Second Regional Training was held within the SVAP Project in Albania

The second regional training on ‘Local Water Management: Challenges and Solutions’ is held over three days in Shkodra, from June 6 to June 7.

The objectives of this regional training were:

  • Discussion and exchange of information on water management challenges at local level, in the focus of EU Integration and global challenges such as climate change
  • Present good practices of community engagement in addressing local resilience on water related challenges.
  • Exchange experiences on the use of SVAP and other educational materials for community engagement in water management at local level.

The first session was opened and moderated by Mr. Mihallaq Qirjo, Director of REC Albania. He outlined the workshop’s objectives, briefly summarized the two-day agenda, and delineated the organization of activities. Following the presentation of project implementations in Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina during the first session, representatives from each country briefly discussed the current state of water management in their respective regions. Similar situations were noted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Albania. Montenegro provided a concise overview of the progress made in implementing water supply management projects in their country. The second part of the meeting was moderated by Mrs. Sanja Popovac, Director of REC Montenegro. During this session, she invited Mr. Halit Kamberi, Senior Water Management and Environmental Consultant, who briefly outlined the requirements of the Water Framework Directive and presented the general organizational chart for the institutional framework of water resources management in Albania. Following this, Mrs. Alminda Mema delivered her presentation titled “Preparing Local Communities to Confront Climate Challenges. The third section of the meeting was moderated by Mrs. Lejla Suman. She invited Mr. Jovanche Cvetanoski, representative of the Municipality of Karposh, North Macedonia, to address the current situation on water management and adaptive measures for climate change at the local level in the Skopje Region through a presentation. The final section began with Mrs. Tamara Radovanovikj Angjelkovska inviting Mr. Urim Xharavina to present the situation of the Drini i Bardhe River in Kosovo, followed by Mrs. Nataša Marković from the Municipality of Pljevlja, Montenegro, who presented “Water Management in the Municipality of Pljevlja. After the presentation of Mrs. Marković, Mrs. Radovanovikj Angjelkovska invited Voislav Todorov from USFS to showcase a video illustrating similar initiatives in America. The video served as an example.

On the last day of the meeting, the first session was opened by Mr. Qirjo, who began by introducing upcoming activities to be discussed by the local coordinator regarding the SVAP method in schools. He then invited Mr. Onuzi, followed by Mr. Bushati, to present activities related to the implementation of the Steam Visual Assessment Protocol (SVAP) with teachers and students. In the second section, participants joined a field trip where Mrs. Aurora Piroviq presented the characteristics of Lake Shkodra and highlighted the importance of its flora and fauna, environmental problems and development challenges.