Enabled through the support of the Embassy of Switzerland and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Together for Life (TFL), a partner of the SOLIDAR Project “Together in Health Emergencies” is driving change at community level to strengthen Albania’s readiness for public health emergencies. Through grassroots engagement and forward-thinking strategies, TFL is building resilience and promoting inclusive, citizen-led emergency preparedness. 

A central pillar of the contribution is the development of five Community Resilience Networks (CRNs) in Albania operating in Pukë, Dajç (Shkodër), Fushë-Krujë, Gramsh, and Përmet. Together, these networks bring together more than 80 dedicated members, including trained volunteers, local activists, healthcare professionals, and representatives of vulnerable groups, who lead targeted training and planning to drive localised emergency preparedness. The CRNs focus on community education, first aid skills, and advocacy planning, with deliberate attention to the needs of children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. 

To amplify the impact of the CRN model, TFL convened a roundtable in April 2025 bringing together 17 representatives from a range of civil society organisations across Albania. The event encouraged replication of the CRN approach in new municipalities and fostered cross-organisational collaboration, underlining the model’s potential for nationwide scale-up. 

To ensure long-term sustainability, concrete steps were taken to formalise cooperation between CRNs and municipal authorities. The aim is to embed CRNs into local disaster risk management frameworks, transforming them from grassroots initiatives into institutionalised pillars of Albania’s emergency response system. This bottom-up to top-down trajectory is a hallmark of the SOLIDAR intervention strategy and a key sustainability mechanism for the project’s legacy. 

Five training sessions on group cohesion and community engagement were delivered, complemented by hands-on first-aid workshops designed to empower members regardless of their medical background. To extend public reach, TFL produced educational materials, such as digital videos, infographics, and a podcast, raising awareness about emergency preparedness and patients’ rights. Newsletters were also published, sharing findings from research on patient feedback mechanisms in health centres and sparking constructive dialogue among stakeholders, citizens, and healthcare providers. 

Recognising that meaningful local solutions require new tools, TFL staff completed a Training of Trainers on Design Thinking, delivered by GFA Consulting Group GmbH within the SOLIDAR framework. This investment equips TFL trainers to facilitate future innovation labs and to strengthen local project development capacity, ensuring that community resilience work in Albania does not stop at the activities already delivered, but continues to evolve.