Five Albanian Villages. Guidelines for a Sustainable Tourism Development through the Enhancement of the Cultural Heritage

This book is the main product of the “The Diaspora as a Resource for the Knowledge, Preservation and Enhancement of the Lesser-Known Cultural Sites in Albania” research project. This research, designed at the Department of Architecture of the University of Florence, was carried out within the framework “Engage the Albanian Diaspora to the Social and Economic Development of Albania” programme, funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) in Tirana and agreed with the Albanian Government to support it in promoting the involvement of members of the Albanian Diaspora in the development of the country. This programme is being implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM, the UN Migration Agency) in coordination with the State Minister for the Diaspora, the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance and the Economy and other relevant ministries, and in close cooperation with the Italian Embassy in Tirana and the AICS of Tirana. The book provides guidelines for generating sustainable and socially inclusive territorial development processes in five lesser-known Albanian cultural sites. Their tangible and intangible cultural heritage has been considered as a driving factor for triggering development processes aimed at improving the quality of life of the inhabitants and strengthening local identity and social networks. On the one hand, the Guidelines seek to trigger bonding processes, aimed at strengthening the internal bonds of social cohesion, cooperation, solidarity, reciprocity, etc., and on the other hand, to promote bridging processes, aimed at creating the capacity to establish relationships that go beyond the material and cultural boundaries of a community. This allows each village to be considered not as an isolated spatial and social entity, but, on the contrary, as an entity in a strong and constant relationship with its context. The specific objectives of the Guidelines can be summarised as follows: 1. To respect cultural diversity and promote the principles of social inclusion and gender equality 2. Promoting local identity and social capital in the villages 3. Provide insights to help counteract processes of depopulation and village abandonment 4. Promote the valorisation of cultural, architectural and environmental resources 5. Propose replicable actions for the conservation and tourist enhancement of the cultural heritage of the villages in a perspective of environmental, cultural, social and economic sustainability 6. Demonstrate that cultural heritage is a particularly effective factor in triggering and consolidating consistent, long-term and sustainable processes of Human Development. 7. Inspire urban policies and provide guidance for the implementation of urban and landscape planning.