CSOs and civil society networks engagement must play one of the most important roles in the process of public involvement in the development and implementation of River Basins Management Plans (RBMP). This is also clearly recognized in the Water Framework Directive (WFD) which is obligatory for Albania and which states that “the success of the WFD relies on close co-operation and coherent action at Community, Member State and local level as well as on information, consultation and involvement of the public”.

Albanian development success depends not only on a private sector and an efficient public sector, but also on a vigorous civic society sector. The link between government and civil society is nowadays crucial for the Albanian development. However, CSOs often lack capacity in some areas of expertise, which means that they are not able to fulfill their expected and desired roles, such as facilitation, information-provision, awareness creation, lobbying and advocacy. 

Overall objective of the project is to strengthen CSOs capacities for involvement in the process of development of River Basin Management plans in Albania, thus contribute toward wider public support of RBM Plans. The participatory approach must secure that different interest groups such as: business community, local or national institutions, media etc. will benefit from the action.  The project is designed to ensure identification of all interest parties, recognize their needs, and direct the action toward meeting those needs.

Target groups: The target group consists of relevant civil society organisations, business community, local and national institutions and media in Albania, willing to demonstrate their long-term plans and advocacy skills in development and improvement of public participation in designated region in Albania.

Project results:

• Raise public awareness related to the key environmental issues and problems that affect the aquatic environment and the promote new ways to address them;
• Strengthen CSO’s capacities to increase their influence in the working process and outcomes of RBM plans in all stages of their development and implementation; 
• Strengthen CSOs capacities for involvement in characterization of the River Basin Districts in Albania for data collection, information and experiences sharing, identification of conflicts and establishing common understanding and active involvement in development of the Programme of Measures;
• Support CSO’s advocacy work for improving public participation, information exchange, consultation, decision-making, creation of awareness and promotion of environmental issues related to development, update and implementation of RBM plans;