Projekti Rinor Qytetar is a civic project in Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

 designed to help young people take a greater interest in their community and the environment

Natural environment

The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....

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Aims

Albanian society lacks the active participation of youngsters, a very necessary element for the progress of a community. Most of the young people who wish to contribute to their community lack the abilities, methods and the necessary information to realize their objectives. The project aims to provide young people with the knowledge and skills that they will need to become active members in their community. This will be achieved through “Learn through participation”. Youngsters will learn how their actions like voting, participation, addressing certain community issues and undertaking actions may help them to change their community for the better.

The civic project aims to promote active citizenship

Active citizenship

Active citizenship refers to a philosophy espoused by organizations and educational institutions which advocates that members of companies or nation-states have certain roles and responsibilities to society and the environment, although those members may not have specific governing roles.Active...

 by providing opportunities to the youngsters to get involved in concrete actions. It will allow Albanian youngsters to attain their civic education

Civics

Civics is the study of rights and duties of citizenship. In other words, it is the study of government with attention to the role of citizens ― as opposed to external factors ― in the operation and oversight of government....

 by integrating their knowledge and abilities in projects and actions that will really help their community, develop social responsibility

Social responsibility

Social responsibility is an ethical ideology or theory that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act to benefit society at large. Social responsibility is a duty every individual or organization has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the...

 and promote citizenship participation.

The civic project will provide youngsters with the ability to widen their knowledge of the needs of their community, teach them how to identify and design a project, how to apply for it and how to collect funds. The project meets the needs of the youngsters to participate and develop skills and practical experiences in activities designed by the youngsters themselves. It also offers many communication opportunities for the volunteers with the partner organizations and institutions like the Tirana Municipality, the “Mjaft” movement and the Eko Movement.

Projects

The youngsters will have the necessary means to make their ideas concrete. They will have access to information and support and will gain a clear idea of their role in the community.
Some ideas for projects include:

• Voluntary action for cleaning and maintaining the neighborhood
• Establishment of representative groups within the community
• Revival of social and cultural life in the neighborhood
• Preparing a petition to try to solve problems in the community
• The organization of student life through working groups
• Organise cultural activities and entertainment
• Organise sporting activities such as a student football championship
• Start a school newspaper
• Build a school website

Supporters and partners

The project is supported by the World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

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Partners include the Eko Movement, MJAFT!

MJAFT!

MJAFT! is a non governmental organisation in Albania that aims to raise awareness of the many political and social problems facing Albania. MJAFT! grew out of a grassroots effort by students and other volunteers. The organisation is partly funded by the U.S...

, the Enough Foundation, the British Council

British Council

The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...

, the Albanian Student Government, the Albanian Youth Council and One World Southeast Europe.