Dibër: Trails & Tradition
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Dibër: Trails & Tradition Final Technical Performance Report March 2020 1. PROJECT SUMMARY Program Name: Dibër: Trails & Tradition (D2T) Activity Start Date and March 24, 2017 – March 23, 2020 End Date: Name of Implementing Albanian Local Capacity Development Foundation (ALCDF) Partner: Cooperative Agreement Award Number: AID-182-A-17-00002 Geographic Coverage (cities and or countries) Diber Municipality, Albania Reporting Period: March 28, 2017, to March 27, 2020 2. ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ALCDF Albanian Local Capacity Development Foundation AOR Agreement Officer Representative BoD Board of Directors B2B Business to Business CNVP Connecting Natural Values and People D2T Diber: Trails and Tradition ERC Environmental Review Checklist FTE Full Time Employee FUA-s Forest Users’ Associations Forum Forumi Dibra Turistike LAG Local Action Group LC Local Coordinator ICT Information Communication Technology MoU Memorandum of Understanding MT Management Team NTFP Non-Timber Forest Products PC Project Coordinator PCV Peace Corps Volunteer PM Project Manager PPP Private Public Partnership R Results SO Strategic Objective TAP Tourism Action Plan TIC Tourism Information Center USAID United States Agency for International Development TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Project Summary 2 2. Acronyms and Abbreviations 2 3. Introduction 4 3.1 Project Management 5 3.1.1 Institutionalization: Project Partners’ cooperation 5 4.1.1 Planning and Management 5 4.1.2 Cooperation, coordination with Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) 6 4.1 3 Communication system 6 4.1.4 Monitoring and Evaluation System 7 3.2 Implementation Plan Details 8 SO1: Enabling Environment 8 SO2: Workforce Capabilities 21 SO3: Integrated Product Development 25 4. Summary of the Key Achievements and Indicator Performance 30 4.1 Key Achievements 30 Key achievements - SO1 Enabling Environment: 30 Key Achievements - SO2 Workforce Capabilities: 32 Key Achievements - SO 3 Integrated Product Development: 32 4.2 Indicator Performance 33 5. Success story 34 5.1 Youth employment through tourism activities 34 5.2 TIC a sustainable set up for tourism development for the region 35 5.3 Harvest Festival Working Group 35 6. Implementation Challenges 36 7. Collaborating, Learning and Adapting 36 8. Looking Ahead 36 3 3. INTRODUCTION ALCDF is pleased to present the final technical performance report for the USAID-funded reference AID-182-A-17-00002. This document, Dibër: Trails & Tradition (D2T) project’s final technical performance report for the project period March 24th, 2017 to March 23rd, 2020, presents the activities, achievements, and challenges of the project during the project period. In March 27, 2017, USAID/Albania awarded Albanian Local Capacity Development Foundation (ALCDF) the Dibër: Trails & Tradition (D2T) Cooperative Agreement, under Tourism APS. The project area was in the Diber Municipality, located in northeastern Albania. Project duration was 36 months. The D2T project’s overall goal is twofold, to increase employment, particularly among youth and women; and to increase the incomes of Diber families involved in the tourism supply chain. The project has three strategic objectives under which all its activities are organized. The objectives are: SO1: to strengthen the enabling environment for tourism development in the Diber Municipality through improved governance, planning, public services, private sector opportunities and partnerships, marketing and ICT infrastructures. SO2: to increase the workforce capabilities of the rural tourism sector, through increased awareness of integrated, agro-tourism; improved quality and technical skills of producers and suppliers of agritourism products and services; and the creation of an internship program for the future labor pool of youth and volunteers. SO3: to design, develop and promote integrated agritourism products, using data informed tools and participatory approaches to assure ownership and to serve as models for the future. The project partners for implementation of the D2T project are the Municipality of Diber, Connecting Natural Values and People (CNVP), and the Local Action Group (LAG) “Dibra Turistike.” ALCDF has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with each partner where all duties and responsibilities are defined per each partner’s project activities. As per the contract, ALCDF must submit a quarterly progress report and annual report. This final report covers three annual reports, and it describes the activity progress compared with the work plan. Activity Implementation Progress 3.1 Project Management 3.1.1 Institutionalization: Project Partners’ cooperation The responsible authorities of ALCDF, CNVP, LAG “Dibra Turistike” and Diber Municipality signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for D2T project. The project partners have held several consultation meetings for clarification of their tasks, responsibilities and duties on project activities and their financial contribution. The MoU was signed in May 2017. Annual meetings for sharing information to partners and stakeholders about project activities progress were organized at the end of each calendar year. Furthermore, the sustainability of the entire project intervention was ensured with the signing of a PPP agreement between Diber Municipality (public) and LAG “Dibra Turistike (private) and have TIC operation and functional in its full capacity and providing touristic services all year. 4.1.1 Planning and Management The D2T team was focused on a wide range of planning activities for the full three years of the project. Some of the key activities are listed below: The international expert from Kreider Consulting firm was contracted by the D2T project on development and set up an efficient and effective Project Cycle Management (PCM) system. The D2T project team in close cooperation with external expertise has developed the PCM system with templates, formats, indicators and a reporting system from the beginning of the project, and its improved functionality of project implementations and management. Formal workshops for the annual work plans were conducted at the beginning of each year with the D2T team, TIC staff, a team from partner organization CNVP, and a PCV. During the workshops the main activities and timeframe were agreed and presented in the respective annual plan documents which were approved by USAID. Monthly regular meetings with AOR from USAID and the D2T team were conducted during the project period. Progress of project activities and other project management issues were discussed in these meetings. Regular USAID monitoring field visits (more than nine) were conducted as well. During the visits, the representatives of USAID monitored the progress of activities, the process of refurbishment of the touristic specialty accommodations and investment of touristic rural village models, Tourist Information Center and hiking trails, etc. During these visits, meetings with beneficiaries, partners and stakeholders were organized. The monitoring site visits were concluded with a close out meeting where feedback and recommendations were provided. Two post-award surveys were held by USAID’s RFMC in order to audit all expenditures and procedures of the D2T project. The post award survey reports were received, and correction actions were taken accordingly. 5 Bimonthly team meetings of the ALCDF team were organized. During these meetings, the D2T team updated ALCDF staff members about their progress on project activities and received feedback. Additionally, the MT (Management Team) of the D2T project organized monthly budget meetings to discuss the previous months’ expenditures as well as forecasting for the upcoming months. 4.1.2 Cooperation, coordination with Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) D2T project built good cooperation with PCV-s in the area. One of the PCVs was closely involved at the TIC office and with D2T project activities. She was part of the D2T team meetings and support and contributed to different project activities, including report/case study/success story writing and marketing/ICT platform content improvement. The D2T project took the advantage of having the PCV part of the team and her skills and capacities were effectively used during implementation of project activities. She completed her service in June 2019 in Peshkopi and after that a service contract was signed with the RPCV (returned peace corps volunteer) to provide services till the end of the project mainly related to the platform visitdiber.com content improvement. ALCDF and LAG Diber Turistike applied to request another Peace Corps Volunteer. The request was not approved for the round of 2019, but we are still negotiating to have a peace corps volunteer in 2020. This person will be attached to Tourism Information Centre. 4.1 3 Communication system Launching event The launching event was organized in Peshkopi at Center for Education and Communication (CEC) conference room on July 17th, 2017. More than 80 participants from the private sector, local government institutions, civil society organizations and local media joined the event. The activity was congratulated from the Deputy Director of USAID’s Technical Support Office for Europe & Eurasia, Robert Camilleri, the Mayor of Diber Muharrem Rama and the Project Manager Lindita Manga. The project values, partners, funds, objectives and activities were presented through this event. The participants discussed and received information also through questions and discussion sessions, and project leaflets and fact sheets. Press releases were shared with