30 April 2026
As part of the JICA project “Capacity Development for Air Pollution Control – Phase 2”, a regional conference on Air Pollution Control and Management in the Western Balkans was held yesterday and today in Prishtina.
The conference was organized by the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (MMPH) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It presented the project’s key activities and achievements, highlighting data collection methods and data-driven policymaking for air quality management, including emission measurements from mobile sources such as vehicles and stationary sources such as households, power plants, factories, and other business entities.
In her opening remarks at the conference, MMPH Minister Fitore Dalipi Pacolli stated, among other things: “Improving air quality remains one of our main priorities. We are committed to strengthening capacity development, advancing monitoring systems, and implementing measures that directly contribute to protecting the health of citizens and the environment through our policies.”
During the conference sessions, participants from Western Balkan countries (Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, and North Macedonia) also exchanged experiences and shared information on air quality management and emission control measures.
An important part of the conference was the presentation of findings by representatives of the Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency (AMMK), who led the respective project components, including data collection and the air emissions inventory, emission measurements from stationary sources, air quality monitoring, a source-apportionment study of PM2.5 particulate matter, analysis of heavy metals in the air, laboratory work, as well as air pollution modelling and simulation.