Cultural Triangle of Prespes

The Cultural Triangle of Prespes (CTP) is a non-profit, local, civil society organisation situated on the borders of Albania, North Macedonia and Greece. The organisation was very active from 2000 till 2014 on a local, regional and cross-border level implementing activities in the Youth, Community and Tourism Development sectors. Since 2021 the organisation is being reactivated with the following thematic pillars: - Create an safe educational space for young people based on non-formal education and experiential learning that aims at multidisciplinary approach regarding climate crisis and its multidimensional impact. In greater detail, the organization aspires at the examination of the impact of climate crisis in the cultural and social capital, the migration flow and the working conditions and the creation of holistic sustainable alternatives. In the direction of achieving this aim, there is an emphasis on the active involvement of the youth in ventures of the third sector and/or civic society and in the decision making process. -Another field of action is the rural development and the involvement of the youth. Having taken into consideration the rapid pace of urban development and rural desertification the venture aims to the creation of soft and hard infrastructures in rural areas in collaboration with the local and regional authorities. In greater depth by enhancing the de-urbanization & digital nomad movements we aim at the cultivation of a mentality which simultaneously shows the positive effect of staying to rural areas - close to nature- to mental and physical health of the youth, but also to the intervention areas. Another aspect of this aim is the creation the needed soft infrastructure for a sustainable living standard which takes into consideration the needs of young people, in terms of cultural, social and labor alternatives. -The association also aims at the cultivation of a culture towards community building and the creation of sustainable alternatives for the youth in the rural areas. The experience of CTP in tourism development and the combat of youth unemployment in conjunction with the experience in community building process through cultural and social projects reinforces the effort of a holistic development of the rural areas, which takes into consideration the creation of intercultural and inter-generational communities based on inclusion and acceptance. In the direction of achieving these aims CTP has the following target groups: Direct target groups a) Young people, living in Prespes and generally in Western Macedonia b) Young people on a national and european level with an emphasis on youth who face social, geographical and economical difficulties Indirect target groups a) Residents of the area of Western Macedonia In furtherance of accomplishing these aims CTP is focused on the conduction of the following activities: -Expert meetings for the development of a strategy for rural development -Youth exchanges focusing on environmental, social and cultural issues -Hosting of EU volunteers. Since 2002 CTP has hosted over 100 volunteers from 20 EU countries. The interaction of the volunteers with the local community and the implementation of activities contributes to the empowerment of the volunteers through the development of soft-skills and acquaintance of knowledge. Another important aspect of this activity is the enhancement of the social and cultural capital of the area through the osmosis with the local community. -Cross-border networking between associations, ventures of the civic society and the third sector and youth for the creation of cross-boarder touristic destination in the direction of enhancing rural development -Development of Social Solidarity Economy (SSE) ventures and creation of educational processes regarding SSE. -Cultural projects that combine the cultural capital of the area and new technologies -Projects that emphasize on the social capital and the creation of a societal structure ba