Although we are not supposed to be bureaucrats that create rules just for the sake of creating them, the staff of Kasarna Hub came out with proposal of the following rules of behavior within our little hub for innovations in Ohrid:
1. No talking about politics
2. No talking about history
3. All the talking to be for bettering the future and finding solutions
But I will immediately break this rule, just this once, to stress the perpetual innovation in Ohrid and Kasarna Hub as the latest institutional innovation mechanism observed through the prism of historical and dialectical developmental trajectory of the region and wider.
Starting from the Neolithic period, our ancestors, defending from the wild beasts and forest fires, implemented the settlements purely because of the weather in the Ohrid Lake. We have several settlements, older than 4.000 years.
In the ancient times, many developments in the fields of smithing and forestry were made. The famous Golden Masks were state-of-the-art pieces, unmatched by many civilizations.
In the Roman era, roughly 2000 years ago, forgery, road building (Via Ignatia ), military innovation, public toilets and public baths were implemented.
In the Middle Ages, Samoil’s state, was pioneering some weaponry and agriculture innovations that help this region to thrive.
In the Middle Ages, we established the University led by saint Clement and Naum, 500 years before Bologna and 800 years before Oxford. The alphabet “Glagolitza” created here in Ohrid, helped to bring Christianity and literacy to Slavs throughout the Slavic world, to over 500 million people in the range from Central Europe to Vladivostok on the East.
In the modern ages, especially in the time of Yugoslavia, Ohrid’s industry was booming. There were several industrial giants like: EMO, Zastava, Otex, Lihnida, Bratstvo Inox, and few more, with thousands of employees and pioneering many innovations in electricity, automation, machinery, clothes, food and many more. Our huge capacities help build from scratch countries like Iraq, Libya, many countries in Africa, Turkey, and many of our patents and engineers were used by many Western countries, USSR and China.
In this time, Ohrid, as a cultural and industrial hub, had the most industrial assets per capita in Macedonia. It was an unmatched and unparalleled success for that time.
Today, we, the descendants of these innovative and brave folks, decided to move forward and bring the innovation culture back to our town.
