From Observation to Solutions: Our Erasmus+ Experience in Albania
From Observation to Solutions: Our Erasmus+ Experience in Albania
As the Erasmus+ project “Fostering Youth for Advocacy”, implemented in cooperation with For You BG, Aiforia and StarBalkans, approached its conclusion, StarBalkans successfully organised the final local event in Albania on 11 July 2026 at the Grand Park of Tirana.
The event brought together 11 young people and team members from different academic and professional backgrounds, united by a common interest in environmental protection, sustainability and positive community action.
During several hours of outdoor activities, participants explored environmental challenges from a practical perspective. Through Eco Hunt & Waste Mapping, they observed different areas of the park, identified and recorded common types of waste, and later analysed their findings together. This was followed by discussions and brainstorming sessions focused not only on identifying environmental problems, but also on understanding their causes and developing realistic solutions.
The activity “Green Action Lab: From Observation to Solutions” reminded us of something simple but important: before trying to solve a problem, we first need to understand it.
To conclude this journey, two young women who have been involved in the initiative from its early stages until the final activity in Albania — Dhurata Troka and Xhulia Kaba — share their personal reflections on what this experience meant to them.
Dhurata Troka – Turning Critical Thinking into Action
My name is Dhurata Troka, I am 22 years old, and I joined the Erasmus+ project as part of StarBalkans, taking on responsibilities in project management and coordination since the initiative began in 2025.
Throughout this journey, I had many opportunities to learn, exchange ideas, listen to different perspectives and gain valuable experiences. However, the final local event in Tirana was different for me.
It made me realise how powerful brainstorming can become when people of different ages, academic backgrounds and professional experiences look at the same environmental problem together.
As someone familiar with green policies through my academic background, I already understood many environmental concepts from a theoretical perspective. But observing a public space step by step and seeing how differently each participant interpreted the same environmental challenges gave me a completely different perspective.
During the Green Action Lab, we did not want to simply point at waste and say that pollution is a problem. We wanted to understand why certain types of waste appeared more frequently, where they might come from and what could realistically be done about them.
Our participants transformed observations into ideas. Together, we discussed practical proposals related to waste management, public awareness, recycling and the reuse of materials. Some of these ideas can potentially be further developed and presented to relevant local institutions.
The experience has also made me personally more conscious of everyday environmental behaviour. Today, even seeing someone throw a cigarette butt on the ground immediately catches my attention.
I am happy to have experienced this project from its first stages until its final activity. Whether as a participant, coordinator or team leader matters less to me than what the project has left behind: new knowledge, stronger environmental awareness, new relationships and the motivation to turn ideas into action.
Xhulia Kaba – Learning, Creating and Building Connections
Hello, I’m Xhulia, and I am really glad that I took the opportunity to become part of this project.
I am especially proud to have been involved from the first meeting until the very last activity. The community trainings were interesting and practical because many of the lessons could easily be connected to our everyday lives. I still look forward to finding ways to reuse glass scraps, just as we learned during the glass workshop we visited together.
As an Urban Planning student, many of the topics were particularly relevant to me. Learning more about how public institutions approach environmental issues, how the economy is affected, and how individuals and businesses can contribute to reducing waste connected directly with both my studies and my volunteering in environmental initiatives.
One of my favourite parts of the experience was having the opportunity to develop our own idea with the support of StarBalkans.
Our initiative was called “BinTheGum” and focused on chewing gum pollution in public spaces. It is an environmental issue that is often overlooked, even though its consequences are visible on streets and public areas every day.
We started by defining the problem and then created a website and social media presence to support our awareness activities. We conducted interviews about chewing gum use and people’s awareness of its environmental impact. Later, we carried out our own waste-mapping activity, identifying areas with different concentrations of chewing gum waste and creating a map based on the information we collected.
Having our own data was something I was genuinely proud of. We were no longer only discussing an environmental issue — we had observed it, documented it and created evidence ourselves.
Managing the project alongside university assignments, projects and exams was challenging, but we managed to make it work. That made the final result even more rewarding.
However, this experience was not only about what we learned or accomplished. The social dimension was equally important to me.
Projects like this bring together people who already share similar interests, values and motivation. Almost a year later, I am still in contact with many of the people I met through this experience, and some of them have become very important friends in my life.
I am truly happy that I decided to participate, and I hope there will be many more opportunities like this in the future.
More Than a Final Event
The final activity in Tirana marked the formal conclusion of an important journey, but the experiences shared by Dhurata and Xhulia demonstrate that the impact of an Erasmus+ project does not necessarily end with its last scheduled activity.
Knowledge can become action. Observations can become data. Problems can become proposals. And people who initially meet through a project can become friends, collaborators and young advocates for their communities.
Through “Fostering Youth for Advocacy”, young people were encouraged not only to discuss environmental challenges but to observe them critically, communicate their ideas and consider their own role in creating solutions.
Green Action Lab: From Observation to Solutions represented exactly that transition — from learning to local action.
A sincere thank you to Erasmus+, For You BG, Aiforia, StarBalkans, and especially to all the young people who contributed their time, ideas and energy throughout this journey.