Being successful is not an easy thing, but being the best is a true recognition for all of your achievements. That is why, dear Bluesky-ers, the Blue Sky Youth Network, on March 18, 2008 in the Universal Hall in Skopje, was awarded for its achievements in youth activism and its contribution to the Macedonian society.

The manifestation “In the world of success”, is being successfully organized by Detla Press Marketing and its aim is to acknowledge the best Macedonian organizations, companies, persons, according to the public opinion, that left a significant mark in 2007. To be nominated for this prestigious recognition, one should leave a mark of its time and to act for the wellbeing of all members in the society.

From now on the name of Blue Sky will be engraved with the letters of success, standing in line next to the names of the Macedonian pop icon Tose Proeski, Esma Redzepova, the Macedonian Parliament, the municipalities of Karpos and Centar, the Ministry of Ecology, High-tech Corporation, Sanos and many others.

Dear Bluesky-ers let this award be an impetus for continuing the excellent work of all of us in the name of The Blue Sky Youth Network.

The Open Society Institute has announced its Undergraduate Exchange Program 2009-2010

With great pleasure we would like to inform you that the application process for The Open Society Institute’s Undergraduate Exchange Program 2009-2010 has been announced. Since the beginning of the programme, in the last few years a great number of Blue Sky members have won this award. This is an excellent opportunity for the Blue Sky members to continue the successful tradition of winning this award as it has been won by many of our members in the past years. We encourage you to apply for this programme and we give you our full support.

The Undergraduate Exchange Program (UEP) supports students from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Serbia, and Ukraine* in the United States for one year of non-degree academic studies.

Applicants must currently be enrolled as a second-year student at a university in their home country to be eligible.

For more information and an application form, please see http://www.soros. org/initiatives/ scholarship/ focus_areas/ undergraduate_ exchange.

The Macedonian Artisan Trade Association (MATA) has opened a call for everyone interested in souvenir design. The idea of the project "Konkurs za dizajn na suveniri za Gradot Skopje" aims to enrich the variety of tourist requisites and to contribute to the image of the city of Skopje. This project is supported by “Agens”- Skopje along with the financial support of the city of Skopje.

The organizers have provided awards for the top three ideas.

The design of the souvenirs should be consisted of a group of products (at least three) based on a same concept/topic related to the city of Skopje.

You can use the following materials in the making of your concept: ceramics, glass, metal, wood, stone, leather, fabric and other materials.

The deadline for submitting your ideas is 01.12.2008

For more details visit www.matacraft.org.mk

Dear Blue Sky members,

As you all know the Blue Sky Youth Network is participating in the International Year of Astronomy. The project 100 hours of Astronomy is a cornerstone project of the IYA2009.

The 100 Hours of Astronomy cornerstone project (100HA) is a worldwide event with a wide range of public outreach activities including live webcasts, observing events and more taking place during a 100-hour period in early April. One of the key goals of 100HA is to have as many people as possible look through a telescope as Galileo did for the first time 400 years ago. 100HA will take place from 2-5 April when the Moon goes from first quarter to gibbous, good phases for early evening observing. Saturn will be the other highlight of early evening observing events. 100 Hours of Astronomy consists of five main events:

1. An opening event featuring the telescope that Galileo used to make his groundbreaking observations.
2. Activities at science centres, planetariums and science museums including live webcasts, live observations by visitors using remotely-operated telescopes, and enhanced outreach programs including public observing sessions held by amateur astronomy groups.
3. Observing sessions and other educational activities in schools groups held by astronomy clubs and others.
4. 24 hours of live webcasts from research observatories around the world, along with observing events and other outreach activities at participating observatories.
5. 24 hours of sidewalk astronomy – public observing sessions in population centres to bring the opportunity to view the Moon, Saturn and other objects to as many people as possible. The annual International Sidewalk Astronomy Night will be held during this event.

The workshop in project management in Stip was very interesting. It took place in the Blue Sky office in Stip, on the 24th of May. The trainers were Aleksandra Umlenska and Igor Dimovski.

The Weekend PM Caravan in M.Kamenica went interesting and educative. The trainer was Aleksandra Umlenska. The training took place in a cafe at the centre of the town, on 3rd of July.

It is so hard to adjust to these 37 C here in Skopje, from the 12 C in Glasgow. This is one of the things that we miss about Glasgow together with the fact of being the biggest national delegation at a world wide conference.

Anyhow, CIVUCUS youth and CIVICUS world assembly were our occupation from 16 – 21 June in Glasgow. We got the great opportunity as part of the Leap of Faith Together project to participate and talk about world issues that are shaking the world stage, and deserve so much attention.

The event addressed the question of people, participation and power as three main pillars of discussion and debate, space for sharing experiences and knowledge.

On 17th of May, the caravan arrived in Veles. Ivana and Igor had an interesting workshop in project management. There weren’t many members at the workshop but the atmosphere was relaxed and the communication between the participants was great. It started at 12:00h and I am sure that at the beginning the participants were skeptic about the workshop, expecting that it’s going to be another boring lecture but at the end they went home smiling and satisfied with the new knowledge in project management.

It was an interesting day when after my final algebra test I went to Radovish. When I arrived there all of the students were excited about the project management workshop that I held there. There was a good group of students who listened carefully and participated actively at the workshop.

Remember the photography exhibition on the theme Youth influence?

Well, more than 300 Euros have been raised as a result of the work and vision that the young and talented photographers showed during the photography workshops. Their work has been exhibited at the photography exhibition "Youth Influence" from 06 – 12 March 2008 in Skopje.