With a budget of €30.7 million, AICS Tirana is funding and implementing 12 initiatives for Environmental protection and Sustainable tourism in the Western Balkans (Albania: 5 grants and 2 EU delegated projects; Bosnia and Herzegovina: 2 grants and 1 EU delegated project; Kosovo: 1 grant; Regional: 1 grant).
These projects integrate the protection of natural heritage – particularly biodiversity – and cultural heritage with the development of sustainable tourism, also fostering the economic development of local communities. Special attention is paid to promoting responsible economic activities and creating job opportunities for young people, in order to elevate tourism development as a tool for inclusive and lasting growth.
Main activities:
- Awareness campaigns aimed at both institutions and local communities and tourists;
- Support for developing risk prevention capabilities, such as environmental crimes;
- Strengthening capacity for controlling and monitoring tourism activities, so that tourism can thrive without compromising ecosystems;
- Support for developing management plans for protected areas, adopting a holistic, long-term vision that integrates conservation and development;
- Support for defining environmental and tourism policies;
- Support for supervising land protection and enhancement strategies, with particular attention to mountain and rural areas, which integrate best practices in sustainable tourism development and environmental and cultural protection, including through co-design with civil society.