The Territorial Space of Green Transition / Transitioning from One Territorial System to Another through Nature-based Solutions / The Case of Finiq Municipality

The Territorial Space of Green Transition / Transitioning from One Territorial System to Another through Nature-based Solutions - The Case of Finiq Municipality

Author: Rea Muka
Affiliation: PhD IDAUP/ POLIS University

Abstract
Climate change has been recognised by many, be it nations or international organizations, as an existential threat to the world. In this context, the EU has introduced the European Green Deal, with the aim of transforming the continent into a modern, climate- neutral, resource-efficient, and competitive economy. In this scenario, the goals set by the EU are: no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050; economic growth decoupled from resource use; no person and no place left behind. The new growth strategy of the EU was also recognized by the Western Balkan Countries (nonmembers of the EU) through the Sofia Declaration in November 2020, acknowledging the need for transformation of the region to turn sustainability and resilience challenges into opportunities and transpose elements of the European Green Deal in all interrelated priority sectors. Those sectors are represented by five main pillars: Climate, energy, mobility; Circular economy; Depollution; Sustainable agriculture and food production; and Biodiversity. Even though it is a multi-sectorial approach, it does not directly address the territorial aspect. The territory is rather seen as a common dominator of the five pillars. This resizes the question, what is the spatial domain of green transition in a given territory?
In the Albanian context, after the territorial reform of 2014, the territory was consolidated into 61 municipalities. In the framework of the General Local Plans, each municipality cat- egorized its territory into five main territorial systems: Urban; Nature; Agriculture; Water; and Infrastructure. Through the case of Finiq Municipality, we will further analyze the complexity of territorial systems in a given territory. For the purpose of analysis, a buffer of 1 km was ap- plied to the territory of Finiq Municipality (Bistrica River Basin) where the predominance of a territorial system over another and the mixture of them was evaluated. After this evaluation, an operational framework was conceptualized using the most relevant documents related to climate change, from the international level to the local level, that are pertinent to the case of Finiq Municipality.
Taking into account the evidenced framework of green transition for the selected area, it is easier to propose effective nature-based solutions to be implemented in the transitional space between territorial systems. This was done by analyzing the concept of nature-based solutions, at first, and by reviewing case studies that deal with similar societal challenges as the ones identified in Finiq Municipality.
The main focus will be the area surrendering the Bistrica River, for the simple fact that it flows from the east, where we find a high predominance of the natural landscape, to the west where a predominance of human activity is more evident. Through the river, we will illustrate the unfolding of what was explained above.

Keywords: Green Transition; Territorial Systems; Nature-based Solutions