The Regional Environmental Reconstruction Programme for South Eastern Europe REReP Record

Cleaning up on tourism In October, children between the ages 12 and 14 from the Albanian town of Korca wrote down their thoughts about the local environment for an essay contest. “… I ask myself why my village is like this. Somebody has to solve the puzzle of ‘beauty.’ I live in the hope that my village will flourish and that the school garden will have colourful flowers because people are in love with nature,” wrote one of 450 entrants. Korca, population 60,000, is situated in southeastern Albania near the Greek border where traditions are preserved. “Korca can be considered a ‘success story’ regarding its environmental status,” said Eduart Cani, a project manager at the Tirana-based REC Country Office Albania. Located high on a plateau, Korca is a must-see if you love Turkish-style rugs and carpets. The entire city seems to be devoted to the manufacture and sale of every size, colour and type. But along with other cities in Albania, Korca has gone through a transitional phase connected with political and demographic developments in Albania. As a result, cities have grown in population and have been transformed in ways that have created environmental problems. In the past, Korca suffered from an inadequate water supply due to the depletion of wells, insufficient water delivery systems and pipe leakages. That problem has been solved but other challenges have yet to be addressed. Cani says the main problem for Korca today is closure of the landfill. A planned landfill in the city of Maliq is expected to solve the rubbish problem, and with the completion of a sewerage project, public sanitation has been much improved. Another problem that needed to be addressed was the breakdown of Korca’s central heating plant. As part of the local environmental action plan (LEAP), the vast industrial site of the disused thermal works has been converted to a community green with new access roads. With no more central heating, individual households and buildings must rely on wood and electricity for on-site heating, and there is a pressing need for insulation projects to increase efficiency.   “Thermal insulation is a challenge for the future,” Cani admitted. Gutters to graveyards As part of the essay-writing contest, the Korca children expressed dismay with the disappearance of certain flora and fauna from their surroundings. One writer, Armalda Muka, appealed to adults to take care of the environment: “If people don’t pay attention, I won’t be surprised if one day, the storm gutters turn into our graveyards. For all this devastation, nature is blameless. People are the ones who destroy nature without being aware that they are in fact destroying their own lives.” The children’s essays were part of the project “Clean and Green” supported by the central and local authorities and international non-profit organisations. The project’s major focus is to increase the level of education and awareness regarding environmental harm and to implement small projects to improve community environments. This is only one of the projects undertaken in Korca with the direct participation of different community stakeholders. In order to tackle problems, local authorities in the prefecture of Korca (which encompasses the city of Korca and several other communities) are implementing a LEAP, a document of environmental strategies and measures promoting a clean environment. LEAPs involve media, women, children and various other community actors to promote the plan’s objectives. The prefecture’s LEAP is being implemented in the cities of Pogradec, Maliq, Bilisht, Erseke, Leskovik and Korce. REC Country Office Albania supports the implementation of the plan. Cani said that it is important to involve local communities, as they can contribute toward the plan’s implementation and also reap its benefits. “The plan identifies priorities and responsibilities in the environmental field. It identifies the structures to be involved,” Cani said, adding that the LEAP can develop capacities of local governance and support all sorts of efforts to improve the community and environment. REC Albania is giving professional training to municipal staff in Korca working on the LEAP. New infrastructure Korca’s prefecture has benefited from projects for potable water, sewerage modernisation, a first-inthe- region system of garbage collection and sanitation, reconstruction of roads, improvements of local capacities and the creation of several parks and green spaces in the centre of Korca, according to the REC. In the framework of the LEAP, Korca secured grants of EUR 100,000, split between five projects. “It is the first time in Albania that the process of drafting a plan came together immediately with investments, showing local authorities and the community that their involvement has positive results,” Cani said. Korca Mayor Roland Damo said he is happy with the initiative. "A case like this is unique,” Damo said. “It is the first Albanian city to draft such a strategy. In this framework the municipality has not hesitated to co-fund five investments in the framework of the strategy. We also fully support human capacity building,” he added. “The cleaner the city and its surroundings, the more tourists will come to discover what it offers,” Cani said. “Communities can profit from a clean environment, which attracts visitors more than anything else.

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