Building sustainable cities: improving waste management and climate friendly urban developmentin Kosovo

Context

In Kosovo, post-war displacement and rural migration have led to rapid urbanisation with informal settlements and high pressure on urban infrastructure and public services. The consequences are high environmental degradation, biodiversity loss and vulnerability to climate risks. Another issue is waste management. Although 90 per cent of households are connected to collection services, the transition to a circular economy is still in its early stages and the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) yet to be introduced.

Kosovo has adopted a Climate Change Law in 2024. But problems in institutional coordination, enforcement, and the integration of gender perspectives in planning as well as implementation processes hinder an environmentally friendly development, climate adaptation and better waste management in line with EU requirements.

Objective

Climate-sensitive, circular urban development in line with EU guidelines in Kosovo is improved.

Approach

In cooperation with the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning, and Infrastructure (MESPI) the project provides technical knowledge and offers advice to the government and municipalities. The working fields include:

• Improving the legal, institutional, and organisational framework for integrated waste management and introducing circular economy approaches;
• Promoting climate sensitive urban development and gender-sensitive public space planning;
• Developing a pipeline of municipal investment projects for urban development and small-scale demonstration projects in these fields.

Last update: March 2025