Feasibility study

Background
Kosovo is characterised by a high level of biodiversity, special topogra-
phy, heterogeneous geology and traditional land use. At the same time,
the country faces many challenges in the environmental sector. Inade-
quate basic environmental education and a lack of specialists in the field
of nature conservation make it difficult to tackle these problems effi-
ciently. So far, Kosovo has no officially established species register, no
nature research organisations and no natural history museum. However,
for around 10 years now, young people have been becoming increas-
ingly involved in environmental issues. This valuable resource must now
be safeguarded.

Project details
The project will determine whether the establishment of an environmen-
tal centre for awareness-raising, training, research and knowledge ex-
change would be possible and viable. A feasibility study will
elaborate who could be responsible for such a centre, which
collaborations would be possible, how the administrative and
decision-making structure could be set up and how the centre could be
financed in the longer term. The project team will closely involve
government and academic part-ners, NGOs and civil society in order to
build a network that can promote the idea of the centre. Through
extensive public relations work and courses for schools and
universities, the idea of the centre will be pre-sented in order to
achieve the broadest possible support. Educational activities tailored to
different interest groups, such as field trips, animal and plant
identification or laboratory work, are intended to demonstrate the
centres potential. An established environmental centre could be very
valuable for the nature sector in Kosovo and simplify adaptation in
alignment with the current EU standards.