“Preparation for implementation of the Area Based Development (ABD) Approach in the Western Balkans”

The overall objective

To further work on building capacities and structures within the SWG and selected regions in order to be able to implement the forthcoming ABD programmes.

The specific objectives of the project are:

To contribute to sustainable economic growth of target regions “Drina- Tara” (cross-border region between BiH, SRB, MNE), “Prespa” (cross-border region between ALB and MK), “Sharra” (cross-border region between ALB, MK and KOS*), and “Drina – Sava” (cross-border region between BiH, HR, SRB) by strengthening the coopera-tion of public administrations and other public bodies, the private sector and NGO’s in the field of local development and regional cooperation by building-up local and regional cross-border capacities.

The project will promote mutual understanding and cooperation among the stakeholders, regional ownership of the actions to be implemented in function to sustainable economic growth of the SEE cross-border regions.

The project will create framework conditions within the SWG as organization and the SWG member countries for implementation of the area based development approach and in that way contribute to the sustainable growth of the rural cross-border areas of the SEE region.

This project is funded by the European Union.

Project duration: January 2013 – January 2014

Preparation for Implementation of the Area Based Development (ABD) Approach in the Western Balkans – 2nd phase

The project is follow up and is a second phase of the project entitled “Preparation for implementation of the Area Based Development Approach in the Western Balkans”. The SWG Head Office/Secretariat and the Project management units in cross-border regions of “Drina – Sava”, “Drina – Tara”, “Prespa” and “Sharra” are responsible for project implementation.

The Regional Rural Development Standing Working Group (SWG) in South-East Europe is continuing with the activities related to the implementation of the Area Based Development Approach (ABDA) in the Western Balkan countries. This is the second phase of the EU funded project: “Preparation for implementation of Area Based Development Approach in the Western Balkans” which started on February 1st, 2014.

The overall objective of the second phase of the project is to further work on building capacities and structures within the SWG and “Drina-Tara”, “Drina-Sava”, “Prespa” and “Sharra” regions in order to be able to implement the forthcoming programmes related to regional and territorial cooperation.

The project objective is also to test in practice the ABD with implementation of integrated economic development approach in “Drina-Tara” and “Drina-Sava” cross-border regions.

Specific objectives

The specific objectives of the second phase of the project are:

• to contribute to sustainable economic growth of the identified cross-border regions by a continuation of the facilitation of preparatory activities for the implementation of identified and targeted economic development actions;
• to strengthen the cooperation of public administrations and other public bodies, the private sector and NGO’s in the field of local development and regional cooperation by building-up local and regional cross-border capacities; and
• to improve competitiveness of products and services from the “Drina-Tara” and ”Drina-Sava” regions through cooperation and development of integrated innovative products and services

The main objective of the grant scheme was to strengthen integrated economic development of the region “Drina – Tara” and “Drina – Sava”, focusing on strengthening touristic offers of the region and improving production chains of agricultural and food products, improvement of tourism services through integrated projects and fostering cooperation among operators in the value chain. The approach includes the following main activities:

• Eligible actions to strengthen integrated economic development by supporting short-value-chain initiatives and development of new products in the agricultural / food sector and tourism services.
• The beneficiaries of the small grants are selected based on public calls for project proposals with clearly defined criteria.
• The key eligibility criteria are that beneficiaries must enter into formal partnerships, involving at least two countries and two economic sectors in the value chain.

This project is funded by the European Union.

Project duration: February 2014 – April 2015