Results and Conclusions | On Policy-Based Papers: Large Scale. Strategic Visioning & Design
Authors: Aliaj Besnik , Dhamo Sotir 
Published: October 2024

The theme of this international research project and scientific journal issue is Re- Inventing Phoeniciae (Finiq): New Inter- sections of Tradition, Innovation, Land- scapes and Tourism. The respective International PhD workshop of Polis Uni- versity and Ferrara University took place from 09-20 January 2023. This phase concluded with a series of presentations, lectures, and graphical-conceptual dia- grams. After that, the researchers worked independently for the rest of the year to elaborate further scientific specula- tions and write down articles. Tutors of the workshop and the project have been: Prof. Besnik Aliaj, Prof. Pantelis Skayan- nis, Dr. Sotir Dhamo, Dr. Skender Luarasi, Dr. Llazar Kumaraku, Dr. Malvina Istrefaj, Dr. Doriana Musaj and Sadmira Malaj. Fi- niq Municipality is located in the South of Albania, cross-bordering Greece. It is in- cluded in the Vlora’s County and it is just 9 kilometers from the port & tourism City of Saranda; not far from the UNESCO City of Gjirokastra; and adjacent to the UNESCO Archeological Site of Butrint. The settle- ment of Finiq has been the main munici- pal center since the last administrative reform. The municipality looks “poor” and neglected, but indeed is rich in all aspects. It is particularly important because of the presence of the Foinikea Archaeologi- cal Park at the top of a hill (received this status in 2005). Inside the Municipal terri- tory, there are lots of attractive sites, such as the water springs Blue Eye; main riv- ers and lakes; the Monastery of St. Nikolla (in Mesopotam village), and many other amazing churches, etc. This makes the municipality dominated by nature (e.g. flat fields; a continuous layer of hills, rivers, and lakes, etc.) and monuments that rep- resent a rich cultural heritage. Within this context, some villages arise up in moun- tains or hills, characterized mostly either by forgotten historic houses and churches or by new infrastructures and civil struc- tures built in reinforced concrete. This is due to the fact that the new buildings were built irregularly during the late post- communist decades, instead of what was built historically. Therefore the local villag- es are losing gradually their own original spirit, which could be better observed in the case of UNESCO heritage settlements like the city of Gjirokaster, or in the villages of Dropull municipality (another Greek mi- nority area as Finiq). Most of the commu- nity, especially young people left due to a massive emigration mainly in Greece and the USA, or migration to the capital region of Tirana. This means that the municipal- ity suffers now from poor human capaci- ties, poor budgets, and low tax collection baseline, while the remaining people are getting older. However, the natural and historical potential, and the nearby port and touristic cities of Saranda and Gjiro- kastra (Albania), as well as Igoumentisa and Janina (Greece) make the area highly possible to be developed soon as a sup- port territory for agricultural, historic and hospitality services. Under the conditions of massive emigration and reduction of population, the researchers put emphasis on the use of new technologies and alternative municipal planning and urban- landscape design methodologies.