Vol. 4 • No. 8 • February 2017 P L A N N I N G A N D L O C A L G O V E R N A N C E P R O J E C T Government of Albania Approves First Five GLTPs USAID PARTNER MUNICIPALITIES ACHIEVE PLANNING MILESTONE hat is a General Local Territorial Plan (GLTP)? A which resulted in larger and more complex local terri- WGLTP is a comprehensive, strategic instrument that tories consisting of urban, rural, agricultural and natural articulates both a municipality’s vision for its future de- lands. The GLTPs represent the specific implementation velopment and a set of strategies, projects and regula- of post-TAR planning and development legislation and tions for achieving that vision. Each GLTP, integrating USAID was the first to provide support to any of Alba- many different interests and competing demands for re- nia’s local governments in creating plans to enable sus- sources, addresses a wide range of matters, such as en- tainable development of the newly redrawn territories – vironmental protections, land use, infrastructure invest- an important and urgent need. ment, local economic development and more. The GLTP implementation process fused the technical In late December, Albania’s National Territory Council expertise of USAID’s planning experts with the local achieved an important milestone when it gave its stamp know-how of municipal officials and multiple waves of of approval to the country’s first five GLTPs, all of which citizen participation and stakeholder consultations to ful- belong to model municipalities partnered with USAID’s ly address territorial concerns: protecting environmental Planning and Local Governance Project: Berat, Kuçova, resources, sustaining places of cultural heritage, regu- Fier, Lushnje, and Elbasan. This achievement was the lating land use, guiding investments in public infrastruc- culmination of more than 18 months of collaboration be- ture within the context of local strategic and budgetary tween each of five municipalities and USAID, work that processes, building programs that capture the increased began shortly after the June 2015 local elections in re- value of land as a means by which to finance capital in- sponse to the Territorial Administrative Reform (TAR), Continues on page 2. Photos from left: Group photo including from left to right USAID DG Officer Suzana Cullufi, USAID Country Representative Cate Johnson, Minister of Urban Development Eglantina Gjermeni, PLGP Urban Planner Rudina Toto, PLGP Chief of Party Kevin McLaughlin, Mayor of Fier Armando Subashi, PLGP Subcontractor/Co-PLAN Executive Director Dritan Shutina, and Mayor of Kuçova Selfo Kapllani in the celebration event organized by MUD and USAID; Minister of Urban Development Eglantina Gjermeni; USAID Country Representative Cate Johnson In this issue USAID Helps Local Governments with Water Utility Management 9 CBS - A Civic Mechanism to Promote Good Governance USAID Partner Municipalities Achieve Planning Milestone 1 and Local Democracy 10 USAID Builds Capacities of National and Local Planning Authorities 3 USAID and UN Women Promote Best Practices New Consultative Council Enhances Decentralization Efforts 4 in Civic Engagement 11 Decentralization in Albania, 1 Year Later 5 Draft Law on Local Government Finances Nears Final Approval 12 Support to Municipal Councils 5 Improving Efficiency and Effectiveness of Local Government Cross-Municipality Trainings Encourage Dialogue and Operations 14 Sharing of Best Practices 6 USAID/Albania Country Representative Visits Tax Trainings Enhance Local Capacities 7 the Partner Municipality of Korça 15 PPPs Enable Improved Local Services and Infrastructure 8 Outreach 16 Rr. “Dervish Hima” 3 Kullat pranë St. “Q. Stafa”, Kulla Nr. 1, Apt. 91, Kati 10, Tirana, Albania • Tel: +355 44 50 41 50 • www.plgp.al 1 Government of Albania Approves First Five GLTPs USAID PARTNER MUNICIPALITIES ACHIEVE PLANNING MILESTONE Continued from page 1. vestments in infrastructure and alism, technical knowledge, trans- monitoring performance as the plan parency and informed decision- itself is implemented – a powerful making. Also key to the process: tool for guaranteeing transparent ongoing, intensive engagement of decision-making and governance. local officials with their constitu- ents – community members and in- Months of effort went into the prep- terest groups – to safeguard public aration of each GLTP; the goal was interests within the territory and to produce locally owned docu- guarantee citizens’ rights. ments that truthfully represent local territorial features, affected com- USAID, in cooperation with the munities and the challenges and Ministry of Urban Development opportunities the municipality will (MUD), held a celebration event face over the next five years. Once marking the successful completion completed, each plan was submit- of the general local territory plans ted for local approval by the Munici- for our five model municipalities of pal Council, followed by submission Berat, Elbasan, Fier, Lushnje, and to the National Territory Planning Kuçova. The audience consisted Agency and the Ministry of Envi- Official announcement on adoption of GLTPs on the of representatives of the national ronment for compliance declara- Ministry of Urban Development website planning and development agen- tions. Now, following approval by the National Territorial cies, the model municipalities, USAID partner municipal- Council, the plans only await endorsement by the Prime ities, and the donor community; the event was broadcast Minister. live on several TV channels. Both the Minister of Urban Development and the USAID representative in Albania Throughout the collaborative GLTP-development process, delivered their greeting remarks, expressing their grati- USAID worked in close cooperation with the Ministry tude to all partners and interest groups who participated of Urban Development and the National Territory Plan- in the GLTP drafting process. ning Agency to share its experiences, materials and key learnings. As a result, USAID’s efforts with its five model These five GLTPs are the first drafted at the local level municipalities served as a learning laboratory for both and adopted by the Government of Albania (GoA) in the the local and national institutions involved in the plan- aftermath of the Territorial Administrative Reform and ning process. It is now considered a model for success- the planning reform. The Minister expressed her appre- ful implementation of comprehensive spatial planning – ciation to USAID in particular for its unwavering sup- so much so that the Government of Albania has adopted port over many years. The Mayors of Fier, Kuçova, and USAID’s methodology for use with the 26 additional mu- Elbasan also expressed their gratitude to USAID and nicipalities it is currently supporting with preparation of MUD for providing valuable support and said that they their GLTPs. Similarly, view the GLTP as a local the Swiss Decentraliza- “constitution” for urban tion and Local Develop- municipal development. ment Project (dldp) has These mayors stressed also adopted the USAID that implementation of approach for the five mu- their general local terri- nicipalities for which it torial plans will present is providing GLTP sup- real and significant chal- port. With their GLTPs lenges and highlighted approved, the munici- View of the National Territory Council’s meeting in which Albania’s first five the need for further sup- general local teerritorial plans were adopted. palities of Berat, Kuçova, port throughout the im- Fier, Lushnje and Elbasan have a solid basis from which plementation process. Most specifically, they expressed to take on the challenges of territorial, economic, social concerns regarding implementation of the urban plan- and environmental development. For each municipality, ning instruments now required by the new urban plan- implementation will require dedication and profession- ning law. 2 Territorial Planning and Development USAID BUILDS CAPACITIES OF NATIONAL AND LOCAL PLANNING AUTHORITIES hirty-one of Albania’s 61 local governments -- in- instruments, although an internationally accepted ap- Tcluding nine USAID Project partner municipalities proach to land development, are context specific and de- -- are in the final stages of drafting and approving their pendent on local laws and frames of mind. They stressed first post-Territorial and Administrative Reform (TAR) that each municipality must adapt financial instruments General Local Territorial Plans (GLTPs). Each GLTP is a to their own unique needs and objectives – there is no comprehensive review of a municipality’s vision for its single right way to implement financial instruments and future that addresses such wide-ranging concerns as successful financial instrument programs in other coun- land use, economic development, environmental protec- tries cannot be directly transplanted to Albania. tion and infrastructure. In addition, a GLTP must include The workshop used a number of different approaches to a detailed implementation plan -- the specific actions teach participants about Financial Instruments, includ- needed to achieve the municipality’s vision. To assist its ing actual case studies from already completed GLTPs partner municipalities in developing these all-important (five of USAID’s model municipalities recently received implementation plans, USAID recently held three train- final approval of their GLTPs) to simulate financial in- ing workshops where Urban Planning experts provided strument development. In each case, participants