Swedes boost Balkan towns This April in Serbia and Monenegro, a regional workshop concerning environmental projects in 21 Balkan communities will be held to determine which initiatives in each town will receive financing. The Swedish International Develop-ment Agency (SIDA), has allocated EUR 600,000 to 800,000 for each of Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina for these various local environmental action projects (LEAPs). The LEAPs address problems common to many Balkan municipalities: poor waste management, lack of sewerage systems, damaged green areas, lack of environmental management capacity and low environmental awareness. The process of creating LEAPs engages municipal staffs, NGO representatives, and local institutions committed to monitoring the environmental aspects of selected projects. Pogradec, Albania, an Albanian city of 40,000, is a good example. Its city council adopted a LEAP in June 2005, together with a priority list of activities to be carried out by 2015. A city known for its wild flowers and endemic Koran trout, Pogradec has chosen projects aimed at improving hygienic conditions, sewage treatment and drinking water. Although the city can expect EUR 80,000 of support from the Swedes, it has pledged to fund 10 percent of the projects from its own budget. A board represented by several local stakeholders has also been established. In order to strengthen capacities within the municipality itself, the whole evaluation process will all take place at the local level. Similar processes are going on at municipalities in all the four countries. The LEAPs in Western Ballkans initiative provides a major contribution by addressing environmental problems at the local level.

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