Supporting environmental justice in Albania

BlueLink is joining an effort to create a civic-media coalition to foster environmental justice in Albania. The initiative is part of a joint project entitled “EJA: Environmental Justice in Albania” and funded by the European Union.  The project partnership is led by the Resource Environmental Center in Albania (REC) and includes BlueLink and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN).

The partners will nurture approximation of workflow between justice structures in Albania. The project will make available the most recent dossiers and a database of independent expertise in the field of environment; through looming of best practice; improving this way institutional practice among justice institutions, with end result - the quality of environmental justice and environmental protection, a profoundly bonded venture with our right to exist. It will enhance, as well the technical and management capacities of local co-applicants, and affiliated entities. The main beneficiaries of the project include state institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs), law enforcement agencies, communities affected by environmental crimes, and the general public in Albania.

The involvement of BlueLink and BIRN is based on the assumption that media actors, recognizing their influential role in shaping public opinion, are willing to collaborate with CSOs, recognizing the collective impact they can achieve through strategic partnerships, explained Mihallaq Qirjo, Executive Director of REC-Albania. Qirjo spoke at the kick-off meeting of the project held online on May 28, 2024.

Success depends on the availability of adequate data and resources to establish and sustain the media-CSOs coalition, Qirjo said. This support will enable them to coordinate effectively, amplify their advocacy efforts, and engage with various stakeholders, including government authorities and the public. Additionally, external pressures or political indifference may restrict their ability to address environmental justice issues accordingly.

Addressing environmental crime in Albania

The EJA project is expected to deliver the following tangible outcomes:
o   A strengthened media-CSOs coalition, which will give the public a more comprehensive understanding of environmental challenges and foster a collective sense of responsibility for environmental protection.
o   Empowered communities, enjoying a trust-based relationship with  law enforcement agencies for the purpose of efficient handling of environmental crime cases.
o   Enhanced law enforcement capacities, including networking with European experts and tailored training programs for practicing and graduating magistrates, prosecutors, and police officers, to enable improving the screening, investigation, and prosecution of environmental offenses and more effective response to environmental crimes.
o   Improved environmental legislation and enforcement through engaging with government institutions and relevant stakeholders and working closely with the state police and prosecution offices.
o   Increased public awareness through media campaigns, "Cap and Gap" reporting series, and public outreach, to foster a sense of responsibility among citizens and encourage them to report offenses, thereby acting as watchdogs for environmental protection.
o   Enhanced role in EU integration, particularly towards Chapters 23, 24, and 27 of Albania’s treaty of accession, by addressing environmental crime and promoting environmental justice.
The project will foster an overall culture of environmental accountability, promoting access to justice, and protecting the natural resources of Albania. The technical and management capacities of target groups, local co-applicants, and affiliated entities will be enhanced through tailored training programs, the establishment of a publicly accessible data repository, and networking opportunities with European expertise. By strengthening these capacities, the project will create a more effective and coordinated response to environmental crime, leading to improved environmental governance and protection.

Planned EJA activities

Institutional and Public outreach, including 3 regional multi-stakeholder meetings with participation of representatives from police, prosecution and judicial structures under responsibility of OSCE and REC Albania. Participants will discuss and strengthen cooperation and understanding on environmental crime enforcement.

Establishing of “EJA investigative Corpus”, (hereinafter, referred to as Corp) a grid of media CSOs operating in field of governance and democracy, that will serve as a hub to capture data for the report (described in the consecutive paragraph) and help the project reach wider audiences regarding environmental rights & justice in Albania. 

Conducting of the “EJA Cap & Gap” converging analyses, called ‘Green Justice and Grey Crime in Albania’ Report, which is aimed to analyze justice trajectory (police-prosecution-court) of environmental abuse in Albania, as well as scan fact finding evidence on the role of media in hunting down and investigating environmental abuse in Albania. The report will cover in separate chapters the work of Police, Prosecution, Court, as well as the role of media in showboating environmental abuse in Albania. Scoping of the report and criterion will be settled beforehand start of implementation, and also in close cooperation with and upon the putting in place of EJA project consortium.  Preparation of the report will be a group contribution organized with work packages (that will possibly follow chapter division) to be assigned to different members of EJA Investigative Corp.

Developing of EJA online platform, aimed to convey demand driven dossiers of acts relevant to environmental offense, and two d/bases – one for independent experts by sub-sector (water, waste, etc.) - and one for the institutions responsible for inspection of the violations in accordance with the criminal code to help justice providers (prosecutors and judges) deal with such cases, as well as to convey/communicate project dynamics (activities, reports, media coverage of reported offenses, sources) to key stakeholders and concerned public, throughout its implementation and delivery.

Open a “green line” (phone and live chat, in the form of a helpdesk) for communities and public to report environmental abuse. This online reporting tool is aimed to engage public in reporting of environmental violations to ease reporting of cases in a more efficient way. Referrals will be mainstreamed in the work of police and depending on gravity of cases, they will be provided with ‘story-telling’ coverage and investigative back up.

Conducting of a National Forum with CSOs on findings of ‘EJA Cap and Gap Report’, aimed at reaching a broader ownership and acknowledgment of the report among CSO sector. REC Albania will maintain lead roles into sharing joint responsibilities with project consortium and EJA investigative corp.

Dedicated appearances (2 total appearances – 1/year) on an investigative program broadcasted by a national media. The project will cooperate with a team of journalists and TV operators who will be engaged with interviewing people from various stakeholders, such as consortium members, other concerned CSOs and communities; performing site visits where environmental offenses have occurred.

Production of a short series of multimedia materials, ‘E-Justice in 1 min’. Main responsibility for this activity will rest with REC Albania in joint collaboration with BIRN & EJA Investigative Corp.

Newsletters and media articles covering ‘hot cases’ of environmental abuse. There will be shared responsibility among REC Albania, BIRN and EJA Investigative Corp with REC Albania guiding the fact-finding and content wise aspects, whilst partners role will be more on the public outreach.

Organizing a specialized course aimed to provide media journalists with in-depth understanding of environmental issues, especially those related to environmental crime prevention. BIRN and Blue Link will be responsible.

Capacity building and development of training tools for CSOs and community representatives on access to justice. Responsibility for these activities will rest with REC Albania and BlueLink.  REC Albania will be responsible for logistics and jointly with Blue Link will go through elements of relevance for the content of the training. REC Albania will advise and suggest any adjustments if need might be, but primary responsibility for tailoring the training tool will be Blue Link’s.

Capacity building and development tools for police and justice structures (2 trainings) integrating lessons (not) learned: collection of relevant accounts, mistakes made in neighboring countries, and shipping foreign expertise from international networks committed to promote enforcement of environmental criminal law (such as LIFE ENEPE, EUROPOL or other similar or homologue nets. The tailored training programs will be conducted for practicing and graduating magistrates, prosecutors, and police officers. The training will enhance their technical and management capacities in handling environmental offenses effectively.

Supplementing the training syllabus that OSCE presence is preparing in the frame of its project: “To Enhance Environmental Governance and Security’, for the School of Magistrates - with case studies and complementary matter on environmental crime in Albania.

BlueLink’s contribution
As a digital civic network since 1998, BlueLink will conduct a comprehensive review of existing databases and networks related to environmental crime, prosecution, and enforcement across Europe. The Bulgarian partner will identify key stakeholders, including representatives from ENEPE, IPEC, EnviCrime Net, Europol, academia, and civil society organizations actively engaged in matters related to environmental crime. BlueLink will define criteria for selecting experts based on their expertise, experience, and relevance to the project objectives.

BlueLink will reach out to identified experts and stakeholders in Bulgaria and other EU countries  to solicit their participation in the database. BlueLink will establish communication channels with EU experts and provide them with necessary information and support regarding travel arrangements, accommodation, and meetings’ agenda.

As part of the planned review of existing online platforms and tools for environmental justice advocacy in Europe, BlueLink will identify some useful key functionalities and features required for the EJA online platform, based on BlueLink’s previous engagement and best practices available in Bulgaria and other European countries.

BlueLink Bulgaria shall identify relevant CSOs and organizations involved in environmental crime prevention and advocacy across Europe and will define criteria for selecting success stories based on their impact, innovation, and relevance to the project goals.

This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the EJA Project and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.