Tim Clancy, expert in Sustainable Development, Via Dinarica

Tim Clancy is an expert in Sustainable Development working in the western Balkans. He has worked in the western Balkans since the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990’s where he started as a volunteer aid worker. The emergency aid effort he was involved in shifted to development aid after the Dayton Peace Accords were signed in 1995. In 2000 Tim started his own social business, Green Visions, the first of its kind in Bosnia and Herzegovina that focused on eco-tourism and environmental protection in vulnerable mountain communities. He later made use of his degree in Literature and Creative Writing from Florida State University by authoring the first English language travel guide to Bosnia and Herzegovina for the London-based publisher Bradt Travel Guides. Since then Tim has authored 8 more travel books on the region, including a regional travel guide by Thomas Cook Publishing and is the editor-in-chief of Don’t Miss Travel Magazine.

The focal point of Tim’s work, however, has been sustainable post-conflict development in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the wider Dinaric Alps region. Tim found the post-conflict era in war-torn BiH to be wrought with depopulation, destruction, environmental exploitation and downright desperation. He has pioneered many projects throughout the region as a sustainable development consultant for the likes of UNDP, USAID, the European Union, and JICA.

His current project is a mega trail called the Via Dinarica that extends from northern Albania into the southern region of Slovenia. Partly inspired by the Appalachian Trail he is trying to bring best practices from around the U.S., in combination with his in-depth knowledge of the Balkan region, to work with local communities in creating a sustainable natural and cultural heritage trail that encompasses the entire Dinaric Alps mountain region.

Aside from his environmental and eco-tourism activities and travel writing, he is former mountain guide and dabbles with sustainable & ecological building methods and materials. He is married to Dr. Sabina Cehajic-Clancy, a professor of social psychology at the Sarajevo School of Science and Technology. They have two sons and live in Sarajevo.