The National Forum Partnerships for Depollution brings together civil society, businesses, and youth for concrete solutions to pollution in Albania
The project GreenAL – “Support to Environmental Civil Society Organizations 2024–2027” organized the National Forum Partnerships for Depollution, a platform of cooperation between the private sector, innovation, and environmental organizations, with the aim of developing concrete partnerships for reducing air, water, and soil pollution in Albania. The Forum aimed to place civil society data and practice at the center of the discussion, inviting institutions and businesses to build evidence-based solutions.
In the opening speech, Anila Bejko, Executive Director of Co-PLAN, emphasized that partnerships between civil society and the private sector are the key to moving from identifying problems to implementing measurable solutions. Also, Mattias Goldmann, founder of 2030 Secretariat, stressed the use of evidence that can guide investments and innovation, also sharing concrete examples.
The innovation ecosystem against pollution in Albania
In the first panel of the Forum, “Catalysts for Depollution: Dialogue across Business, Innovation and Civil Society,” moderated by Mattias Goldmann, discussions focused on building an innovation ecosystem that connects civil society data with technological capacities and private sector investments, emphasizing that addressing pollution requires partnership models that go beyond fragmented interventions.
Panel participants included Mr. Enio Jaço, founder of CBS, former President of the American Chamber of Commerce and Honorary President for Organizational Governance of the Global ESG Leadership Organization, who spoke about the role of the private sector in the environmental transition. Lulzim Baumann, founder and director of RecycAL, Circular Economy Park Albania, spoke about the circular economy in the local context, its practices, challenges, and opportunities in Albania. Another panelist, Mr. Marcel Thomkins, Head of Private Sector Engagement, “EU 4 Circular Economy and Livable Cities,” contributed his insights on European support for Green Innovation Ecosystems. Also, Ms. Françeska Korançe, founder and Executive Director of the organization “Build Green Group,” spoke about how the EIT community serves as an accelerator of innovation against pollution in Albania.
The Forum also had a second session, where three working groups were formed to address air pollution, water pollution, and waste and (micro)plastics. The groups were respectively led by Endi Biba and Erjon Sauku (Milieukontakt) and Kejt Dhrami (Co-PLAN) on air pollution; Erjon Kalaja (H2H Foundation) and Sami Nezaj (qTIL) on water pollution; and Meivis Struga (ETMI) and Elvis Nreka (Co-PLAN) on waste and (micro)plastics.
The National Forum “Partnerships for Depollution” was organized within the framework of the project GreenAL “Supporting Environmental Civil Society Organizations 2024 – 2027”, a project funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency with funds from the Swedish Government and implemented by Co-PLAN, Institute for Habitat Development in cooperation with VIS Albania and COSV – Cooperazione per lo Sviluppo.