“Lakes of Albania: promotion of sustainable and responsible tourism models for inclusive community development” is an AICS-funded project that aims to promote innovative models of sustainable and responsible tourism in the areas related to Albania’s two main lakes – Lake Shkodra and Lake Pogradec/Ohrid – as opposed to invasive tourism and development models that are booming throughout Albania, to contribute to the inclusive economic growth of Albania.
The project aims to create an efficient model of sustainable and responsible tourism through the combination of different themes that, when combined, can create an effective synergy. The project thus combines the theme of inclusive governance, based on the European Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) approach; community activation and mobilization, based on the principles of co-design and community-based approaches; and inclusive and sustainable entrepreneurship (from an economic, social, and environmental perspective).
The project also focuses on several cross-cutting issues, such as youth and women’s employment, integrated territorial promotion, and European and international connectivity (because of European integration). Through ‘Lakes of Albania’, we will improve the skills of local actors and the tourism ecosystem in the Shkodra and Pogradec Lake areas.
The main target groups of the initiative include the communities living in the lake areas, active and emerging tourism operators, and the municipalities of Shkodra, Madhe, and Pogradec. The project will indirectly involve the rest of the population of the target areas and users of tourist services.
Through the Project, we will strengthen the governance of the target areas in terms of inclusiveness, sustainability, and connectivity with other European and international contexts; as well as the involvement of communities in the design of interventions to support the sustainable and responsible tourism sector and the increase of the supply of sustainable and responsible tourism operators.
The project partnership comprises an extensive and complementary set of know-how and experience in each of the project’s thematic focus areas. In addition to the CSOs of ATS, COSV, and VIS, the formation of the partnership reflects a bottom-up development vision through the involvement of Albanian and international civil society networks, a leading Albanian European public academic institution, and two Italian organizations with experience in participatory planning and sustainable environmental management.