Building Resilience for Local Governments in Albania Legal and Institutional Challenges

Abstract

Uncertainty from natural hazards and disaster risks is high in Albania. Located in the western part of the Balkan, Albania has faced over the years several disaster events and the future, especially in the light of climate change, does not hold any positive news. Multiple hazards are present over the territory and extend beyond the administrative boundaries, revealing the need for an integrated local - to national – to regional approach to resilience building, as a response to uncertainties. The following paper analyses the role and challenges of the local governments, from and institutional perspective, for enabling local resilience. Local resilience has social, institutional, governance, economic, ecological and territorial dimensions. This paper addresses local ecological and territorial resilience.