minimal. In the recommendations for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN, from Agenda 2030, the Committee recommends, among other things, the Republic of North Macedonia to review its legislation in order to ENSURE MANDATORY APPLICATION OF ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS in all areas. Dr. Jankov also mentioned the Goals and principles of the Law on Urban Planning, among which is the overcoming of urban barriers for persons with disabilities. In that context, he read the excerpt from the field study from our project, made by Dr. Irena Ruzhin, who analyzed accessibility in tourist facilities throughout the Pelagonian region. She made a general assessment of the streets, sidewalks, parks and noted that: "minimum intervention was made in terms of accessibility, that is, it can be concluded that the condition is not good. The traffic lights do not have sound signaling, there are a large number of unmarked obstacles in the movement. The bus stations are partially accessible, as is the railway station in Bitola, which has a ramp, but access to the platforms is difficult." As a conclusion of his presentation, the president of Mobility Bitola emphasized that no matter how accessible individual facilities/institutions/locations are, PREREQUISITE to reach them is an accessible infrastructure with universal design, because "People are not disabled, cities are".
Victor Iliev from "Bitola on Bicycle" participated in the discussion, who emphasized the need for bicycle paths, as an excellent alternative to city transport, which would reduce pollution (which was also a topic of discussion). Another participant in the discussion was prof. Dr. Vaska Atanasova, graduate traffic engineer and professor at the Technical Faculty in Bitola.
Unhindered movement through the city is a problem that affects everyone, especially people with physical disabilities, but also those with reduced or difficult mobility (temporary or permanent), elderly people, parents with strollers, children... We hope that our remarks and guidelines will be used in the preparation of projects and plans for urban planning, especially in the detailed urban plan of Bitola. As always, we remain available for any consultation. Activities continue.
