GEO-WB6

Establishing a Geoinformation Centre for the Western Balkans at the Agricultural University Tirana

Project duration:
01.03.2024 - 31.12.2025

Target countries:
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia

Empowering the Western Balkans with Geoinformation Technology

Geoinformation is vital for assessing environmental conditions and enabling well-founded decisions on land use, sustainable resource management, and nature conservation. In the Western Balkans, however, the potential of geoinformation technology remains underutilized, mainly due to a shortage of qualified professionals and limited training opportunities. This is a major bottleneck fort the EU accession process regarding negotiating Chapter 11 (Agriculture and Rural Development) and Chapter 27 (Environment).

The GEO-WB6 project aims to close this gap by establishing a Geoinformation Centre. The Centre focuses on improving human resources for the management and analysis of geodata and fosters a regional network of geoinformation experts. We envision the Center becoming a regional hub for geoinformation science in the Western Balkans, advancing the region's research capacities and supporting public institutions, academia, and NGOs.

GEO-WB6 is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and jointly implemented by the Agricultural University of Tirana (AUT) and the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO).

The project consists of three components:

1. We provide ample training opportunities with a comprehensive program of courses, summer schools and seminars. Our program targets students, researchers, lecturers and representatives of governmental institutions from the region who have a professional interest in applying geoinformation approaches in agriculture, rural development and natural resource use.

During the project duration, we conduct:

- Eight methodological training courses in GIS, spatial data analysis, and remote sensing.

- Two thematic summer schools with a focus on the Integrated Administration and Control Systems (IACS).

- Monthly online seminars about research applications of geoinformatics in the region

2. We offer geoinformation services for regional stakeholders and are developing tools to improve geodata and management. This includes the development of a geoportal with metadata on agriculture and sustainable resource use, as well as a geodata management system at AUT to support research data collection.

3. We foster regional exchange by building a network of geoinformation experts in the Western Balkans. We support research projects at Western Balkan research institutions, facilitate scientific exchange with German institutions, and provide opportunities for short-term research stays at IAMO to early-career scientists from the region. In November 2025, we will organize a research session at the ICOALS conference and will organise a regional stakeholder workshop to advance geoinformation science in the Western Balkans.

GEO-WB6 project workshop at IAMO in Halle (Saale)

On 05 September 2025 in the frame of our project GEO-WB6 "Establishing a Geoinformation Centre for the Western Balkans", a workshop was held at IAMO in Halle, Germany, bringing together researchers from IAMO and the Agricultural University of Tirana to discuss the current state of research at both institutions and ongoing project work. Three Albanian guest researchers, currently hosted at IAMO, presented overviews of their research topics, including extreme weather events, land-cover mapping, and biodiversity monitoring through citizen science. The session provided an opportunity for collaborative brainstorming about common research interests and project proposals, focusing particularly on consolidating the GEO-WB6 Geoinformation Centre and identifying potential funding sources for follow-up activities. The workshop concluded with agreed-upon action points to guide the continued development of this regional geoinformation initiative.

Presentation of the Geoinformation Center for the Western Balkans at the AGIT Conference in Salzburg

We are pleased to announce that we presented the Geoinformation Center for Western Balkan at the AGIT conference in Salzburg, held from July 2nd to 3rd, 2025, at the Faculty of Natural and Life Sciences. Our presentation took place during Session 9B: Education Geomedia in Post-Secondary and Higher Education and received positive feedback from attendees. We are progressing on our journey to become a key hub for teaching, research, networking, and data provision in geoinformation technology, with a focus on agriculture, natural resources and rural development in the Western Balkan region!

Agricultural University of Tirana and Albania’s State Authority for Geospatial Information Sign Cooperation Agreement

A Cooperation Agreement was signed between the Agricultural University of Tirana and Albania's State Authority for Geospatial Information (ASIG). The partnership focuses on joint projects, practical training, and capacity-building by leveraging shared expertise and geospatial data. The partnership aims to improve data exchange, research quality, and specialist training, while promoting geoinformation technologies—particularly through the Geoinformation Center for the Western Balkans.

Transforming Agriculture in the Region: The Importance of the Geoinformation Centre

Prof. Dr. Fatbardh Sallaku

Rector of AUT

Prof. Dr. Fatbardh Sallaku is a professor of natural resource management at the Agricultural University of Tirana (AUT), holding the title "Professor" since 2010. His research focuses on land and water protection, environmental degradation, rural development, and agro-environmental policies. After graduating in agronomy from AUT in 1990, he began his academic career at the same university. He earned his PhD in 1996 and has since held several leadership roles, including Head of the Department of Agriculture and Ecology (2008–2016) and Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Environment (2016–2020). Since 2020, he serves as Rector of AUT. Prof. Sallaku has completed post-graduate research at several European institutions, including Queen’s University Belfast (UK), the University of Padova (Italy), Giessen University, and Humboldt University (Germany). He has authored around 90 scientific publications, with over 30 indexed in international journals such as Geoderma, Environmental Modeling & Assessment, and the Journal of Ecological Engineering. He actively participates in international scientific events and leads or collaborates on numerous national and international projects (TEMPUS, Interreg, FAO, USAID, etc.). His expertise is sought by organizations in Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia, particularly in EU agricultural policy, rural development, and environmental protection. Since 2021, he is a member of the Albanian Academy of Sciences and a visiting professor at Michigan State University, contributing to the "International Development: Theory and Practice" program.

Olsid Mema

Geo-Information Centre Director

Olsid Mema is an assistant lecturer in the Department of Agronomic Sciences at the Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Agricultural University of Tirana, Albania. He holds a Master’s Degree in Geodesy from the Geodesy Department at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Polytechnic University of Tirana. Currently, he is a PhD student at the Agricultural University of Tirana. Olsid serves as the Executive Director of the Centre, where he represents the Centre to project partners and stakeholders, coordinates project activities including the logistical preparation of training courses, summer schools, and research seminars and contributes as a GIS instructor. He is responsible for disseminating information about project activities and providing regular support to all involved partners. Additionally, he will oversee and coordinate the development of a consolidation strategy and guide efforts to secure future funding opportunities to ensure the long-term success of the Centre.

Bexhet Islamaj

Geo-Information scientist

Bexhet Islamaj is a GIS and IT professional with over 23 years of experience in GIS, software development, data analysis, and geospatial solutions. He holds a Master’s degree equivalent in Computer Science from the University of Tirana and has extensive experience working across the Western Balkan countries, including Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Greece. He is programmer in programming languages such as VB.Net, C#, and Python, as well as in geodatabase management such PostgreSQL/PostGIS, MS SQL Server, and MS Access etc. He has over 20 years of experience with ArcGIS, QGIS, and other GIS solutions, particularly in the agriculture, environment, and infrastructure sectors. In the GEO-WB6 project, he is responsible for developing the GEOdata Portal of the Geoinformation Centre.

Prof. Dr. Daniel Müller

Daniel Müller is a senior scientist at the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO) and professor of geography at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. He has a master degree and doctorate in agricultural sciences and a habilitation in geography. The overarching goal of his research program is to advance the understanding of land-system change, including its multiple repercussions on human welfare, food production, carbon balance and biodiversity. His work is characterized by integrative approaches that combine his expertise in resource economics and natural sciences. He conducts empirical work at different spatial scales with a geographic focus on the Western Balkans, countries of the former Soviet Union, and China.

Max Hofmann

Research associate at IAMO

Max Hofmann is a research associate at the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies. He holds a Master’s Degree in Biology from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Max has over 10 years of experience in applying GIS in ecology, conservation, land-use and climatology. At IAMO, Max studies the effects of climate change on agriculture in Eastern Africa and countries of the former Soviet Union. He has been responsible for several GIS capacity building projects carried out by IAMO in past. In GEO-WB6, he coordinates the project activities and is the main responsible for the training courses and research seminars.