Introduction

The project Build Back Better – implementation of natural building in Albania is a regional project implemented in Albania (Durrës City) by partners of V4 countries and led by the Albanian partner CDC “Today for the Future” with the financial support of Visegrad Fund (www.visegradfund.org) for the period February – August 20211, under the monitoring and mentoring of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Tirana (https://www.mzv.cz/tirana). The project is aimed at achieving regional development, environment and tourism (increased awareness, education and improved regional strategies on environmental protection, climate change and sustainable development). The concept of natural construction has been rapidly developing in the countries of the Visegrad Group in recent years. The project aimed to share the knowledge and skills in the area of natural construction and its adaptation to local conditions by partners, architects and contractors of V4 countries and Albania. • The project aims to provide knowledge and skills on natural construction and its adaptation to local conditions. • The project aims to raise awareness and involve decision-makers and professionals in the process of using natural building technologies with the emphasis on restoration using energy-saving, recycled and environmentally friendly materials and technologies. The project goal is to foster and promote the exchange of experiences and further development of natural construction in the countries of the Visegrad Group and Western Balkans, especially regarding the challenges posed by rapidly advancing climate change. Natural construction is based on the use of low-processed, natural, recyclable materials (e.g. clay, straw, wood). Building with the use of natural materials reduces costs and construction time compared to conventional methods and at the same time meets all the requirements of modern construction. Repairs are easy and relatively cheap. Possible demolition is quick and leaves no waste that is hard to recycle. Natural construction has a positive impact on tenants’ health and is environmentally friendly, which is important given the lack of access to health care in the project area as well as the serious problem of waste disposal and high environmental pollution rates. Finally, this method of construction requires no special equipment and is less complex than the conventional one.

 Community Development Center "Today for the Future" (Albania) is the leading organization of the project.

1 The project is co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.

CDC “Today for the Future” has notable records on mediation for the alleviation and resolving concerns of community such as building legalization, electricity supply, road construction and maintenance, separation of drinkable water from sewage etc. The organization has formed several initiator groups of communities – they managed to establish, mentor and put into operation a networking initiative, focusing on community issues. Moreover, the organization has managed to encourage and introduce groups of communities in decision making processes of local public institutions and government. www.cdc-tff.org  HumanDoc Foundation (Poland) has many years of experience in working with

Visegrad Funds (the HumanDoc Foundation’s projects “Audio Description Over the Borders” was branded as the best project in 2018). CDC “Today for the

Future” and HumanDoc Foundation concluded a strategic cooperation agreement for the current project, as the first out of many planned for joint implementation. HumanDoc Foundation has supported the leading organization in the implementation of the project in terms of organization and cooperation with substantive partners from the Visegrad Group as follows. www.humandoc.pl

 Municipality of Durrës (Albania) is the main local government of Durrës representing an administrative-territorial unit. It has the authority over initiatives of local public interest in the territory of their jurisdiction. The Municipality recognizes the partnership with CDC-TFF in many initiatives of local public interest, like contribution to wellbeing, empowerment and to the local development. It also focuses on initiatives in the area of social and economic development, support for communities, use of good practices, social innovative solutions are core principles of partnership. www.durres.gov.al  The Polish Natural Building Association (Poland) is the largest organization in Poland associating specialists in natural construction. It consists of over 80 professionals. They range from architects and interior designers to contractors, material producers, scientists and researchers. The activity of the Association is focused on education, training and popularization of natural construction. www.osbn.pl  Baobaby (the Czech Republic) is an association formed by a group of architects, designers, craftsmen and artists, who see a considerable potential in the field of natural building using clay, straw and wood as the main building materials. The main goal of the association is to promote and innovate natural building. The organization has extensive experience in cooperating with OSBN with which it has already implemented a number of projects. https://www.baobaby.org/en/  Organica (Slovakia) is an organization of craftsmen specialized in the use of natural materials. Their activities focus on the use of local resources to build healthy housing. It deals with the construction of new buildings as well as the reconstruction of the old ones. The organization has experience in cooperation with other project partners (OSBN and Baobaby). www.organica.name

Two entities of architects from Poland respectively MechBuild and eKodama, two Universities of Durrës (Engineering) and Tirana (Social Sciences) (Albania), private builder (the Czech Republic) and Urban Public Services of Durrës Municipality (Albania) joined the team of partners, while school “E Re” Durrës and community of Ex-Swamp Area of Durrës (recently named “New Durrës) were fully engaged in the active participation.  eKodama Studio (Poland) is an architectural office specializing in natural design following the permaculture and deep ecology principles, with passion to combine trees and clay, natural plasters, earthen floors, straw insulation. www.ekodama.pl  Mech.Build (Poland) is a group of experts in Cradle to Cradle, sustainable and regenerative design, and specialists in natural and upcycled materials. They design architecture, interiors, installations, gardens, urban spaces, interventions. They work in the spirit of sustainable development, using natural or recyclable materials, ecological and energy-saving solutions. They work consistently with the users of any space, searching for most adequate and functional solutions. www.mech.build  University of Durrës (Albania) has recently developed professional course of studies related to engineering that, combined with studies in tourism, provides excellent knowledge to students in local development of Durrës region. www.uamd.edu.al  University of Tirana, Faculty of Social Sciences (Albania), with the primary focus in the scientific research to support the development of social and human policies of the Albanian society, has joint the partnership. The university puts emphasis on the social perspective that natural building can positively contribute to local communities. www.fshs-ut.edu.al