In Albania, municipal information is often public in principle but difficult to find, understand, or use. This challenge is reflected in the continuing national effort to strengthen “proactive disclosure” at the local level.
In 2025, Albania’s Information and Data Protection Commissioner introduced a new Model Transparency Program for local self-government units to improve proactive transparency, access to information, open data, and citizen participation.
Participation presents a similar practical challenge. A Council of Europe assessment involving all 61 Albanian municipalities examined gaps and needs in citizen-participation mechanisms and identified practical, institutional, and legal obstacles affecting their use.
These findings underline why simply publishing information is not enough: Citizens must also be able to locate it, understand it, and use it in time to participate in decisions.
Through the support of the Digital Sparks Grant program and the Metamorphosis Foundation, the Center for the Study of Democracy and Governance (CSDG) is working to change that through “Transparency Radar Albania,” a municipal transparency platform designed to help citizens, journalists, civil society organizations, youth groups, and local civic actors follow information that is often fragmented across institutions or difficult to interpret.
A platform for practical transparency
Transparency Radar Albania focuses on municipal decisions, procurement information, and public consultations. Its purpose is not only to collect information, but to make it more usable for people who want to understand and engage with local governance, thereby making local governance more accessible, transparent, and participatory for Albanian citizens.
Local government decisions can have significant consequences for citizens’ everyday lives, impacting services, public spending, urban planning, community priorities, and the quality of public participation. Yet in many cases, people only learn about decisions after they have already been made.
For various stakeholders, limited access to organized municipal information can make oversight harder, discourage participation, reduce trust, and result in important decisions being made without meaningful public input.
CSDG’s advocacy goal is therefore practical: To increase public awareness and civic use of municipal information by promoting Transparency Radar Albania as a tool for participation, oversight, and accountability.
Building a community around the tool
A key step in the project was the Joint Advocacy Coordination Meeting organized by CSDG on May 25, 2026. The meeting brought together grantee organizations involved in the Regional Support Mechanism advocacy track.
The aim was to create space for coordination, exchange, and possible cooperation among initiatives working on related civic and governance challenges. During this meeting, CSDG presented Transparency Radar Albania and its role as a local capacity hub supporting networking, civic engagement, and cooperation among grantee organizations.
The discussion showed that many projects were dealing with interconnected challenges: Transparency of public institutions, access to public information, digital participation, citizen engagement, and the role of civil society in democratic accountability.
A phrase that captured the direction of the discussion — and was later formalized in CSDG’s advocacy approach — was: “Public information should be accessible, understandable, and usable.”
The group’s exchange also reinforced a second principle: Digital tools have democratic value only when people can use them in practice to follow decisions, participate in consultations, and hold institutions to account.
From awareness to use
The advocacy process is designed to move beyond visibility. CSDG’s planned activities include launch communications, explainer content, issue-based public posts, media engagement, community outreach, and Learning Forum-linked communications.
In practice, this means combining public-facing communication with opportunities for people to learn how to use the platform. The Digital Democracy Learning Forum is planned as a one-day participatory event bringing together civil society organizations, journalists, youth groups, community actors, and other relevant stakeholders.
It will present Transparency Radar Albania, demonstrate how municipal decisions, procurement information, and public consultations can be followed through the platform, and create space for peer learning on how public information can support monitoring, advocacy, and civic participation.
A dedicated panel will also allow other Digital Spark grantees working on transparency, accessibility, digital participation, and related governance issues to present their initiatives and identify possible pathways for cooperation.
The project will encourage CSOs, journalists, youth groups, and citizens to use the platform to follow local decisions, identify consultations, ask questions, and engage more confidently in local governance.
The expected public campaign will include 8 to 12 campaign posts, visuals or explainers, supported by launch materials and Learning Forum-related communications. CSDG also plans to work through partner networks, media actors, universities, and youth groups to reach wider audiences.
The target is to reach at least 50,000 people through campaign content and secure at least 10 partner or media amplifications. But the deeper measure of success will be whether people begin using municipal information more actively: To monitor decisions, take part in consultations, ask better questions, and strengthen local accountability.
Taking part in shaping communities
Access to information is not only a legal or technical issue. It is also a question of communication, trust, and civic confidence. Even when information exists, people need tools, explanations, and encouragement to use it.
Digital democracy cannot be built by one organization alone. The meeting with grantees confirmed that many civic actors are working on related questions, and their efforts can reinforce each other when they are better coordinated.
For CSDG, the project has shown the importance of connecting data, advocacy, and community engagement. A platform becomes more powerful when it is linked to public education, media work, civil society cooperation, and real examples of use.
The advocacy campaign for Transparency Radar Albania is expected to run from late June to October 2026. In the short term, CSDG expects to see greater public awareness of why municipal information matters and early practical use of the platform by CSOs, journalists, youth groups, and citizens.
In the longer term, the ambition is to contribute to a more inclusive and resilient civic space in Albania. By making municipal information easier to access and use, the project aims to support broader participation, stronger oversight, and more confident civic engagement in local governance.
Transparency alone does not guarantee accountability. But when citizens and civic actors have clearer access to information, they are better equipped to ask questions, follow decisions, and take part in shaping the communities they live in.
Author
Nino Strati, Center for the Study of Democracy and Governance
