Qendra për Zhvillim dhe Integrim (Center for Development and Integration)

QZHI is a youth NGO, whose primary goal of its activity is to promote, support and disseminate opportunities for social, cultural, economic and sustainable development with a special focus on young people. The Centre aims to create structures that serve to inform young people on how to take care of their personal and academic growth as well as to the increase their organizational and administrative skills. The Centre offers design, implementation and management of various programs / projects, studies and analyses in favor of economic, social, environmental and cultural development. In our objectives, we emphasize the importance of inclusiveness and promotion of the values and potentials of Albanian youth, focusing our activity on young people in the age group of 16-29 years. Our goal is to identify, disseminate and support opportunities and alternatives of faster and more sustainable development. Starting from the first year of establishment, in 2019, our main sector of action has been youth engagement in cultural activities with a special focus on raising awareness and civic reaction from youngsters, throughout new digital ways. Also, in our projects we have created new, non-traditional opportunities and spaces to express the ideas of young people, how to engage them in cultural heritage, in outdoor activities, cultural and eco-tourism as well as on campaigns on problematic social issues of our society.

Main areas that the Organisation has been working in the last 5 years:

1. Cultural activities: We have organized our first project "They enter without knocking" in the premises of the Historical Museum "House with Leaves". The very placement in a building symbolic of communist-era surveillance and eavesdropping, fear, isolation and trying to survive torture, gave to the public a connection felt as soon as they arrive in the premises of this building. "Ata Hyjnë pa Trokitur" is the story of a couple of intellectuals isolated within the confines of their home in search of everyone's share of guilt during the communism era. The project was conceived in the format of an open discussion with the actors after the show and this was very welcomed by the spectators during the 3 nights of September 2020. The project was supported by Municipality of Tirana.

2. Traditional and cultural heritage: “Pas vargut të Ali Asllanit” was our second project. The final product was the online platform in the use of promoting cultural heritage, with a special focus on “Amantia National Park”, the internationalization of the name of the poet Ali Asllani and the promotion of Albanian diaspora poets. The online platform aliasllani.al is a way to unite through digital channels authors of the Albanian Diaspora with the supporters of the author Ali Asllani and the general public. The platform contains various poems but also it shows the close connection of Ali Asllani with the village of Vajzë, Vlora. In this regard, considering that Vajzë is only 10 minutes on the way to the “Amantia National Park”, we published a promotional video for the village of Vajzë as a traditional and touristic potential for the cultural heritage considering the history of Ali Asllani and the martyr Perlat Rexhepi, among the cultural site of Amantia. Also, we must mention that the poems of Ali Asllani and poets of Albanian Diaspora were read by 2 well-known actors in the Albanian art scene, Mr. Alfred Trebicka and Mrs. Rozina Kostani. Meanwhile listening the audio people might swipe for pictures of Vajzë village/ Amantia, as well as they might read the text of the poem that they are listening. The project was implemented in the frame of time February - June 2021, supported by the Ministry of Culture

3. Digitalisation of potential cultural and touristic sites: The “Albania off Road-Via Egnatia” project aims to bring back to attention one of the largest and most important roads of the ancient world: "Via Egnatia" using the current elements of digitization. The promotion of "Via Egnatia" was carried out focusing on the historical, cultural, as well as the natural and geographical diversity of the road and considering how to turn this potential into a tourist destination for young adventurers, such as off-road enthusiasts, hiking, mountain walking, etc… The QZHI project team has followed the approach of touristic promotion of this road as part of the adventure tourism for “off road 4X4 vehicles” through the old road, along the tracks of the old Egnatia road. Also, during this route, the points where the caravans used to stop were recorded and marked on a dedicated map created on Google Maps. As part of the project, a website has been created: https://viaegnatia.adp.al/index.php/via-egnatia/ which includes the study of the Via Egnatia Road. The web is created in an easily accessible format and reflects the marking and the digital map as well as the publication of photos taken along the route. 1 promotional video for the Old Egnatia is available. The project was implemented in the frame of time March 2022- June 2022, supported by the Ministry of Culture.

4. Youth Civic engagement: currently under implementation we have the project “Edhe Qyteti ka nevojë të flejë” targeting specifically youth civic engagement through new digital tools such as an animated movie about noise pollution in the city of Tirana, as well as the awareness of citizens through youngsters’ video messages to individually influence the reduction of the level of noise pollution. Involvement of the youngsters of the Tirana city in a discussion on environmental problems and their role and engagement in establishing and maintaining EU environmental standards, as well as the online sensibilization of law-making and implementing institutions to take appropriate measures to minimize this phenomena as soon as possible are the main goal of the project. The project started on June 2022 and is supported by the National Youth Congress.

In our activity, we have been member of the "Day of Solidarity and Social Activation" Initiative - Equality in Decision Making Network, and Albanian Students abroad Network as well as the UE Network of international scientific researchers -COST: COST Action CA19141 Integrating the Neanderthal Legacy: From Past to Present (iNEAL) – and Action COST CA18115 International Cooperation on Bullying, Migration and Integration at School Level (TRIBES)