The Vjosa River Basin is situated in the southern Albania. Being considered as the last free-flowing river in entire Europe, Vjosa represents a great potential not only for the nature conservation values but also for the sustainable economic development via ecotourism activities.
However, because of a missing integrated, bilateral management plan for the river basin, Vjosa is facing many challenges.
Following the previous work on emphasizing the river importance and uniqueness in terms of nature conservation, EuroNatur and EcoAlbania as is implementing the “ESPID 4 Vjosa” Project that aims to strengthen the management efforts for sustainable development of the Vjosa River catchment by bridging the science-policy-society interface.
Thus, the main aim is to enhance science support for responsible governmental institutions and to foster the communication between decision-makers, scientists, public, stakeholders and NGO’s.
The overall objective is to strengthen the science-policy interface, empirical evidence, its ac-cess and use for the management efforts for sustainable development of the Vjosa River catchment.
The specific objectives will be:
- to develop and improve the bridging of the science-society interface,
- to enhance the science support for responsible governmental institutions and evidence-based decision-making;
- to foster the communication between decision-makers, scientists, public, stakeholders and NGO’s.
The project is foreseen to have the following expected result:
Establishment of interface and coordination mechanisms for the intersectoral, integration and collaboration of stakeholders and enhancement of involvement in decision-making processes (led by Project Management Team);
- Intensification of an effective scientific research on the Vjosa River Basin ecosystem;
- Civic partnership is built to grow local capacity on the Water Management;
- Enhancement of the role of RBCs and LGUs into the decision-making by building their capacities and offering the science-based evidence for a better decision-making
- Establish an effective exchange and cooperation on a transboundary context for the Vjosa/Aoós River Basin.
Planned project execution period: 1 December 2021- 30 November 2024 (36 months)
Partner: EuroNatur
Financed by: Austrian Development Agency
