Branch Albania

It is a project born in 2010 following the Shkodra floods and the collaboration between the Italian and Albanian Civil Protection Departments that gave birth to CIMA Foundation’s office in Albania.

Over the years, CIMA Foundation in Tirana has been the base for many projects, funded by the Italian government, European Union, UNDRR and other stakeholders. Our activities have contributed substantially to the strengthening of the national civil protection system, enabling the establishment, as early as 2011, of the National Operations Center – Civil Protection Albania of the Ministry of Interior and the National Center for Natural Hazards Prediction and Monitoring, the first to provide an Early Warning System.

But this was only the first step in a rich collaboration that enabled the design and revision of the current Albanian Civil Protection Law (Law 45 of July 18, 2019) and regulations related to the creation of the new Civil Protection Agency, structure andStandard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to support local and national centers in their daily work. It is also in the course of the projects that CIMA Foundation has carried out in the country that it was possible to implement the EU Floods Directive in Albania, defining the Areas with Potential Flood Risk and producing, on this basis, the first flood hazard maps for all rivers nationwide.

These initiatives have been accompanied by continuous technology transfer to ensure that Albanian civil protection can leverage cutting-edge instrumentation. Platforms and tools such as myDEWETRA.world, DesInventar, ERRA, and ACRONET stations have been implemented in the country to enhance prevention, monitoring, and risk management capabilities at the national level. To guarantee the proficiency of the operators using this equipment and to promote it at the national level, we have conducted training, workshops, and activities over the years. Additionally, in recent years, we have collaborated on mitigation and awareness projects related to climate change.

Similar to our approach in other regions, our methodology is never top-down. Consultation tables and feedback from users and end recipients, both at the political and institutional level and with the general public, are crucial for understanding their actual needs and effectively targeting our activities in Albania.