The project is implemented by a transnational partnership involving seven Mediterranean countries: Cyprus, Italy, Spain, Albania, Greece, France, and Malta. It brings together public authorities, research institutions, and civil society organisations to jointly develop, test, and improve sustainable water reuse solutions tailored to local contexts.

Factsheet

ESP provides targeted technical assistance to the Government of Albania to align policies with EU acquis and national priorities, complete structured transposition planning, strengthen governance and enforcement at national and local levels, and develop a national environmental financing strategy to match the chapter’s high investment needs. Core deliverables include national environment and climate strategies and implementation plans, a Chapter 27 transposition plan with capacity building, institutional reviews and needs assessments, and financing and investment planning integrated into budgets and donor frameworks.

By the end of the project, partners will produce clear reports, training kits, a multilingual accessible toolkit, promotional videos, and a final cultural accessibility and inclusion event report, alongside an Art4All MoU to sustain cooperation beyond the project. Beneficiaries include persons with disabilities, cultural institutions, public authorities, NGOs, schools, artists, and the wider public through more inclusive cultural programmes and stronger community cohesion.

According to Albania’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), Albania aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20.9% by 2030. Of this target, 61% is attributed to the energy sector, while FOLU accounts for 37%, mainly through land use categories such as cropland and grassland. This positions the FOLU sector as a major national contributor to climate mitigation efforts.

Despite its strategic relevance, the sector is currently hampered by fragmented governance, insufficient strategic planning, weak institutional coordination, low private sector engagement, and limited technical capacities at both central and local levels.

The project aims to enhance the national strategic framework for the implementation of the NDC and build the capacities of the government, private sector and civil society actors for an effective national cross-sectorial process for the implementation of the NDC.

The goal of the project is to contribute to the achievement of Albania’s NDC through the mobilization and scale-up of climate finance.

In relation to gender equality, the project will carry out a situation analysis of the gender indicators integrated into the NDC implementation components: governance, mitigation and adaptation, identify deficiencies and gaps, and plan the activities for the gender sensitive implementation of the NDC.

The project includes developing a comprehensive bicycle and pedestrian sectorial network plan, tested along Aqif Pasha Boulevard and connected areas, and creating a public-supporting area to showcase the benefits of car-free living. It also involves converting key sections of the city into pedestrian-friendly zones and designing and implementing cycling lanes. The project aims to transform Aqif Pasha Boulevard from a car-centric street into a smart corridor that promotes the use of bicycles and pedestrian areas. This will be achieved through implementing a temporary “pop-up” bicycle lane, deploying smart infrastructure like bicycle counting cameras and intelligent pedestrian crossings, enhancing pedestrian areas (particularly in the “Kalaja” neighborhood), and using data-driven approaches to monitor and improve the new mobility solutions.

Through the NetZeroCities Enabling City Transformation Programme under the EU Mission for Climate-Neutral Cities, this project will pilot innovative mobility solutions in Elbasan. The city will serve as a testing ground for developing and implementing comprehensive mobility models that integrate data-driven policy approaches, capacity building, and community engagement to create sustainable urban transportation systems that can later be scaled across the city.

The Climate Bridges project addresses a clear need for coordinated climate action in the region. Policy analysis reveals gaps in implementing the Green Agenda for Western Balkans (GAWB), characterized by uneven policy adoption and limited stakeholder engagement. The project responds by strengthening regional cooperation, enhancing governance structures, and fostering collaboration between civil society organizations, governmental bodies, and the private sector.

The EU4CE-REWAM project is being implemented on a sub-national scale with the final recipients being the municipalities of Gjirokastër Region and Vlora South area of the Vlora Region.

While initiatives supported from different sources are helping modernize the system, the municipality continues to face financial and operational difficulties in meeting growing urban waste management needs.