A three-day Expert Lab on Civil Participation was organised by the Congress from 15 to 17 September 2026 in Tirana, Albania, bringing together independent experts, representatives of the Local Government Training Academy (TALGA) and specialists from the municipalities of Lezha, Shkodra, Kukes, Kamez, Vau i Dejes, Korca, Elbasan, Tirana and Durres.

The Lab’s objective was to establish a cohort of Albanian experts able to apply the Council of Europe’s civil participation tools. The participants shared practical expertise in innovative tools for community engagement, local decision making and participatory democracy, explored good practices in strategic community engagement and meaningful consultation, discussed adapting these approaches to Albania, and identified potential interventions in specific municipalities, as well as follow-up training and mentoring needs.

Grounded in Council of Europe standards, notably the Additional Protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government on the right to participate in the affairs of a local authority, the Lab provided practical guidance on the Civil Participation Toolkit, CivicLab and UChange, already used in several Council of Europe member states. Following the training, the Congress will begin support to municipalities in improving civic participation and innovative democratic practices.

The event was organised under the ALGORA Project (Advancing Local Governance and Civic Engagement through Institutional Reform in Albania), implemented by the Congress’s Centre of Expertise for Multilevel Governance and funded by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany (Auswärtiges Amt).