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.

Gorjan Jovanovski
Gorjan speaking at the AllWeb conference in North Macedonia, 2018
Gorjan speaking at the AllWeb conference in North Macedonia, 2018
Gorjan giving a talk at a conference, 2018
Born
NationalityMacedonian
EducationMaster of Software Engineering, University of Amsterdam
Occupations
  • Activist
  • Programmer
Known forActivism, AirCare
AwardsEuropean Young Innovator 2020
Websitewww.gorjan.rocks

AirCare

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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]

2018 TEDx talk

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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., about the founding of AirCare and the impact it had on public awareness about high pollution levels in North Macedonia.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Selmani, Adrijana (22 January 2016). "The Air Pollution in Macedonia Is Bringing People Into the Streets, And There's an App for That". Global Voices. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  2. ^ "AirCare - Apps on Google Play". Google Play.
  3. ^ "Битолчани излегоа на протест за чист воздух". Radio MOF. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Protest za čist vazduh u Beogradu". Radio Slobodna Evropa. Radio Free Europe. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Владата направи план за чист воздух: Нема веќе греење на јаглен или нафта". Pulseinfo.mk. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  6. ^ Banovic, Rebecca. "Meet The Macedonian Software Engineer Fighting Air Pollution With An App". Green Tech. Forbes. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  7. ^ Maassen, Paul (21 July 2017). "Six ways for citizens to assert power beyond the ballot box". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  8. ^ Scott, Matt. "Improving Lives & Air Quality through Open Data Innovation". openNASA. NASA. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  9. ^ "The most polluted capital in Europe, you didn't even know about". UN Environment. United Nations. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  10. ^ "AirCare WSA". WSA.
  11. ^ "TEDx SittardGeleen". TED.
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