MCCM
RESILIENCE
OUR MEDIA
Albanian Institute for Research (AIR), an organization dedicated to promoting transparency and accountability, spearheaded the #PPPscan project in Albania, which focused on empowering journalists, students, and civil society to monitor and improve public-private contracts in the health sector.
The #PPPscan project aimed to improve transparency and oversight of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in healthcare – a sector where complex contracts often limit public scrutiny. Implemented across Tirana and surrounding communities, the project combined legal research, media activism, and capacity building to empower various stakeholders.
Key activities included a thorough legal analysis of two PPP concession contracts, revealing critical risks related to contract design and financial transparency. Based on this, AIR developed an innovative monitoring methodology and checklist to enable civil society organizations and citizens to oversee public contracts effectively.
The project also engaged future journalists, law students, and practicing journalists through focus groups and a capacity-building webinar. These sessions trained participants in identifying PPP contracts, accessing reliable information, and monitoring them actively.
A seminar involving students further promoted the idea of creating a Public Contract Observatory, aimed at fostering continuous transparency and media oversight. The Observatory will work as an independent, sustainable structure inspired by international best practices such as Bocconi University. This observatory will fill a critical gap in Albania by monitoring concession and PPP contracts, serving both public interest and democratic accountability.
Through #PPPscan, AIR has laid the groundwork for ongoing public vigilance and advocacy in achieving greater transparency, and will continue to work in this respect. In addition, young journalists, journalism students, and civil society actors will continue to play a key role in this journey, turning the knowledge gained into long-term civic action.
The project is funded through the Our Media sub-granting scheme, which has provided support to 21 local projects across the Western Balkans.
The regional program “Our Media: A civil society action to generate media literacy and activism, counter polarisation and promote dialogue” is implemented with the financial support of the European Union by partner organizations SEENPM, Albanian Media Institute, Mediacentar Sarajevo, Press Council of Kosovo, Montenegrin Media Institute, Macedonian Institute for Media, Novi Sad School of Journalism, Peace Institute and Bianet.
This article was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Albanian Media Institute and SEENPM and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
