Under the implementation of the project “Supporting the sustainable development of agritourism in Albania”, supported by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the Community), the RASP organization carried out on July 7, 2022, in Shkodra the regional workshop on the topic “Policies in support of agritourism and networking of regional actors”
The aim of the workshop was:
- Collect inputs and needs to revise policy and legal frame related to agritourism at the regional level.
- To Identify solutions for local and regional policies in agritourism.
- Identify stakeholders and their motivation for establishing the Agritourism Network (ATN).
Participants in the workshop were: farmers, representatives from the municipalities Malësi e Madhe, Vau i Dejës, representatives from Agrotourism subjects, representatives from ANRD (Albanian Network for Rural Development), from AREB (Regional Agricultural Extension Agency) Shkodër, representatives from AZHBR (Agricultural and Rural Development Agency) Shkodër, agro-processing subjects, representatives from the University of Shkodra, representatives from the Regional Directorate of Environment Shkodër and representatives from the Banking and Financial Sector.
The workshop was carried out in two sessions. In the first session were presented:
- Needs and challenges for the development of agritourism. (presentation of outcomes from Position paper, findings from local workshops on the identification of needs and challenges for supporting agrotourism;
- Cooperation and Agritourism networking: potentials and challenges in Albania of stakeholders of agritourism at the local and regional level.
The second session had a realistic and comprehensive character. The participants were divided into four groups: the group of public institutions, the group of agrotourism farms, the group of civil society institutions, and the group of businesses related to agrotourism.
Group work was developed according to the world, café model. Four facilitators, where each of them covered a specific issue, collected ideas and comments from each group moving from one group to another every 20 minutes. The facilitators presented the findings and recommendations to the participants at the end.