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On the 16th of November 2022. Future Center, with the support of Joint Research Center, Centre for Social innovation (ZSI) and an interinstitutional working group organized the second Edp activity for the energy sector, whose focus was oriented towards the evaluation of the alternative energy sectors’ performance as well as the identification of strategic measures required to support the development of this sector. In particular, participants stressed the importance of creating a waste separation system at source, which in their view is essential not only for the growth of the country’s alternative energy market but also the development of Albania’s recycling industry.
Activities and Output
At the beginning of the event, the participants were briefed on the goals of the smart specialization strategy, the findings from the mapping process carried out in 2021 that helped determine the industries to be analyzed for country’s smart specialization, and last but not least, the “Entrepreneurial Discovery Process,” which is one of the most important stages in the preparation of this strategic document by enlisting representatives from all dimensions of the quadruple helix to evaluate the performance of the sectors identified and to determine the strategic measures necessary to improve their performance.
As part of this process, in the second session of the activity, under the moderation of Mr. Arben Shkodra, Secretary general of the Albanian manufacturing Union and member of the interinstitutional working group, the participants were urged the to offer their thoughts on the sector’s performance and future prospects. According to the participants’ most significant remarks, not only is this sector largely untapped, but the few past endeavors in this field have failed to generate the desired outcomes. On the other hand, the lack of an effective waste segregation system at the source was highlighted as the most significant obstacle to the development of both this sector and the recycling industry.
In the last session, based on the key challenges identified in the second session, participants proposed specific government policies that would promote the expansion of the Albanian Alternative Energy sector. These included, but were not limited to: investing in a sustainable waste management system; introducing the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility; encouraging scientific research in the field; and providing adequate funding for alternative energy related projects.
Event organizers
This activity was organized by Future Center in collaboration with Inter-Institution Working Group and Albanian Manufacturing Union (AMU), and the support of the European Commission’s Joint Research Center (JRC) and the POLICY ANSWERS Project (Horizon Europe GA 10105887).