ArtGold 2Fastfacts - UNDP Albania

ArtGold 2 Fastfacts
The programme is
partnering with the
regional councils of
Shkodra and Vlora to
design and implement
regional development
strategic plans.
Two enterprise
incubators are being
established in Shkodra
and Vlora to provide
support resources and
services to new
businesses.
The programme is
supporting the Ministry
of Health to pilot a
mental health project in
Vlora to ensure the
social integration of 20
mental health patients
within the local
community.
Technical assistance in
Shkodra is guiding the
management of a newly
established landfill site
and the establishment
of a waste sorting
processing facility.
MATTERS OF FACT
Albania is one of fourteen countries around the world currently
taking part in the UNDP Art Initiative.
ARTGOLD 2 Albania is supporting the establishment of the
Albanian International School for Human Development and
Cooperation, in cooperation with the universities of Shkodra and
Vlora.
The ARTGOLD 2 Albania programme is
part of the UNDP Art Initiative
(Articulation of territorial and thematic
networks of human development cooperation),
which promotes national
co-operation framework programmes for
governance and local development.
The programme supports the Government
of Albania’s commitment to achieve
the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) and to meet the requirements of
EU accession through the promotion of
partnerships with regional councils, in
line with the National Strategy for Decentralization
and Local Governance.
The initiative promotes the sharing of
international best practices and innovations
for local development between
countries and direct partnership with
local communities. To meet this objective,
the programme makes use of the ART
international thematic network, which
includes: IDEASS - Innovations for Development,
ILS LEDA - International Links
and Services for Local Development
Agencies, UNIVERSITAS - Universities for
Human Local Development and a collective
of non-governmental development
organizations, which form the structural
components of the ART Initiative.
Photo: Supporting small scale business development in Shkodra.
The Programme works in the following
complementary fields using a crosscutting
approach: good governance,
environmental protection and territorial
planning, regional development, local
health care and welfare and systems,
local basic education and training.
Local development
The ARTGOLD 2 Albania programme is
supporting the Regional Councils and
the Local Economic Development Agencies:
TEULEDA in Shkodra and AULEDA in
Vlora to design and implement regional
development strategic plans, with a
particular focus on disadvantaged
groups.
The programme is supporting strategic
planning in Shkodra and Vlora in
response to regional priority areas and
targets development interventions in
the areas of cultural heritage, the environmental
and parks, industry and agriculture.
Following an extensive evaluation
of possible interventions in these
areas public consultation activities are
being undertaken in both regions. The
strategic planning process aims to drive
balanced and sustainable development,

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environmental, and economic and human
increase the value of each region through the
strengthening of its unique identity, cultural, social,
resources.
Investing in human capital
ARTGOLD 2 Albania supports the involvement of
universities and research institutions in local,
national and global development, through
establishing links between schools and the region,
adapting education programmes to specific
cultural settings, designing plans and projects for
facilitating access to schools for all children,
improving professional and university training and
disseminating the culture of human development.
The programme is supporting the establishment
of the Albanian branch of the International School
for Human Development and Cooperation. This
school, in cooperation with the universities of
Shkodra and Vlora will act as a laboratory for
human development and cooperation capable to
regularly receive not only Albanian students, but
also students from other European countries.
The School is chaired by Edgar Morin, a noted
philosopher, and among its promoters are experts
and representatives from different UN Agencies
(UNDP, UNESCO, UNEP, ILO, UNV, and UNOPS), and
representatives of science and development
cooperation agencies from many countries.
Decentralized cooperation
The programme is facilitating the access of
Shkodra and Vlora regions to the ART international
services through decentralized cooperation
partnerships with European local administrations
as well as partnerships between Albanian regional
development agencies and European agencies in
order to support the development of small and
medium scale enterprises.
The programme is finalizing a survey on the
options for the development of value chains
(business management) and organizing the
creation of two enterprise incubators, to provided
business support resources and services to new
businesses in both Shkodra and Vlora.
Local health care
In Vlora region, the programme and local partners,
with support of the Italy’s Puglia region is
implementing a pilot project in the area of mental
health, promoting the social inclusion of around
20 patients from the local psychiatric hospital
within the local community. The Albanian Ministry
of Health, based on the success of the project in
Vlora, has sought further technical assistance and
support in order to extend the scope of the
intervention in Vlora and pilot the initiative in
other regions of the country.
Welfare services and systems
In Shkodra region, the results to a strategic
planning exercise identified as a priority the
strengthening of waste management services,
which include: the securing of former waste
dumps, the provision of technical assistance in the
management of a newly established landfill site
and the establishment of a waste sorting
processing facility.
In addition, the construction of bike and trekking
paths circling the Shkodra Lake, also involving the
Montenegro side of the basin, and the
revitalization of the Shkodra city centre, in
collaboration with the Regional Development
Agency of the Italian Region of Barletta is also
underway.
Photo: Honey bee cultivation, Vlora.
For futher information, please contact
Luigi Cafiero, Chief Technical Advisor
+355 69 2050547, luigi.cafiero@undp.org